Moving on to the Airhead clutch.......

[(RIP) maverick]

Well what can I say! Spend most of Saturday cleaning and redoing the carbs. Got gringo started with a severe miss and splutter. Decided to get the bike home at least and rode on one cylinder back to Stratford from Norbury thinking of all the possible reasons why the bike is suffering from fuel starvation after I have fiddled with the carbs. Coming into blackwall tunnel pulled the clutch to gear down for slow moving traffic when I realised there is no clutch. Mmmmm not good and blood pressure slowly rising to new stress level. Managed too not stop untill I got home still battering along on one cylinder. At home checked the clutch adjuster which by now is set all the way in and can't be set anymore. Park bike and go to sleep seems good option.

Sunday morning up and first thing checked the carbs and my suspicion that the float levels were set to much was right. Bend the one carb float level a bit and viola no problemo starts and idles like it did before. Now the clutch seems to not engage at all so read the book and seems there can be only two problems, one the clutch plate has worn down and the end of it's life after 60000 miles has been reached or the fault could range from worn clutch mechanism piston to a bend pushrod???
Have any body have problems with the clutch just leaving the building without saying goodbye?

It never slipped or had weird symptoms as you would usually get with a clutch. The one moment it was there the next moment it was gone? The book does refer to the piston getting stuck when worn oval and several small possibilities but before I strip the gearbox out again I would like to look at more simple solutions or options.

Finally my battery was also fully tickle charged and seems to be happy again. I reckon gringo is tendering for a new owner.....



Any thoughts?

Cheers

 

[judge]

Finally my battery was also fully tickle charged and seems to be happy again. I reckon gringo is tendering for a new owner.....



Any thoughts?

Cheers

Sorry Dirk only one thought, if that was a sales schpiel don't expect your door to be beaten down with excited punters!!!

 

[Howard Millichap]

After 63K my clutch was knackered. The splines on the gearbox input shaft (the clutch slides up & down on this) was also pretty close to rounding off. I would suggest that you replace the clutch now anyway and give the splines a good look while you're there. Of course you might find something else wrong on your way into it.
Bent push rod? Unlikely.
Thrust bearing? Maybe.

Good luck.

 

[Spanish Bob]

Sorry Maverick

never heard of that - I´ve had warning signs, but never an on/off situation.

I am unlikely to be a buyer as i already have two money grubbing attencion seeking Fraus in the parking - the next one will be new!

good luck

 

[Paul Young]

I had something similar happen when the thrust bearing collapsed. The adjuster on the clutch arm bears on a metal surface (shim?) inside the rubber boot at the rear of the gearbox. The problem is that the metal surface is in a plastic piston with a bearing in the other end which the pushrod seats in. The plastic piston broke and allowed the metal shim to move and this stopped the clutch from releasing. I hope you can picture what I have described but, if you remove the clutch arm and take off the rubber boot, you can pry out the piston & bearing without removing the gearbox. It should be easy to check as a start and may be a simple solution to check first.

HTH,

 

[(RIP) maverick]

The plastic piston broke and allowed the metal shim to move and this stopped the clutch from releasing. You can pry out the piston & bearing without removing the gearbox. It should be easy to check as a start and may be a simple solution to check first.

Checked it last night and that seems to be the problem to start with Paul. It does not release and is pretty much stuck at the moment. Tried to pull it out but with the suspension in place not an easy task. Will order a new piston/spring and see if that helps before taking out the gearbox again.

Thanks for the replies everyone!



ps. Andy if it was a sales pitch - I think everyone knows gringo by now and will walk many a mile around it wondering how it still manages to start! Think it will probably end up in the bikepark up in the sky......

 

[mikyh]

Clutch

Hello Maverick

Usually an abrupt event like this with the clutch points to a mechanical failure and not a worn out plate (and a worn clutch will slip, more and more)

Does the lever on the gearbox move while you press the lever?
OK, it's not the cable.

Open the lever mechanism and have a peek. anything unusual? can you move the pushrod? Can you take it out? I once had the pushrod stuck due to its seal being soaked with water, which made it expand and seize the rod (it's made of a semi synthetic material which contains wood(?) so I've been told).

Further probing will have you opening up the gearbox. And here you have major surgery to perform, including driveshaft removal.

I'm now in the proccess of taking my bike completely appart. Till now I found:

Half a pint of water in the driveshaft housing.
Busted driveshaft housing bearings.
One bolt from the few that hold the final drive, got unscrewd, jammed somewhere in the rear brake and lived there happily ever after for who knows how long.

And I did'nt get to the gearbox/clutch yet.

ATB Miky

 

[(RIP) maverick]

Hi Miky,

I think the problem is definitely the clutch operating mechanism i.e. the Piston and thrust bearing as they all seem to be in pieces.

Have ordered a new assembly and install it the weekend. Hopefully that will cure gringo for a while untill the next surprise! At the moment the beloved airhead is low on points with me as we human's can sometimes only cope when things go right and not when they go wrong.
I however have to start wondering when I look at the things I have replaced over the last 18 months if this bike is maybe pushing it's luck too far.

