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Retro Fit Roller Tappets?

gasser

Just got it firing!
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
23
Location
Worcester, UK
My 8V Sport with an A7 engine has just chewed up its cams and followers at 13,500 miles . These were the new versions fitted at just 200miles from new under recall. Bike has been fed on 10W60 from birth. Although out of the normal warranty period, my local dealer and Guzzi Uk have been brilliant and have supplied new cams & tappets free of charge. However, before I put it all back together, is it possible to retro fit the heads in this engine with all necessary parts to convert to the latest roller tappet version? The fact that the factory have migrated to this design in the normal 8V 1200 engine suggests to me that there is still a question mark over the flat tappet design. I absolutely love the bike and would like it to be a 'keeper'. So, firstly is it possible to do this? Secondly, how much would it cost bearing in mind I already have brand new cams in my hand!
 
That's a p*sser, your misfortune is the first I've heard of for quite a while. Good to see Guzzi and your dealer are stepping up on this. I hope you could swap over to the roller tappets easily.
How old is your bike? When was it first registered? Which dealer?
 
As far as I can make out there are no other changes required other than the replacement of the entire cambox and rocker assemblies. Because there are a lot of people who are paranoid about the flat tappet motors I've been trying to get pricing and availability on the required parts but am still waiting on pricing of a few parts.

Pete
 
My dealer in the UK (Streffords, long standing Guzzi franchise, family owned, very helpful bunch of guys) have been trying to do the same but the parts fiche was confusing. Whilst I have it in bits, putting the roller tappets in seems a logical step, if it is not too expensive. Any help or guidance on this from you Pete or indeed others would be most helpful. Interestingly, the new flat tappet followers supplied under warranty are identical in design to the knackered ones, but, appear to bear the hall marks of much greater hardening than the old ones. The tell tale bluey/straw colouration of the hardening extends through the head of the follower to the neck of the stem. In the old ones this is not apprarent at all and only appears approx. halfway down the side of the rim of the head. So in my personal opinion, the new standard followers appear to have improved hardening from those fitted in April 2010.
 
I have been advised by a long standing Guzzi dealer that it is possible to convert the 8V engine to roller tappet configution. With the exception of the cam chain sprocket/chain, you need everything else - cam boxes, cam, rockers and of course roller tappets, plus interestingly, new rocker covers too! Cost here in the UK is approx. £1,000, so I will not be doing this anytime soon!
 
gasser said:
I have been advised by a long standing Guzzi dealer that it is possible to convert the 8V engine to roller tappet configution. With the exception of the cam chain sprocket/chain, you need everything else - cam boxes, cam, rockers and of course roller tappets, plus interestingly, new rocker covers too! Cost here in the UK is approx. £1,000, so I will not be doing this anytime soon!

So, conversion to Roller Tappets Holly Grail parts costs at nowdays rates:
1150 euros / $1500 US / $1450 AUS / $1530 CAN / $1860 SGD (Phang!)
or
575 eur / $750 US per cylinder for 1 cam box, 1 camshaft, 2 rockers, 2 roller tappets, 1 rocker cover (gasket included? :mrgreen: ).

Hmmm, sounds a bit like 750 uninflated euros ($1000 US) back in 2000 for me to import a Honda CRM250 2stroke single cylinder crankshaft from Japan to Greece.... Of course, I found a donor half motor - are they nuts?
The cost of this conversion plus a replacement CARC and probably a replacement crank (with rods?) must cost as much as a complete used bike in very good condition.

Pete, have the parts costs always been like this for the firm?
 
Mi_ka said:
1150 euros / $1500 US / $1450 AUS / $1530 CAN / $1860 SGD (Phang!)
or
575 eur / $750 US per cylinder for 1 cam box, 1 camshaft, 2 rockers, 2 roller tappets, 1 rocker cover (gasket included? :mrgreen: ).

That's a little less than 6% of the price I paid for my G8VSE here, not too bad actually.

The tappet failure rate is no where near to the alarming rate yet, in my opinion of course. Nevertheless, I may consider this option if I continue to read more failure cases. Besides, the roller tappets need time to prove itself being a reliable solution to the "problem" too.

Phang
 
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