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Check That final Drive!

FrostBittenCanadian

FrostBittenCanadian

Cruisin' Guzzisti
GT Contributor
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Messages
406
Location
Toronto
Well so far I've skated with no major problems... 'til today!! I've checked the final drive for play every 2 weeks since getting my Stelvio and it's been tight as a drum After reading some posts here it reinforced the idea as good, been watching for leaks too. Last night at work figured I should check it again as it's probably been two weeks. Wheel grasped front and back, no play. Wheel grasped top and bottom... uh oh. Could see and feel about 3-5 thou movement. No leaking of seal though. Straight to dealer,in Morning, where they proceeded to pull it apart before I left, and yup the big bearing is toast. They are replacing the Big bearing and the little bearing along with the delicate boots Pete has mentioned as soon as they can get the parts. They figure I'll be bikeless for at least a week and a half. Oh and the knocking sound I've been blathering on about in my any Ideas post manifested itself right in front of the Mechanic much to his shock. Oh boy oh boy oh boy,now people don't think I'm crazy...at least not for that. So they're looking into that further as well. Mileage is 3093 km. :p :p :p :p
FBC
 
Seems I did well, having no problems before 9500 miles,(13 kilo-m-thingys ?) Then I get slated for calling them unreliable and I should be happy that it's got CHARACTURE.
The main critism is that Guzzi/agents aren't supporting us. Evry time something breaks we have to wait a week for parts, just like the old Aprilia saga. I may be after a GS, I know they have characture but I've mailed a few dealers for obscure parts and all were in stock. Well MG ? Not even started on extended warrenty.
 
Hey Frosty

Sounds like you have the same feeling of relief as I do when I find out what is wrong with the machine I'm working on. It's the hours/days/weeks of head scratching, phone calls, manual reading and 2am ideas that when I check to see if they are right at 7:30am and proove to be a waste of sleep time that peeve me off.

I just hate not knowing what's wrong when it's obvious that "something" is. After that the repair is easy - stick in a few parts check it all out and viola.... aaahhh if only it were that easy all the time. :eek:hmy:

Can you ask them to tell you what brand the bearings are that failed in the CARC?
 
Gary: Those same people probably say, Gee honey look at all that character! every time their toilet backs up.... I think not. From what I remember you telling , me yours wasn't reliable, so you tell 'em Johhnny... tell the world. Guess what mine isn't either, a major failure ( yup the final drive is major sports fans) in 3093 km. That's bullshit! Mike I'll try to find out for you. OH and anybody who thinks I'm not appreciating the character,I'm just stating the obvious. If I had ridden this thing across Canada ( Not Inn to Inn in europe) I wonder if any of you would have heard from me again? And your right Mike I gots ta know.
FBC
 
Yes a Breva is a good lookin' bike. I just hope that this is not the shape of things to come , cause if it is, I know the address of the glue factory ol' girl! And since riding coast to coast on a bike is on my list'o' things to do before I die. I wants something that won't turn me into bear shit or a skeleton at the side of the road holding up his middle finger for all to see. Love to do it on a Guzzi, but I likes my machines to be dependable. (dependable or reliable does not equal rebuilding new equipment a section at a time). Unfortunately I'm not impressed.
FBC
 
Sorry, I must of missed this somehow.

Look, yes, there have been CARC failures but they are seemingly few and far between, there are an awful lot of CARC bikes out there now and if there was an epidemic of failures it would be common knowledge by now.

One of the problems is that like all bikes they aren't put together by mechanics. they are assembled by production line workers. All workers aren't created equal and it may well be that one of the blokes who does CARC assembley isn't too crash hot so there is an attrition rate on his boxes. Who knows? The workers at the factory don't have an awful lot of incentive to do things with pride at the moment either. Not that that is an excuse but it might explain a bit.

Pete
 
Pete,

Blaming assembly for poor bearing quality doesn't make sense. Frankly I'm not all that interested in the state of mind of the assemblers at Guzzi and that's what quality control's job should be. The world economy is in a sorry state for a lot of people and bearings/seals were bad in the 07's if I'm not mistaken?

You may be correct that there doesn't seem to be an epidemic of Carc failures but Guzzi admits to faulty Carcs or they would not issue a recall on some units, why not all is a mystery and I know I would be very upset if my unit failed just after warranty ran out and I was asked to pay $4000.00 for a replacement.

It's not unreasonable to be worried about a machine that has failed us. It's not unreasonable to be concerned that while alone and isolated we may have another mechanical failure that might strand us...

