http://www.centauro-owners.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1894
What relays are you using?
If the answer is that you are stll running the stock relays, replace them all.
You can get good ones from DPGUZZI.COM
http://www.centauro-owners.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=11586#11586
All the Centauros had the "pump down" front brake problem from new, and it was shared with 1100 Sports and Daytona RS's built in the same 97/98 period. Basically, you can never tell exactly how far the front brake lever is going to move when you pull it. If you really want to get it to come close to the bar you pull, then half-way release, then pull again... and repeat. On many Centautos you can get the front brake lever all the way back to the grip playing that game.
It was probably a piston seal leakage problem designed in by the factory. Brembo stuff was really poor for a period in the 90s. Master cylinder piston seals rely on the pressure of the fluid to seal the lip, so without careful design, when pressure is released a little fluid leaks from high pressure to low, past the seal.
For most people, the usual solution is a new master cylinder. I use the same remote reservoir Nissin master cylinder that everybody used on Ducatis in the 90s to solve a similar problem on Ducatis with Brembo M/Cs. The Nissin was used on all kinds of bikes (Japanese, Triumphs, Cagiva Gran Canyon, you name it) and is high quality, inexpensive, and widely available. The brake feel is vastly improved, with the lever always pulling the same distance for the same pull.
Brembo fixed the problem around 2000, so if you want to stick with Brembo the master cylinders on 2000-on Ducatis and Guzzis are fine too.
Will
PS If the rear brake is fading you are likely using it too much. Think of it as a secondary brake, not to be used for serious, repetitive braking. Also, if you've faded it to the point of boiling fluid and lever moving without resistance, you should change the brake fluid.
Hey all,
Need to replace the front rubber. Wondering what some of you are using to get the front end up for wheel removal. Is there some kind of wheel chock that makes it relatively simple or do I have to lift it from the sump area?
'The Workman's Friend'
Flann O'Brien (aka Myles na gCopaleen)
When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.
When money's tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.
When health is bad and your heart feels strange,
And your face is pale and wan,
When doctors say you need a change,
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.
When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan,
When hunger grows as your meals are rare -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.
In time of trouble and lousey strife,
You have still got a darlint plan
You still can turn to a brighter life -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.
| bising wrote: |
| Was wondering whether our bikes share the same engine oil used on cars. Referring to TIPS, those names mentioned, eg Castrol GTX, are common engine oil for cars. Comments? Tks |
Oh good - an oil thread!
Yes in principal - with some minor reservations about the actual specification being more suitable for our 'old fashioned' Guzzi OHV engines. 
Why? - Conventional modern motorcycle engines have the engine and gearbox combined in a 'unit' construction. Therefore they must use specialist oils which can deal with the lubrication needs of the engine and also provide the extreme pressure (EP) values required for the gearbox cogs - and often the clutch assembly as well in bikes without dry clutches.
On the face of it this sounds like a good situation - only using one type of oil - until you realise that dedicated motorcycle oils can be much more expensive and almost invariably require changing at more frequent intervals.
As Guzzi engine and transmission assemblies are seperate entities - much the same as old style car assemblies - they can use oils which are formulated to function best in the different units. As you have noted, multigrade 'car' oil in the engine and EP oil in the gearbox and rear drive box. Benefits are lower overall costs of the oils and vastly increased service intervals - for the gearbox and rear drive at least.
I'd add that I feel more than happy that the gears are running in oils designed specifically to give higher shear strength, (85W-140 in my case), than engine oil multigrades.
Something else to consider is that it is being reported more often that the latest synthetic multigrades may not be the best selection for the older design of pushrod type engines - do a search on the forum and elsewhere for the reasons why - so cheaper semi-synthetic or dino oils might be better in our Guzzis with subtle differences between the hi-cams and other 2 valve engines of the same era. I'm sure that some recommendations will follow.
There's a lot of what I think is marketing and regulatory silliness going on with engine oils right now... the bike manufacturers have taken to recommending exorbidantly expensive oils, probably because they are in fact better at handling high temperatures, but equally (I believe) because they have marketing arrangements with the oil manufacturers. They have to get their oil for new bikes from somewhere, and I'm guessing they get it that oil for free if they write the right oil recommendation in the owners manual, and put the right sticker on the crankcase...
I was recently confronted with the spectre of a liter of motorcycle oil on a gas station shelf in Italy for 24 Euro... or roughly 37 US dollars per liter! Around $150 for an oil change! Total insanity from my point of view, and not something I'm going to get involved with. I've run my Guzzis for 100's-of-thousands of miles on what is now $3/quart 20W-50 car oil, and with all the hype right now I choose both the bike to ride and the oil in its crankcase with a certain level of critical thinking... Every bike is different, but marketing in the motorcycle industry has gone off the rails, and into orbit, in alliance with regulations that push towards oil viscosities closer to water than what the engine really wants: 5W oil, regardless of its stability in modern synthetic multigrade form, was not invented because your engine likes it.
That's the way I look at it, and act on it 
| 1. | All Along The Watchtower (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on lap steel) |
| 2. | Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Bob on keyboard and harp, Donnie on lap steel, Stu on acoustic guitar, Tony on standup bass) |
| 3. | High Water (For Charlie Patton) (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on banjo, Tony on standup bass) |
| 4. | Tryin' To Get To Heaven (Bob on keyboard and harp, Donnie on pedal steel) |
| 5. | Rollin' And Tumblin' (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on electric mandolin, Stu on acoustic guitar, Denny on electric slide guitar) |
| 6. | Visions Of Johanna (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on electric mandolin, Stu on acoustic guitar) |
| 7. | Million Miles (Bob on keyboard and harp, Donnie on lap steel) |
| 8. | Beyond The Horizon (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on pedal steel, Tony on standup bass) |
| 9. | Tangled Up In Blue (Bob on keyboard and harp, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic guitar, Tony on standup bass) |
| 10. | Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on lap steel) |
| 11. | Sugar Baby (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic guitar, Tony on standup bass) |
| 12. | It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on banjo, Tony on standup bass) |
| 13. | Nettie Moore (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on viola) |
| 14. | Summer Days (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on pedal steel, Tony on standup bass) |
| 15. | Ballad Of A Thin Man (Bob on keyboard and harp, Donnie on lap steel) |
| (encore) | |
| 16. | Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on lap steel, Stu on acoutic guitar) |
| 17. | Blowin' In The Wind (Bob on keyboard and harp, Donnie on violin) |