Eagle
Just got it firing!
Hello again
Second post for things I have solved on my Breva with the help of this and other forums.
Last year very shortly after having my rear tyre replaced I started noticing a gummy deposit on my rear wheel. I couldn't work out where it was coming from but it had contaminated my rear brake pads and they were;t working that well which is why I had a look around the area to see what was going on and noticed it in the first place.
Initially I thought it had come from the oil vapour recovery hose and blown back onto the wheel. I cleaned the whole area up and thought I had sorted it until on a really hot day with the bike on the side stand I came out and noticed the pool of oil collecting on the wheel and could see it was coming from the area behind where the wheel bolted on.
After a quick google I was put in mortal fear that the bearings etc in the CARC had been destroyed and had all sorts of visions of taking the damn thing apart. The dealer wanted £75 to take the wheel off and inspect plus there would then be the charge for whatever part was required and the no doubt another charge to refit it. All the while I would not know if I should be riding it and would have to get it to the dealer and wait etc. Big hassle since it is 45 miles away in another town.
They were able to confirm for me however that the bike had had all the Guzzi specified things done to it that it was supposed to and there was no outstanding recall and it should not fall within the batch with the bad bearings,
So armed with the forums I removed the rear wheel.
First step was to remove the brake calliper - a complete breeze with two bolts.
Next was with bike on side stand and in gear loosen off the wheel nuts after removing the plastic cover over them
Then onto the centre stand and remove the bolts completely and pull the wheel off. Quite pleased with how easy this is compared to my BMW F650 as there is no axle, chain guard, sprocket etc.
I could immediately see that there was a small but steady weeping of oil from the sea around the hub.
After more internet research I turned up form somewhere that all you need is a bearing the same specification as the existing one and it doesn't necessarily have to come from Moto Guzzi. A lot of googling bearing companies was quite brain boggling but somewhere I read that the BMW R bikes have the same size seal used although it is slightly deeper and would sit out about 1mm rather than fully flush when fitted.
So I got on to BMW Motorworks which is an web parts company for BM's I use a lot and they are very helpful. I spoke to the guys in the parts dept and explained what I was after and why, they had never heard of a R seal being used in a MG before but they did day they do sell a few things to MG owners who want to avoid rip off prices. I spoke to someone in person to confirm the sizes of the bearing matched the sizes of the MG one and would recommend any one else do the same as I think the guy had to go through a few to get the exact right one -
http://www.motorworks.co.uk
The output seal was £20 instead of about 35 odd for MG. I had it the next again day in the post. I was surprised when I opened it because it was nice and squiggly rubber whereas the MG one felt like metal or had plastic. I guess it had hardened with age (7 years) and probably following wheel removal by the mechs at the Honda dealer I went to had got disturbed and was no longer providing a good fit.
I drained the oil from the CARC then with trepidation following instructions on the forum drilled very carefully with an electric drill into the seal, VERY carefully! then when I punched through gently removed the bit to make sure I didn't dump any metal fragments into the recess. Then I screwed in a large screw and once it bit used that to get hold of with a pair of pliers and pull out. it came easily enough.
I have read of people getting this seal out with a screw driver - I had a brief go and decided it was not going to come nicely and didn't want to be harsh with it in case I caused more of a problem. With a newer squishy seal it may work like that but the old one was so tough it would not "give" at all.
With the seal out I had a look at the bearings and nothing looked untoward. I fitted the new seal which went in nicely but needed some gentle tapping with a piece of wood and rubber mallet at various angles to get it seated properly and evenly all around. As expected the lip of the seal protruded very slightly but it provided what looked like a good seal.
Put everything back together and topped up the CARC with new heavy axle oil from the Honda dealer and it worked a treat.
Very easy job. Shouldn't have worried as much as I did - largely down to lack of knowledge and also too much info online about the very worst cases.
Lesson learned? Don't panic Mr Mainwaring : )
Thanks to all who have previously shared their knowledge/experience and allowed me to fix this by myself.
