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First V85TT Issue in the World?

I have had my V85TT over heat 3-4 times now (my first Guzzi and air cooled bike so not sure if this is normal). First was on a rough forest service road in 85F (29.5C) weather. I chalked it down to the slow riding, but thought any adventure bike should have been fine under the same circumstances. Few weeks later riding in city traffic (stop and go), I had the light come one. I tried to shut off the engine and even duck walk it a time or two if the traffic was only creeping along. It was about 65F (18.3C) out, so not hot out at all. Before the next ride I notice the oil was low (had about 4000 miles on the bike at that time). I convinced myself that the low oil was the cause. Then there is last week, 6000 mile service done on Friday, on Sat I am riding up from Seattle, say 20 miles of freeway, stop get gas, then get stuck at a light and have the engine light come on after idling for two rounds of the traffic light. This time it was 50F (10C) out. Now I am loosing confidence the bike will work for me, I do ride in traffic and I do ride in 100+ F temps. The dealer is 80 miles away, so I would like to avoid a run up there in the cold if it is just some loose sensors or there are other tricks of the trade for riding an air cooled bike I should know. I will check the lambda sensor to make sure it is fully connected, other than that any suggestions?
 
I have had my V85TT over heat 3-4 times now (my first Guzzi and air cooled bike so not sure if this is normal). First was on a rough forest service road in 85F (29.5C) weather. I chalked it down to the slow riding, but thought any adventure bike should have been fine under the same circumstances. Few weeks later riding in city traffic (stop and go), I had the light come one. I tried to shut off the engine and even duck walk it a time or two if the traffic was only creeping along. It was about 65F (18.3C) out, so not hot out at all. Before the next ride I notice the oil was low (had about 4000 miles on the bike at that time). I convinced myself that the low oil was the cause. Then there is last week, 6000 mile service done on Friday, on Sat I am riding up from Seattle, say 20 miles of freeway, stop get gas, then get stuck at a light and have the engine light come on after idling for two rounds of the traffic light. This time it was 50F (10C) out. Now I am loosing confidence the bike will work for me, I do ride in traffic and I do ride in 100+ F temps. The dealer is 80 miles away, so I would like to avoid a run up there in the cold if it is just some loose sensors or there are other tricks of the trade for riding an air cooled bike I should know. I will check the lambda sensor to make sure it is fully connected, other than that any suggestions?

I feel your pain. Like I mentioned, I own a V7II and never encountered any overheating problems even at 48+C weather (120~+F) and I NEVER turned my bike off at traffic lights.

The V85 though is a different story. Like I mentioned before, I believe what we are experiencing is an issue that may get resolved with a proper tune. My bike still runs hot at cooler temperatures now (20C~). I haven't ridden as much since I'm waiting to get the GT-Rx full exhaust and tuning treatment when it is hopefully done.

I would suggest you report this to your dealer and ride another bike if you have one until Todd can work his tuning magic around the V85TT and hopefully make it run much cooler with a proper tune.
 
I purchased a V85TT Travel last week. It had 38 miles on the clock. I rode it home on the freeway, at 4 to 5,000 rpm 70-80 mph, 75F temp. Then took 2 30-minute rides around the neighborhood over the next couple days. Perfect weather. 70F. Some hills, 4th/5th gear at 3-5,000 rpm.

Picked up a nail and the rear tire went flat and would not hold air (leaked out through the valve stem). The dealer picked up the bike and replaced the tire.

I picked up the bike today to ride home on the freeway. 95F. Kept it between 4-5,000rpm
at 70-80mph. Suddenly, the engine started losing power. Sputtered. Chugged. Responded intermittently to throttle. Pulled off the free onto an exit. Parked. While slowly idling the engine then shut off. There were no signs on the TFT display of any issues. Waited for the dealer van to again come and pick up the bike. We tried to start it: it slowly chugged in a terrible-sounding half-wobble. As if only one cylinder was firing. Shut it off and pushed it up into the van.

Will post updates. Should this happen to a new bike? I’m worried that there’s some construction flaws.
 