I'm not concerned about mechanical failure with my 08 Griso but I'm less than fully impressed with the quality of my machine. I understand that sometimes things go wrong and need correction. I suspect my engine will need to be removed to check the thrust bearing and clutch components as the screech has gotten worse. My guess is that after the repairs, the clutch will perform perfectly and I assume for the life of the components. I will tell you that if I have any issue with the carc I will be fit to be tied because there is enough documentation to support the idea that bearings have failed and other owners have had mechanical failures both IN and OUT of warranty. That's NOT a customer problem. Oh and lets not forget that an oily back wheel may kill some poor guy! Most likey not... it's a risk isn't it?

vivo
 
The early, '06 Brevas and Grisos had an inferior bearing made by a Polish company called, (From memory.) FET or some such. These were the only bearings eligible for the recall and some bikes, my 1100 being one of them, had this bearing fitted even though it was outside the recall range.

Since that time there have been a few failures but not an epidemic. Checking bearings etc. is one of those things that SHOULD be done at every service. More often if one is worried that there is an underlying issue but I know from personal experience that when the bearings fail they MAY NOT cause play in the wheel because mine still felt fine but the bearing was completely rooted! Obviously it was moving a bit in service because the seal went which is what warned me of the problem. The bearing still felt fine!!!!

The current bearings are from a different manufacrurer and have I believe a couple more balls increasing their load bearing capacity. I am NOT blaming the bearing in the above post but the bearing has to be installed doesn't it? if it isn't installed properly it will fail. That's all I was trying to say.

I know of at least one shop that bought in a host of bearings expecting their to be a rash of failures. As far as I know they are all still on the shelf!!!

If I get a bike in with a leaking seal, even if the bearing feels OK, I Make damn sure that I inspect the bearing thoroughly with the CARC on the bench in bright light and with a magnifying glass to check the ball tracks. In all, (From memory again.) of the ones I've had in with duff seals the bearing was suspicious too, so I warrantied them. First time I had to do this it was requested that i send pictures. So I cut the old bearing in half and showed 'em the damage. They OK'd it that day!

You want I should post up a pic of a failed FET bearing and the new replacement?

All I want is to try and make people aware that the sky ISN'T falling. The bearing itself is about $150 the seal is about $40 in Oz. Even if they let go out of warranty it isn't the end of the world.

Pete
 
Yeah your right Pete I was just choked at the time of Posting that a 20,000 dollar bike has a 20 cent set of bearings in it. 3100k aint much. The engines I work on every day spin at 50,000 rpm at a temp of about 600 degrees celsius... on ball bearings. So the final drive in a motorcycle ain't asking much of it.
FBC
 
No, I wholeheartedly agree. As I've said when I get confronted with this crap I just fix it and punt the claim upstairs.

I can understand the enormous frustration you and others are suffering and it simply SHOULDN'T be either occuring in the first place or, more importantly, taking so long to address.

In Oz the importer takes some flack but I have NO problem with dealing with them on either an ordering or 'Personal' level. I have yet to have a warranty claim knocked back, even on suff like the crappy OE mirrors on Grisos that turn into a filigree of rust the moment they come withing 500Km of the sea!

As I said elsewhere my job is to try and FIX IT! As fast as possible. If that means I sit on a few $ worth of debt for a month or two? So be it! Any interest will be tax deductible and any business that works on such tight margins it can't afford a couple of $150 bearings doesn't deserve to be in business. Likewise if the service manager, (What's he paid for?) can't whack in a warranty claim and follow it up. It's an on-line form. It ain't THAT hard. Unless of course you expect to just sell motorbikes, make a couple of grand on each one and never see the customer again.

Pete
 
Pete

Ive got a 06 Breva 1100 from new and never been notified of a bearing recall. Everything seems fine but from what I'm reading this might not tell the full picture.
Is there a chassis list I can check against to see if I should have been recalled?

How easy is it to inspect/photograph the bearing without a workshop or is it better to get into service point here in Blighty?

Done under 6000km (though nearly 200 of that was this morning running up to high 90mph :cheer: )

Art
 
Cheers mate, I've not seen this info, though I've only been looking the last couple of months.

I did a websearch for Guzzi recalls and didnt get any results at all for the Breva. If I find anything worth adding I'll start a Recall thread (hope theres not one of these already I havent come across)
 
Hey Pete why don't you get yourself cloned and set up shop up here with the clone, ya got my business and a couple of other guys I can think of! LOL.
 
Final drive bearings replaced cam box showed up Monday this week , am picking bike up on Thurs. We'll see how it goes now!
Once the main man at dealer found out how pissed I was with them, he gave me his cell no. and told me to deal with him only. He took care of business, so we'll see.
FBC
 
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