Ladies & gents,
I realise that this may have been addressed in previous threads some years ago, but I wanted to raise this again for the benefit of more recent Guzzi owners. My own 2014 Griso which I've owned for 7 or 8 months now has always exhibited that characteristic "clunk" when engaging 1st gear at a stop. "Yeah, they all do that" was the advice I was universally given. At times it's quite brutal, and makes a noticeable noise.
I learned to live with it, but I would still wince a bit every time it occurred. Anyway, I recently stumbled across another thread on some other site, and it included advice on how to eliminate the dreaded "1st gear clunk". Put simply, when at a standstill in neutral, engage the clutch but wait for about 5 seconds PRIOR to engaging 1st gear. The parts and pieces whirring around in there must slow down a bit, allowing 1st gear to be engaged with barely a sound, and none of that crashing, clunking mayhem that usually occurs. Using this method, I've sometimes even tapped the lever again to see if 1st gear had actually engaged properly. The difference is that obvious. First gear now engages with a click, not a crash.
Granted, many people don't worry about the bang and crash into 1st, but if you have an ear for mechanical sympathy and the 1st gear clunk plays on your nerves, I'd encourage you to try this method. Takes a bit more pre-planning in terms of timing if you're at traffic lights etc, but worth giving it a go.
Brent.
I realise that this may have been addressed in previous threads some years ago, but I wanted to raise this again for the benefit of more recent Guzzi owners. My own 2014 Griso which I've owned for 7 or 8 months now has always exhibited that characteristic "clunk" when engaging 1st gear at a stop. "Yeah, they all do that" was the advice I was universally given. At times it's quite brutal, and makes a noticeable noise.
I learned to live with it, but I would still wince a bit every time it occurred. Anyway, I recently stumbled across another thread on some other site, and it included advice on how to eliminate the dreaded "1st gear clunk". Put simply, when at a standstill in neutral, engage the clutch but wait for about 5 seconds PRIOR to engaging 1st gear. The parts and pieces whirring around in there must slow down a bit, allowing 1st gear to be engaged with barely a sound, and none of that crashing, clunking mayhem that usually occurs. Using this method, I've sometimes even tapped the lever again to see if 1st gear had actually engaged properly. The difference is that obvious. First gear now engages with a click, not a crash.
Granted, many people don't worry about the bang and crash into 1st, but if you have an ear for mechanical sympathy and the 1st gear clunk plays on your nerves, I'd encourage you to try this method. Takes a bit more pre-planning in terms of timing if you're at traffic lights etc, but worth giving it a go.
Brent.
