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5 Month Ownership summary

Farway

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
118
Location
Durham County, UK
So, I've nearly had the Stelvio 5 month's now. Was thinking about the "kwerkyness" of the bike, or also referred to as "problems..."
Summary:
Bought 19/04/13
Distance covered to date: 11073miles (5months)
Problems/Issue's/Kwerkyness:
1)Crush washer leaked and replaced on oil transfer line under tank.
2)Fork seal's went
3)Alloys corroded to sh1t internally
4)HT Plug leads went
5)Head stock bearings buggerd
6)Exhaust gasket's leaking
7)Drive Shaft UJ's seized
:S
Items 3 - Caused by someon adding wrong tyre sealant to rim's
Items 6 - Bad maintenance

Including servicing, tyres and above, I have spent around 2k in addition to buying the bike...
Not moaning or being negative, but FACTUAL. I do a lot of miles (all be it has reduced significantly recently) and has never left me stranded next to the side of the road or had an issue I couldn't fix on the fly. .. Just gets my back-up to read other forum's and have guys say, " well, my bike has done 50k miles and mechanically never broke down" or " I had to replace a brake hose, thats it".... I have several parts suppliers on speed dial... :S
 
I wish I could of had a feel of that shaft. Tightness is not necessarily. Sign of failure. Roughness is but tightness my be down to the caps just grabbing he end of the crosses ans simply not being worked hard enough to cause the caps to re-seat.

FWIW my terribly flawed, very early 8V/A5 Griso has been a turnkey proposition for 65,000 Km. you always hear the shit stories on the net. If the bike frightens you? Sell it and buy something else.

Pete
 
Farway said:
So, I've nearly had the Stelvio 5 month's now. Was thinking about the "kwerkyness" of the bike, or also referred to as "problems..."
Summary:
Bought 19/04/13
Distance covered to date: 11073miles (5months)
Problems/Issue's/Kwerkyness:
1)Crush washer leaked and replaced on oil transfer line under tank.
2)Fork seal's went
3)Alloys corroded to sh1t internally
4)HT Plug leads went
5)Head stock bearings buggerd
6)Exhaust gasket's leaking
7)Drive Shaft UJ's seized
:S
Items 3 - Caused by someon adding wrong tyre sealant to rim's
Items 6 - Bad maintenance

Including servicing, tyres and above, I have spent around 2k in addition to buying the bike...
Not moaning or being negative, but FACTUAL. I do a lot of miles (all be it has reduced significantly recently) and has never left me stranded next to the side of the road or had an issue I couldn't fix on the fly. .. Just gets my back-up to read other forum's and have guys say, " well, my bike has done 50k miles and mechanically never broke down" or " I had to replace a brake hose, thats it".... I have several parts suppliers on speed dial... :S

I have 25K KM in just over a year of ownership and the only major thing I have had to replace was the exhaust gasket and frankly that was my fault because I was too late in tightening it up. That buggered head bearing may have been a loose stem from the start. When the manual says inspect every 10K km they really mean it. That is the part I enjoy about the Guzzi line.....owner interaction required.

Sure i had the issue with the aux lights but that was a know issue and kept an eye out for it and replace the lights with LED's. The key on this bike is follow the maintenance schedule and keep everything tight and you will be fine.

As for the fork seals, mine had a small weep in the left fork. Found a service bulletin stating that what might look like a leak is really too much grease they added during assembly and melting and dripping. Cleaned out under the dust seal and ran a sealmate under the seal and all was good. No more leak.

Hope things get better for you. It really is a great bike once your figure out its distinct personality.
 
Peter
I could barely swivel the one UJ is a certain direction. Tight, most definitely not, stuck and grinding was more like it. I'm happy it was completely buggered...I am definitely one to try and fix before replacing! and as for the selling the bike, yes it's an option. I did a LOT of research on bike before buying the MG. Did I think it was gonna be hassle free, most definitely not. I based this on the 6 Alfa's I had before this. (Alftetta, 2 x Guilietta's, 33, Sud, 156) however I was happy with the level of work needed doing to the bike. Certainly drive shaft should not have gone, corroded alloys well, not the bike's fault and the exhaust gasket's, again not really the bikes fault - maintenance issue. All the issues to date has been pretty much home fix and anything from here on wards are like to be either already fixed, or can be done with relative ease. What pisses me off is the fact that what ever I buy, gives problems.

If reading the constant shit stories on the net irritates you so much, then stop reading the forums. I for one (and I know i'm not the only one) turn to the forum's when we most often need some advice. Yes we share the " good stories" but perhaps you haven't noticed they seem to be somewhat "out-weighed" by the bad ones.

Forgive me for not wanting to constantly fix something...( my attitude might change somewhat if we had aus. weather :whistle: )
 
canuck1969 said:
[
As for the fork seals, mine had a small weep in the left fork. Found a service bulletin stating that what might look like a leak is really too much grease they added during assembly and melting and dripping. Cleaned out under the dust seal and ran a sealmate under the seal and all was good. No more leak.
I'm having the same issue since day 1. My dealer told me it's a owner issue (2400 miles on the bike) which I argued and they are trying to get covered.

So I bought a Seal Doctor to try and clean them out but I can't seem to get the dusts seal to move. One person over at ADVrider recommended a plastic putty knife and someone over at Wild Guzzi said there was a special tool???

Is it also required to use a special tool to get the seal back in?

BTW, there is a lot of fluid coming from the seal.
 
I use a flat blade screwdriver to get the dust seal off. As long as you are careful you wont scratch the fork. Just start to gently pry between the dust seal and the fork and slowly work around the seal. Once it starts to come off it gets easier. To get it back on you don't need any special tools. Just push it back on.

