I'm back!

[Pogo]

Hi all.

After five months in the shop, Prorider have run out of excuses to keep me off the road, and have given me back my Spyder.

She went in the week before Christmas, having seized with 20,000km on the clock. The cause of the seizure was a tooth broken off second gear. It got sucked into an oil gallery (I don't understand how), and blocked the supply to the motor. There was major damage to pistons, bores, cams, valves, crankshaft, gearbox...

Prorider decided to repair the damage rather than replace the motor (it's their call, I have no argument), then got stuck getting parts.

When I was getting to desperation, the last part (a crank pin) arrived and they got it back together pretty quickly. On the way, they found some more gearbox damage (didn't want to spoil their fun by finding it all at once I suppose).

The last thing they found was a stone gouge in the drive belt. This isn't a warranty replacement, and the cost was $650 Fortunately, BRP decided to help me out, I guess to make up for the delay, and carried the cost.

So now I'm back on the road with a rebuilt motor to run in. I'll be taking her up to the Ruptured Budgie Rally - http://www.motoguzziclubqld.org/Our%20Rally.htm this weekend. She'll be well run in when I get back.

If you see me and Lola proceeding at a leisurely pace over the weekend, give us a wave.

My sincere thanks to Shaun at Prorider, who did his best under difficult circumstances, and to BRP for carrying the cost of the new belt.

Cheers;

Pogo.

[Lamonster]

[Magic Man]

The last thing they found was a stone gouge in the drive belt. This isn't a warranty replacement, and the cost was $650 Fortunately, BRP decided to help me out, I guess to make up for the delay, and carried the cost.

Glad your back with us.

After reading your story I have a question though? Why was your belt so much money?

The BRP list for a belt is $245.99, and they already have the belt unhooked to do the motor job, so not much additional labor there?

SKU: 705500861 Belt1$245.99

Was there something else done along with the belt that was not usually covered under warranty making it worth so much money?

MM

[Pogo]

Glad your back with us.

After reading your story I have a question though? Why was your belt so much money?

The BRP list for a belt is $245.99, and they already have the belt unhooked to do the motor job, so not much additional labor there?

SKU: 705500861 Belt1$245.99

Was there something else done along with the belt that was not usually covered under warranty making it worth so much money?

MM

In full cynical mode, MM, I'd think that since the warranty repairs cost so much, somebody wanted to claw back some dollars.

In my usual sceptical mode, I'd think that I was already bent over a barrel with my pants down, so why not glove up and reach deep?

In reality I don't know, and I don't expect that the mechanic who gave me the price knows either, he just tells me what they tell him.

I did find dealer in the US who advertised the belt at around the USD250 mark, and I did intend to tell Prorider to not go ahead when they offered to 'see me right', so I let it go.

Cheers;

Pogo.

[Lamonster]

Glad your back with us.

After reading your story I have a question though? Why was your belt so much money?

The BRP list for a belt is $245.99, and they already have the belt unhooked to do the motor job, so not much additional labor there?

SKU: 705500861 Belt1$245.99

Was there something else done along with the belt that was not usually covered under warranty making it worth so much money?

MM

Location: Sydney, Australia

[Magic Man]

Location: Sydney, Australia

Now it all makes sense.

MM

[Pogo]

Now it all makes sense.

MM

Yep, riding around upside down changes everything.

Cheers;

Pogo.

[SpyderWolf]

Wel come back! Glad to hear they got your issues sorted out, and you are back on the road. Very sorry to hear it took them 5 months though, as that is starting to be a common number for repair times on here.

[strats]

Yep, riding around upside down changes everything.

Cheers;

Pogo.

Now that explains the scratches on my helmet.....

(Glad you're back on the road)

[Pogo]

I took Lola to the Ruptured Budgie on the weekend and had a pretty good run.

She is such a lovely bike to ride over a long distance. It took me a while to settle in, and having been so long off the bike, it took a while to realise what was not quite right.

She is back in the shop today for a 1000 km service and a look at some minor bugs:

backfire on over run (probably Y pipe gaskets need replacing after engine removal and replacement),

blipper not working on downshifts (this felt like a very rough downshift until I remembered that the throttle used to blip),

and some missed shifts, mostly 2-3 upshift.

I'm hoping that these are just minor fixes and that I will have her back soon. The Wintersun Run is beckoning...

