Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict

A whining noise from the Quota meant time for a gearbox overhaul.

Actually I heard that non-authorized Guzzi noise last year. But I chose to ignore it. It wasn't that bad and I pretended it was the way it should be. But I couldn't anymore. The Quota was really screaming in agony when breaking on the gears. So last week I put the Quota up on the stand and tore its gearbox out. I've never done that before, and with only an Italian, German and French workshop manual to read, I turned again to the good lads over at the Guzzi Quota Forum. There I got a good description and quite easily dismanteled it all. I got some help from my buddy Tor to yank the gearbox the last inch out. While I was at it I also took out the now soggy rear Marzocchi damper to replace it with a new unit.

Assistance

I intended to fix the gearbox myself, but after a chat with OleJ at Askim MC - the only workshop I allow to touch my Guzzis - I decided to hand it over to him for a quick turnaround. He does in hours what I do in weeks. The culprit was the bearing on the input shaft, the one Guzzi call clutch shaft. OleJ has changed all the bearings and seals while he was at it. We're just waiting for one of the bearings which he didn't have to arrive, put it in and assemble the whole unit. OleJ will also find a set of clutch disks to me as I decided I'll change them too while I have the gearbox off.

New rear damper

Maarten Mager is a guy living south in Norway. He was the first Guzzi importer in this country. While he doesn't do that anymore he still maintains a small business where he, besides being a sidecar Guru, sells Wilbers dampers. I bought a pair from him to my T5 sidecar rig. The service he provides is so good I chose to order another unit from him to my Quota. It's a 640 damper with a remote compression dial unit. I need that because the Quota's rear damper is so tightly fixed to its place it's really hard to adjust the compression. In 10 days or so it'll be here, factory adjusted to my weight and type of riding.

I hope to have the whole thing ready when I'm going to the good guys at Averøy MC and their Pekaill rally. I'll let you know how it goes.