Will post updates. Should this happen to a new bike? I’m worried that there’s some construction flaws.
Hi Stephen, where are you in CA? What dealer? 99% of the time, these type of issues are dealer related. We've had someone here have one fail on a demo ride. Set up was not done, valve lash was so loose the push-rod fell out of the rocker arm. Hopefully they'll get it sorted with no damage done. If you're in SoCal, click on the SERVICE tab above for the best in the State.
Hope you'll add your info to the Registry also; https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/v85tt-registry-and-pic-thread.19358/
 
I purchased a V85TT Travel last week. It had 38 miles on the clock. I rode it home on the freeway, at 4 to 5,000 rpm 70-80 mph, 75F temp. Then took 2 30-minute rides around the neighborhood over the next couple days. Perfect weather. 70F. Some hills, 4th/5th gear at 3-5,000 rpm.

Picked up a nail and the rear tire went flat and would not hold air (leaked out through the valve stem). The dealer picked up the bike and replaced the tire.

I picked up the bike today to ride home on the freeway. 95F. Kept it between 4-5,000rpm
at 70-80mph. Suddenly, the engine started losing power. Sputtered. Chugged. Responded intermittently to throttle. Pulled off the free onto an exit. Parked. While slowly idling the engine then shut off. There were no signs on the TFT display of any issues. Waited for the dealer van to again come and pick up the bike. We tried to start it: it slowly chugged in a terrible-sounding half-wobble. As if only one cylinder was firing. Shut it off and pushed it up into the van.

Will post updates. Should this happen to a new bike? I’m worried that there’s some construction flaws.

No it shouldn't!!
 
Hi Stephen, where are you in CA? What dealer? 99% of the time, these type of issues are dealer related. We've had someone here have one fail on a demo ride. Set up was not done, valve lash was so loose the push-rod fell out of the rocker arm. Hopefully they'll get it sorted with no damage done. If you're in SoCal, click on the SERVICE tab above for the best in the State.
Hope you'll add your info to the Registry also; https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/v85tt-registry-and-pic-thread.19358/


I’m in NorCal and got the bike at Spirit San Jose. They’re checking it now...the dealer is starting a “warranty claim”... if it’s the dealer who dropped the ball, I can imagine there’ll be a tussle with Piaggio. But let’s see what they find, and hopefully there’s and easy fix and no deeper damage
 
Ok here's an update for you guys.

I went on a small "adventure" off-road with my brother on his KTM 1290 Super Adventure S. The terrain was mostly rocky, salty/ slightly muddy, and very deep soft sand. We were heading to a beach.

I'm not the most off-road savy guy, but I can pull my weight a bit. My brother on the other hand is an off-road nut.

I fell 3 times with the V85TT on the soft sand. I had probably 10-15 kg of luggage tied to the back of my V85, and I'm 70 kg AND I adjusted the preload so the rear suspension wasn't as soft, so it wasn't a weight issue I'm pretty sure.

So the 3rd time I fell, I was exhausted from picking up the bike the previous 2 times as well as the whole off-road experience, so my brother picked up the bike and set off to park the bike on harder terrain. He immediately commented on the clutch being somewhat useless for off-roading, at least for the off-roading we were doing, and of course he mentioned how it was down on power, but we all know that.

When we were done with our beach day, we headed back to my brother's house, which was around 100-120 km from where we were. Other than the off-road terrain leading to the main road, the entire trip was a 1 way non-stop journey, ranging from 130 - 160 km/h (100 mph max).

The ambient temperature was between 32 - 35 C at night, so it was cool and comfortable. The RPM at the speeds we were running ranged from 4,000 to 6,200 if my memory serves me right.

Once we arrived at his house, I let the bike idle for literally 1 minute max, and the engine overheat warning light appeared. Now the 3 falls I had were in no way hard falls, and as I mentioned they were on soft sand, so I doubt that anything mechanical or electrical is wrong with the bike.

I felt some heat during the ride but it was mainly from the cat (the bike REALLY needs either a fueling mod or a cat removal), or at least it felt like it was coming from the cat.

I immediately remembered a post from one of the Guzzitech members who posted a picture of a V85TT with an oil cooler. Could this be why? Does the V85TT engine not enjoy long rides at mediocre speeds? Did the engineers make a mistake? Or is it just my bike? I spoke to the service manager here (we only have 1 dealer and service center for Piaggio here) and mentioned this to him. He said he'll send Moto Guzzi and e-mail and update me with their reply.

Again, this is the second time my V85TT has overheated on me. On the other hand, my V7II never complained.

TLDR; Bike overheated again under normal circumstances.
I like the idea of an oil cooler, although I did read (probably here) that the V85 has been tested and found that an oil cooler is not necessary, given Qatar's climate, I would beg to differ, an oil cooler with a fan on it seems like a necessary add-on.
 
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