1. Coil
2. Drive Shaft
3. Bevel Drive Seal
4. Gearbox overhaul
5. Fork Seals
6. Battery
7. Front indicators rusted off
8. Front and rear brakes
9. Carburetor service
10. Catalyst box replaced with y-piece as it was rusted full of holes.

This is what I had to replace and does not include all the little items accuired for making touring more acceptable like the seat, GPS, Panniers.........and the list goes on.

So if you ride an airhead remember it is not for 2-3 years it is for life!

Will probably be in a better mood once the bike is on the road cruising about as it is suppose too.

Will post details the moment I get it sorted.

Cheers

 

[mikyh]

For life indeed

Man, I spent more than 2000 Euro's for parts, now I'll work on it when time permits, for a few months probably.

For life indeed.
But I still think it's one of the best bikes ever produced. For me it is best suited - light and simple, off road capable, comfortable for the long haul slow touring. A mule.

(There are no antibiotics for this one)

 

[Howard Millichap]

I however have to start wondering when I look at the things I have replaced over the last 18 months if this bike is maybe pushing it's luck too far.

1. Coil
2. Drive Shaft
3. Bevel Drive Seal
4. Gearbox overhaul
5. Fork Seals
6. Battery
7. Front indicators rusted off
8. Front and rear brakes
9. Carburetor service
10. Catalyst box replaced with y-piece as it was rusted full of holes.

This is what I had to replace and does not include all the little items accuired for making touring more acceptable like the seat, GPS, Panniers.........and the list goes on.

So if you ride an airhead remember it is not for 2-3 years it is for life!

I've had to do similar repairs to mine but there's probably no better bike to throw at the scenery than the airhead. From the OUTSIDE they're very robust.

 

[cookie]

if i read any more depressing stuff about unreliable airhead beemers on here...i'm selling mine & buying a quota

i thought these bikes were supposed to be reliable. i thought they'd as reliable as a guzzi anyhow!

for such a similar layout i find it surprising that beemers have so much more trouble. they have identicle charging systems yet every one on this board seems to suffer trouble with them. apart from the occasional alternator rotor going o/c, electrical faults are fairly rare on a guzzi.

i'd also say if either of my guzzi's didn't start within a couple of crank revolutions i'd be very surprised. not the case with bmw's.

anyhow, sorry for the rant. i'm not selling my PD for a quota. in fact i've just sold my cali so i'll have one of each

ps. had terrible trouble starting my gs at the w/e after it lying dormant since xmas eve. then i turned the tap to reserve & it went straight away.
also had to laugh when i was driving back into the garage, bike had tinyest of backfires & carb fell off.
in the interests of balance i would mention that backfiring through the carbs is something of a le mans feature & i've seen several fall off.

 

[mikyh]

Guzzi's are robust, no doupt

I had a Clifornia 3 for 3 years. After throwing away the electronic ignition and puting on the old points ignition instead, it was dead reliable.
I had the clutch cable torn twice, but it doesn't stop you. you just start it in 1st gear and upshift from there. Stop by killing the motor in first at stoplights and all over again.

The offroading wasnt great though.

 

[(RIP) maverick]

Received the clutch piston in the post this morning and it's way different than the one I have, mine is in about three pieces which would probably explain why it's not working properly. So now to get the old one out which is firmly stuck and refuses to get out.
Sorry for all the negative vibes guys but hey you can beat a man with a stick only so many times before he is going to say something. So armed with a big hammer, some petrol and box of matches I am off fixing gringo......


Cheers

 

[Rampant Stallion]

The clutch piston should be a one piece affair!
As yours has seen better days, it's about time it was replaced.
However, don't think that your problems will end there, matey.
A three-piece piston will not allow the thrust bearing to rotate. When the clutch lever is pulled in, pressure is applied, via the piston and bearing, to the push-rod. The push-rod, happens to 'push away' the clutch pressure plate, which could be rotating at up to, what, 7,000 rpm?
The pressure plate revolves, but the push-rod can't, cos you've broken its bearing, haven't you?
Hence, the pointy end of the aforementioned push-rod will have 'drilled' its way into the pressure plate, resulting in loss of clutch adjustment and the need to remove the entire clutch assembly and gearbox etc.
Good luck.
Anyone else in need of cheering-up?

 

[(RIP) maverick]

Sorted

Good morning all!!

Well feeling on top of the world again or more likely on top of gringo as I managed to sort out the clutch on the weekend. I had to strip the back suspension out to get all the clutch piston pieces, plastic, bearing etc out of the housing. Fitted the new piston and re-assembled the lot and off she goes again!

So very happy man that I am mobile at the moment and hope I can manage to ride more miles than sit and work on the bike. So see ya guys/gals around hopefully at the next meets.

Cheers and thanks for all the comments and advice!

 

[robbo]

Clutch

If your interested there's a good article in the *** club magazine this month about clutches.

pete