It is a little concerning though that after so long, with so many opportunities to check, that there are any problems. I'll let you know how things go.

On the upside, the Toyo rear tyre worked very well, as did the Ikon rear shock, and I had a much better ride home with the front preload on max. Looks like a stiffer sway bar might be on my Christmas list.

Cheers;

Pogo.

[Pogo]

... some minor bugs:

backfire on over run (probably Y pipe gaskets need replacing after engine removal and replacement),

blipper not working on downshifts (this felt like a very rough downshift until I remembered that the throttle used to blip),

and some missed shifts, mostly 2-3 upshift.

I'm hoping that these are just minor fixes and that I will have her back soon. The Wintersun Run is beckoning...

Well there was a short delay while parts came in, but Lola is back home with a new blipper solenoid, new shift solenoids and new Y pipe gaskets.

She doesn't backfire on overrun, and the throttle blips when I downshift. It will take a long run to see if she is shifting properly, but I'm hopeful.

One last thing to ponder. She idles really rough when she gets warm, and atrociously when she gets hot. The last time she did this, it was the Y pipe gaskets leaking air into the exhaust and lying to the O2 sensor, but they have just been replaced...

The fuel consumption seems to have settled around 13 km/l. Not as good as my Kawasaki outfit (15), but tolerable.

I'm thinking of a mod to the belt guard to keep stones of it. Has anyone had any success with this?

Cheers;

Pogo.

[Pogo]

Well there was a short delay while parts came in, but Lola is back home with a new blipper solenoid, new shift solenoids and new Y pipe gaskets.

She doesn't backfire on overrun, and the throttle blips when I downshift. It will take a long run to see if she is shifting properly, but I'm hopeful.

One last thing to ponder. She idles really rough when she gets warm, and atrociously when she gets hot. The last time she did this, it was the Y pipe gaskets leaking air into the exhaust and lying to the O2 sensor, but they have just been replaced...

The fuel consumption seems to have settled around 13 km/l. Not as good as my Kawasaki outfit (15), but tolerable.

I'm thinking of a mod to the belt guard to keep stones of it. Has anyone had any success with this?

Cheers;

Pogo.

I'm getting to quite like talking to myself. It's like being at home.

The halo slipped gradually. The blipper has failed again, not consistently, but too often. And, with only 5000km on them, the Y pipe gaskets failed and the misfire returned.

I have found a couple of different belt guards. The idea seems to be to stop the rear tyre dumping stones on the belt by putting up a wall between them.

I'll investigate making one from some rigid plastic sheet and let me know how I go.

[mrb]

Hi Pogo

Should have some belt guards from Harvey (the "missing air dam" kits guy) here soon.

[Pogo]

Hi Pogo

Should have some belt guards from Harvey (the "missing air dam" kits guy) here soon.

Hi Martin.

Yeah, I saw them on the US side of this list, and another T-shaped one on the Ulysses page (I think). Something has to be done, given the Australia premium on the price of the belts, and the number of gravel roads here.

Let us know when you get them in what you want for them.

Cheers;

Pogo.

[Pogo]

... with only 5000km on them, the Y pipe gaskets failed and the misfire returned.

I have had a good day. It is always a good day when you learn something. The gasket that was replaced this time was the one at the other end of the Y pipe, so the top two are still functioning after 5000km.

The thing that interested me was that this could cause the same symptoms as (at least one of) the top gaskets failing. The bottom gasket is about 50mm past the O2 sensor.

The dystery meepened when I headed home. Within a few km the misfie had returned. It would idle on one pot with the second chiming in occasionally making the revs jump.

When I opened the throttle to move off it would pull away slowly on one pot, then suddenly and unpredictably leap ahead when the second one woke up. Very scary in peak hour traffic.

I turned back to the shop. On the way it ran fine at speed, but would drop to one pot when I slowed, and would stay on one pot for quite some time when I accelerated.

I left it idling badly while we discussed what had happened. "When did it start? What fuel had I put in? Gee it's hot,..."

No codes showing on BUDS, just really crappy running.

What I learned is that it is almost always the front pot that fails when they run like crap and don't throw codes, and that the fix is to replace the plugs.

Now, of course, I need to know, was this the cause of the misfiring in the first place? Have I unfairly maligned the Y pipe gaskets? And, what problem does replacing the plugs fix (or mask)?

Thanks to Sean at Prorider for getting straight into it when I returned, and for fixing the problem.