Today started out with building the cradle to support the lower frame rails after I removed the rear wheel.
I installed the cradle and jacked up the bike enough to get the rear wheel off the lift.
It worked a treat. So I proceeded to remove the rear wheel, the final drive, the rear fender and the swing arm. The swing arm posed a bit of an issue because the bolts for the lower frame rails interfered with it’s removal. But I managed to get it out.
Next was the transmission. There were a bunch of bolts and other misc things to remove first, but I finally got to the point where I could unbolt the transmission and pull it back.
Only to discover that the lower frame rails were in the way of removing the transmission. Damn it. The cradle had to go.
So I had to bolt the transmission back on to the engine and re-install the upper transmission bolts. The upper transmission bolts are what support the rear of the engine in the frame.
So, how to support the frame if I have to remove the lower frame rails? Well, I guess I can support it back where the fender attaches. So I had to make a new support.
I installed the new support, removed the cradle and installed the jack under the oil pan to support the motor while I removed the transmission. Next I removed the right lower frame rail. It turns out in the front the lower frame rails also are captured by the front engine mounting bolt, so that was entertaining. But I managed to get it out without dropping the engine.
So, right frame rail is out, time to pull the transmission. I unbolted it again and pulled it back. What is it hitting on now? One of the previous owners (I don’t know how many people have tinkered with this bike) had installed an adapter plate to add an external spin-on oil filter. The adapter sticks out under the transmission and is in the way.
Side note: The Moto-Guzzi engine already had a spin-on oil filter, but it is installed inside the oil pan! Which means that every time you change the oil and filter, you have to drop the oil pan. Who thought that was a good idea? Additionally, the oil filters would occasionally loosen inside the oil pan, so a standard hack is to put a hose clamp on the filter so the screw part was against the wall of the oil pan to prevent it from unscrewing. The adapter moves the oil filter outside of the pan and gets rid of all that monkeying around.
I was planning on removing the oil pan and adapter anyway because I wanted to replace the gaskets, so I bolted the transmission back to the engine and frame again so I could remove the jack from under the oil pan. I’m getting tired of re-installing the transmission.
I pulled all the bolts from the oil pan and tapped on it to try and get it loose. It didn’t budge. I started to cuss the last person who assembled it with gasket sealer. I hit it some more, and then harder. Still nothing. (All you Guzzi owners can start laughing now.)
I decided that I’d better stop beating on it and ask for help. So I hit up my friend Lee who I know has worked on Guzzi’s before and asked him how to unstick an oil pan gasket.
He asked me if I had removed the bolts in the middle of the oil pan. What? Yes, there are four more bolts in the middle of the oil pan. I removed those and the pan pretty much fell off. Sheesh.
Okay, remove the adapter and temporarily bolt the oil pan back on so I can support the engine again and not leave it open to the elements. Put the jack back in and unbolt the transmission. Pull it back and… damn it, it still won’t come out. Looks like I need to remove the left side frame rail also.
At least this time I don’t need to fully bolt the transmission back in, all I have to do is put it back on the studs to hold it out of the way. Then I removed the bolts from the back end of the left side frame rail and the one bolt on the front and pivoted it down on the engine support bolt. I didn’t want to fully remove it because the engine would be unbolted from the frame completely at that point and I didn’t want to have to try and re-align it.
Pull the transmission back again and… with some twisting and cussing I got it out of the frame. Sure hope I can figure out how to get it back in again.
Finally I can move on. The next step is to remove the clutch and flywheel. That was pretty simple. There was no oil on the clutch assembly at all, so that’s good. There was no oil on the back of the flywheel which means the rear main seal should be good.
Inspecting the bell housing I would have to guess that the oil is leaking from the main bearing cap bolts and the crankcase breather valve gasket. As expected. I don’t think I’ll be replacing the main seal, but I’ll seal up the bolts and replace the breather valve gasket.
The clutch plates look pretty good and have some wear left, but I’m going to replace them with some heavy-duty plates since it’s pulling a sidecar around. And it’s only money…
Time for piles of parts pics.
Pile one.
Pile two.
Clutch/Flywheel (not very exciting. I’ll take a better pic of all the part when I re-assemble it, it’s a different design than I’ve seen before.)
And the current state of the motocycle.
Next steps are to finalize the parts order and then lots of cleaning… lots and lots of cleaning.
