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V7III Blown Engine?

Dealer is trying to order a replacement engine. There's a V7III in a warehouse but its different in that the racer has exposed edge cooling fins. I told them I'm interested in a carbon dark engine if one of those are available.
No word on the cause. I don't think they want to waste time opening it up and doing a post-mortem if the entire engine is being replaced anyway. They want me back on the road asap.
That sounds like a good dealer. Plus, I would hope the factory actually wants the entire motor back so they can disassemble it and see what happened. But that might be a bridge too far.
Glad things seem to be going in the right direction.
My Griso was one of the first in the USA, it was the first sold in MD and I bought it sight unseen. About a week into owning it I was riding down the BW Parkway when the fuel hose popped off the fuel pump. The dealer came out with their truck and picked me up. They took real good care of me. That helped a lot.
 
A "dark" engine with the red valve covers would be an attractive and interesting styling variation on the Racer. :D

I agree with the dealer: Get you fixed up and back on the road ASAP, let Moto Guzzi deal with and sort out the damaged engine. On a new, low mileage bike, no dealer should waste time trying to repair a catastrophic failure like that IMO, and just let warranty take care of it.

Jeez, I've been traveling for a month now and am beginning to get motorbike and bicycle withdrawal. I don't get home for another two weeks yet, and I can't wait to pump my tires back up and go for some Rides!
 
Last word from the dealer is he's going to get the V7 Stone engine which is already in the USA somewhere and see about putting red valve covers on it for me. This would be ideal for me since the Stone engine is all black with no bare fins. Whereas Google is showing me Carbon Dark pictures in both variations of all-black and bare fins. I prefer all black. This fin color thing is a subtle detail that I never noticed until the dealer mentioned the Stone engine wouldn't be an exact match to the Racer engine. Now that I'm aware I'm going to notice all the time. Before this happened I was planning to powder coat the valve covers in the off-season.
When I bought the bike I had a very hard time deciding between the Racer and Carbon Dark. I figured I could always black-out the racer tank, fairing, and silver bits if I wanted. It would be more expensive to turn a CD into a Racer (shocks, fairing, clip ons, and I'm very glad I got a tachometer.)

I suspect something else went wrong internally and the cam chain broke as a result. The starter spins seemingly without moving the pistons. I say this because I think you can usually feel the pistons bopping up and down just before it fires? I assume the starter is on one end of the crank and the cam chain is on the other? The bike rolls freely in gear. There's a little drag. So maybe the crank broke...or maybe its just that the valves are stuck open...

I'm having withdrawals too. I rode my GF's SV650 a couple times to get my fix but it wasn't enough. I'm a newbie but can tell there's a huge difference between the SV650 and my V7. The SV requires a LOT of counter steer force compared with the V7 which requires almost none in my style of riding. It's almost exhausting, that bike just wants to fold up in a lean.
 
Well, if the cam chain broke (it did) and the engine turned over, the valves are probably bent (it's a hemi head) and there's no compression. With no compression, the crank and pistons will spin very easily. The starter turns the crankshaft through gearing on the outer edge of the flywheel.

If the crankshaft was actually broken, it might be jammed and then the bike could not roll at all. So I doubt has happened ... the crankshaft is one of the strongest parts of the engine and is not likely to break unless a bearing seized up completely.

But it really doesn't matter. Good that you're getting a replacement engine ... and a dark engine with red valve covers will be cool. :D
 
IMG 7973 Bike left on the ambulance as a brunette and came back a redhead! The red plug covers are back-ordered but I dont hate the mismatch look...
 
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I have to report this motorcycle is completely transformed. Engine #1 must have been sick from day 1 because this new motor is leaps and bounds quieter and smoother. Engine #1 had valve clatter that was almost embarrassing but, not knowing any better, figured "that's what Guzzis sound like, isn't it awesome!?" At some point it developed a sound that I thought was the tool kit coming loose and bouncing against the engine. It was just a random clatter that didn't seem to match engine speed. Similar to what the clutch sounds like in neutral but less regular.
Throttle response and shifting is night/day. Seems like similar results from what folks report with Todd's remap. The bike handles turns and traffic so much better because it's not trying to buck me over the bars when closing the throttle. I can actually use 1st gear safely now. Glides through turns without upsetting the balance mid-way. I'm in love with this bike now.
 
Great to hear it!

Yeah, it looks good and a little different too. My LMV had the heads and valve covers baked with red powder coating ... guy who owned it before me did that ... and it was neat looking in the same way. It's tempting to do this with mine, or maybe go exotic with the carbon fibre valve covers.

But maybe not. I'm very pleased with my Racer just as it is. :D
 
I'll probably never settle on a look so I plan to keep changing it. Most of the appearance stuff I do is reversible. For example, the spades on the faring are peel-off vinyl, I may do something different some day. My kids have a die-cutting machine so it's cheap to generate new graphics.
I just got a few rolls of different color vinyl car wrap material. I'm going to wrap the rear seat cowling silver with a black stripe to match the tank & number plate. If I hate it, I'll peel it off.
I'll also Plasti-Dip the tank with a black section like the VII's and add the red stripe. If I hate that, I'll peel it off.
 
wow...I really like how that red head is fitting in the racer especially the red frame to go with it too!!!!!!!...

It is almost like they are meant to be!!!!!!
 
I love gettin old but at least i didn't embarass myself by posting without looking closer.

I was going to ask about the unique fairing design & then I read about "spades" so i was looking for an old Ace Cafe Spade & couldn't find it. Then I realized it was the cool looking fairing with a pile of small spades.

All in all I really like the direction you have taken & agree about lookin down at the red covers.
 
I wanted to tone down the silver fairing because from some angles it reminds me of a bishops hat. :D I wanted it to look like mesh from a distance but not look like I was trying to do a FAKE mesh when viewed up close.
 
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