When you use the tool to clean the fork seal put the bike on the center stand to get the pressure off. First take a cloth and wipe the surface of the seal clean (up under the gap from the dust seal) so you don't introduce any more dirt. Hope it is just some dirt under the seal or this grease issue and your problem gets fixed.
 
Hey Faraway; Mine had all kinds of stupid shit go wrong with it for the first three years of ownership. The last two years have been problem free (knock on wood). To prevent being scolded, or told to sell my bike I stopped contibuting. Worked amazing. Some times no one wants to hear anything that fogs the rose coloured glasses. My Stelvio is an excellent bike and it would take a lot to get me to part with it. But when they start to act up for stupid reasons they sure can be annoying. If ya like the bike stick with it,basically if you want to list your woes...fill your boots.
FBC :p
 
Hey Frost bite good one - hahahaa - couldn't have said it any better other than "Park it Or Ride It" - one thing about spilling your guts on the form is that its better than calling the 1-800 Piaggio Customer Sevice center. At least here when can alway count on Pete's input. hahaaha - Those guys in Georgia hold the phone a foot away from their ear.
Best thing you can do for your Guzzi is sit down beside it, rub your hand over it gently and say "what do you need me to do for your baby to make you happy" haahaha - Then all of a sudden its purring like a kitten. It Works !!!! LOL :lol:
 
Farway said:
..............Yes we share the " good stories" but perhaps you haven't noticed they seem to be somewhat "out-weighed" by the bad ones..........

I don't think so...
You don't hear ALL of the good stories because no one complains about a non event experience but you'll hear EVERY bad ones for sure.
34 Thousand miles on my 09 Griso and my tappets are just fine from day one... Same with everybody I know that has the 8V mill. ;)
For some unexplained reasons and it remains a mystery really, the UK market has been the one with most reported failures. :S The Italians must hate you guys, lol.
But also, I can't help to think that maybe the reputable dealers aren't so reputable after all and this doesn't only apply to Guzzi.
 
How about a five YEAR ownership summary that includes 20,000Km on an original set of 'Bad' tappets followed by nearly another 50,000 after they were finally replaced, undamaged. During this time the only problem experienced with my machine has been a slight misting in the dash and on one occasion I seem to have got water not the speedo sensor but it dried out and has never recurred.

While none of my customers has yet to approach that sort of distance on an 8V all of theirs stubbornly refuse to go wrong as well! I'm not a magician. While I do recommend that people change their oil more frequently than the factory suggests, especially if they ride a lot in cool, damp weather, many don't and simply get their bikes serviced 'By the book'. I'm sorry but neither I or my customers seem to be able to kill ours!

What are we doing wrong?




Pete
 
I agree with what Pete says about changing the oil more regularly. I've been doing this for many years on all my vehicles. I do the change at either 6month intervals, or at half the recommended mileage. I left the filter changes as specified.
It can be expensive for most owners to do this, I was lucky by having a trade account with a local oil company which made the changes very affordable ( I no longer have the account unfortunately :( )
I did suggest this on the Guzzi GB owners site, but a few people questioned the wisdom of it and also cited the extra cost, although cost was not an issue for me. I started halving the oil change intervals on my Harleys many years ago because of the large air cooled V twin that had a reputation for running very hot, as does the Guzzi 8v motor. Some folk have said that if you run the stipulated synthetic 10/60 oil there is no need to do it more than advised by the manufacturer, I prefer to hedge my bets, I see it as a little extra insurance.
 
3 oil change in the 8k Miles it took mine to fail all the factory recommended agip oil guzzi filter as well. I've heard of failure in less than 500 miles there's some thing else at work here causing this issue
 
I too have had a few "issues" with my ntx, bought new last year. Nothing major in the great scheme of things, my big issue is with waiting 10 weeks for replacement warranty parts . It's only 2 days drive to pick the bits up ffs. Right where's me tin hat and ear plugs before I get lectured again on mg ownership lol.
 
[i" While I do recommend that people change their oil more frequently than the factory suggests, especially if they ride a lot in cool, damp weather,[/i]"

Funny you bring up the subject of more frequent oil changes. The book for my '13 Stelvio says every 6,200 (or so) miles and I asked my mechanic if he thought that was a good idea. He said that machines are made better nowadays and the same with oil, so 6K is OK. I've always changed oil in my Alfas (admittedly older 1995 model) at 3,500 miles.

What is your recommendation for changing frequency. Fortunately I live in mostly sunny Southern California.
 
pete roper said:
But why is it so prevalent in the UK when failures elsewhere are so rare nowadays?

Pete
I'd guess the weather. Colder and wetter (damp even).
 
Strange this topic rears it's head again.... Pete your'e on the money with weather. I have (since my last post) been very anal about the condition of my oil... and I recon I might have found a major (if not ) the main issue.. I ride come rain or shine and my last 4000 miles have been in 10 cel to 1cel...(average) I do 30 mile one way to work a day. I don't do " shop runs", I ride the bloody thing to ensure it gets hot so nothing I do can improve really from a "running" point of view.
The guzzi is going for a service tomorrow so quickly pulled the tappet covers this evening to see the extent of moisture/condensation forming inside covers..... it's shocking!!!!
 

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What is striking is image two, that watery oil crap in and around the valve stem's and all round the show.... it's simply warm oil in contact with a cold surface and boom, there you go. You change oil every 2k but that crap remain inside the tappet cover. It needs cleaning out. but even that does not resolve the issue, you still get contaminated oil in between critical parts.... so I was getting ready for bed and came acroos the following idea. Wont look great but don't care if it works.....
 

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