Second post for things I have solved on my Breva with the help of this and other forums.
Last year very shortly after having my rear tyre replaced I started noticing a gummy deposit on my rear wheel. I couldn't work out where it was coming from but it had contaminated my rear brake pads and they were;t working that well which is why I had a look around the area to see what was going on and noticed it in the first place.
Initially I thought it had come from the oil vapour recovery hose and blown back onto the wheel. I cleaned the whole area up and thought I had sorted it until on a really hot day with the bike on the side stand I came out and noticed the pool of oil collecting on the wheel and could see it was coming from the area behind where the wheel bolted on.
After a quick google I was put in mortal fear that the bearings etc in the CARC had been destroyed and had all sorts of visions of taking the damn thing apart. The dealer wanted £75 to take the wheel off and inspect plus there would then be the charge for whatever part was required and the no doubt another charge to refit it. All the while I would not know if I should be riding it and would have to get it to the dealer and wait etc. Big hassle since it is 45 miles away in another town.
They were able to confirm for me however that the bike had had all the Guzzi specified things done to it that it was supposed to and there was no outstanding recall and it should not fall within the batch with the bad bearings,
So armed with the forums I removed the rear wheel.
First step was to remove the brake calliper - a complete breeze with two bolts.
Next was with bike on side stand and in gear loosen off the wheel nuts after removing the plastic cover over them
Then onto the centre stand and remove the bolts completely and pull the wheel off. Quite pleased with how easy this is compared to my BMW F650 as there is no axle, chain guard, sprocket etc.
I could immediately see that there was a small but steady weeping of oil from the sea around the hub.
After more internet research I turned up form somewhere that all you need is a bearing the same specification as the existing one and it doesn't necessarily have to come from Moto Guzzi. A lot of googling bearing companies was quite brain boggling but somewhere I read that the BMW R bikes have the same size seal used although it is slightly deeper and would sit out about 1mm rather than fully flush when fitted.
So I got on to BMW Motorworks which is an web parts company for BM's I use a lot and they are very helpful. I spoke to the guys in the parts dept and explained what I was after and why, they had never heard of a R seal being used in a MG before but they did day they do sell a few things to MG owners who want to avoid rip off prices. I spoke to someone in person to confirm the sizes of the bearing matched the sizes of the MG one and would recommend any one else do the same as I think the guy had to go through a few to get the exact right one -
http://www.motorworks.co.uk
The output seal was £20 instead of about 35 odd for MG. I had it the next again day in the post. I was surprised when I opened it because it was nice and squiggly rubber whereas the MG one felt like metal or had plastic. I guess it had hardened with age (7 years) and probably following wheel removal by the mechs at the Honda dealer I went to had got disturbed and was no longer providing a good fit.
I drained the oil from the CARC then with trepidation following instructions on the forum drilled very carefully with an electric drill into the seal, VERY carefully! then when I punched through gently removed the bit to make sure I didn't dump any metal fragments into the recess. Then I screwed in a large screw and once it bit used that to get hold of with a pair of pliers and pull out. it came easily enough.
I have read of people getting this seal out with a screw driver - I had a brief go and decided it was not going to come nicely and didn't want to be harsh with it in case I caused more of a problem. With a newer squishy seal it may work like that but the old one was so tough it would not "give" at all.
With the seal out I had a look at the bearings and nothing looked untoward. I fitted the new seal which went in nicely but needed some gentle tapping with a piece of wood and rubber mallet at various angles to get it seated properly and evenly all around. As expected the lip of the seal protruded very slightly but it provided what looked like a good seal.
Put everything back together and topped up the CARC with new heavy axle oil from the Honda dealer and it worked a treat.
Very easy job. Shouldn't have worried as much as I did - largely down to lack of knowledge and also too much info online about the very worst cases.
Lesson learned? Don't panic Mr Mainwaring : )
Thanks to all who have previously shared their knowledge/experience and allowed me to fix this by myself.
