How to make her go ?

[Sibbo]

A bit of both my mate tells me, that's a start .

[ME 109]

A bit of both my mate tells me, that's a start .

Must be very carefull with nikasil bores, and honing.
Inspection of the barrels will reveal what can be done. If original hone marks are still plentiful, I wouldn't touch them.
Some hones will remove material, not good for nikasil.
Maybe a new set of rings is all that's needed, plus whatever the heads need.

[bbelk]

I went for a ride a couple years ago with a friend on a Guzzi 750. I was on my R65. My thoughts on the Guzzi were:

1) its beautiful and fun to look at
2) its underpowered almost as much as the R65 and the power is in the wrong places
3) poor ride - bouncy and vibraity
3) seat was very uncomfortable. I made it about 30 minutes on some good twisties and couldn't wait to get back on the R65.
4) it handled well
5) everything on it was plastic

Over all it was a let down. The guzzi 750 was the first big bike I ever rode back in about 1970. I had my Bridgestone 175 in the shop and the shop owner sent me to the bank on his guzzi. I was so blown away by the torque and power, but I was comparing it to my two cycle 175.

[Sibbo]

I went for a ride a couple years ago with a friend on a Guzzi 750. I was on my R65. My thoughts on the Guzzi were:

1) its beautiful and fun to look at True
2) its underpowered almost as much as the R65 and the power is in the wrong places Hmm...I'd be happy with what it has
3) poor ride - bouncy and vibraity My stardards are lower !
3) seat was very uncomfortable. I made it about 30 minutes on some good twisties and couldn't wait to get back on the R65. The seat is hard and the lean forward position would be bad after 3 hours
4) it handled well Indeed
5) everything on it was plastic Compared to a boxer yes, compared to a KTM not so much

Over all it was a let down. The guzzi 750 was the first big bike I ever rode back in about 1970. I had my Bridgestone 175 in the shop and the shop owner sent me to the bank on his guzzi. I was so blown away by the torque and power, but I was comparing it to my two cycle 175.

I found it very similar to my ST but with much more power, the rest of it was fine but I was happer on my ST except for the lack of power !

The riding position was "sportier" http://cycle-ergo.com/ but not as good for long runs.I didn't like the switch gear , I like the instruments .

[Bob Bennett]

G'day Pete,
My rebuild was for the same reasons as you have but I think my bike had twice the Kms.
It was 2011 and the dollar was healthier and Moto-Bins had a sale on 800cc Kit for 295 Pounds.
The kit was Barrels,pistons,rings,gudeons and gaskets seals etc, going that far I bought
big end bearings, timing chain kit, seals for rear main and oil pump, and for the heads
valves,guides,springs,etc.
It became the thing, that while your this far you might as well do that, (hope that makes sense)
So it looked like this at one stage.
Of course it went further with clutch bits and carby rebuild, all depends on whether or not it's a keeper
as to how many dollars you can or are willing to spend.
As for Mal's comparison to his 100 I have not ridden a 100, but the 80 likes revs I would have been keeping
it in the 5 or 6 band when we were riding in the mountains. The 80 seems to go well with the revs up.

Hope this helps
Regards Bob.

[Sibbo]

Twice the kms ? Yep, mine is not very old so the lack of performance is a bit of a mystery but then I'm making assumptions aren't I ? Just because the odometer registers 31000 I'm assuming it's 130000, it could be 100 thousand more .... or 200 k more , who's to know . I've only owned her 6 years .

I guess I'll decide on the amount of surgery and dollars as I go but realising I preferred her to the V7 was enlightening .

[Airbear]

Twice the kms ? Yep, mine is not very old so the lack of performance is a bit of a mystery but then I'm making assumptions aren't I ? Just because the odometer registers 31000 I'm assuming it's 130000, it could be 100 thousand more .... or 200 k more , who's to know . I've only owned her 6 years .

I guess I'll decide on the amount of surgery and dollars as I go but realising I preferred her to the V7 was enlightening .

That's the spirit, Sibbo. Mal of Dubbo told me a few years ago that the best way to tell how many times around the clock a bike has gone is to cut through the steering head and count the rings. Not sure about that meself.

I went through what you are contemplating a few years ago. The thing that drove me was curiosity - a commodity well known to be expensive at times. You will have fun and the investment will bring you and Tilly closer together. Have fun, and please keep us up to date with what you find before, during and after the project. Probably best to do a bit of decent riding after waiting so long for the shocker.

[Sibbo]

I'll be paying the nice man in town to do the strip down then the head and barrel work mainly because I don't have a sanitary place to do the job, I'm building a boat and I can afford to pay him. This of course marks me as a total wimp but so be it !

[George Ryals]

Is the Guzzi geared close to the same as your ST? I'd make sure that your seat of the pants dyno wasn't feeling a 3.7 geared Guzzi against your ST 3.0 gear or some such, before I started a serious rebuild looking for HP.

[Sibbo]

The ST is pretty low geared George, 3.36 , somewhere between the Guzzi and an RT.