V85TT Maintenance

Most other bikes have the engine, gearbox, and clutch all submerged in the same oil, with free flow between all sections. In contrast, Moto Guzzis have a seperate crankcase oil, gearbox oil, and bezel drive oil. the clutch is dry singe-plate, much like a car. The factory calls for gearbox oil replacement every 18,000mi (30,000km), same as the bezel drive. Requirements Tools 17mm spanner/socket allen key oil catch tray if you have the stock catalytic converter, you need to fashion a chute out of plastic to redirect the oil over the top of the cat, or else clean the cat after it has oil dumped on it Parts 700cc of 75W-140 synthetic gearbox oil (SAE 75W-140 - API GL5). if you buy 1l of this, it can also do the bevel drive copper crush washer of (i believe) 10x14x1.5mm (same as the engine and the bevel box drain washers) Procedure undo the drain bolt, and drain the oil into the catch tray. if you’re using a decat pipe, the oil will fall straight down to the catch tray, if not, you’ll need to redirect the oil around the cat or let it get oily. check the drain bolt magnetic tip for metal shards. a small amount of fuzz is ok, big chunks are not. remove the old crush washer, replace with a new one, and tighten the drain bolt to 50Nm open the fill cap, pour in approximately 700cc of oil, and replace the fill port cover, hand-tightening

The v85tt is an air-cooled bike, and as such, regular oil and filter changes are imperative. The factory manual calls for an oil change every 6,000mi (10,000km) or yearly. if you’re using the bike particularly aggressively (racing, serious offroad/adventuring) then they recommend halving the mileage requirement. requirements tools 10mm, 13mm, and 17mm spanner/sockets oil catch tray (i use one with an inbuilt reservoir but anything will do) some pipe and a funnel to refill the oil (not strictly necessary but helps a lot) parts at least 2 litres of 10w-60 oil. i buy 4l bottles of Castrol EDGE Titanium. the spec calls for 1.76l, but you’ll probably end up spilling a little a new filter, these are specific to the newer small block guzzi engines - just buy from a piaggio group dealer or equivalent. i use a UFI 2553100. a new filter O-ring. these usually (always?) come with the filter, but in case you can’t get them, i believe it’s 46x3.5mm. a copper crush washer 10x14x1.5mm (you can bulk buy multipacks of copper crush washers on amazon - gutsibits are always out of them) optionally, some oil change kits come with a new washer for the filter, but it’s not copper so i don’t believe it’s single use, and i don’t bother to replace it. Procedure remove the 4x 10mm bolts for the sump guard, exposing the bottom of the bike. whilst you’re here, check that your 17 and 13mm spanners fit on the oil drain and filter bolts. go for a long ride. at least 30 minutes. the bike is air-cooled and takes forever to get to its full operating temperature pull the bike back onto your driveway and leave it idling until the last second. kill it and immediately open the 17mm drain bolt. let the oil drain for a few minutes, and give everything time to cool off before continuing. clean the drain bolt, inspecting the magnetic tip to see if there is much metal on it. a small amount is fine, big pieces are not. swap the copper crush washer on the drain bolt and replace, tightening to 50Nm. undo the oil filter bolt and remove the oil filter and o-ring from the filter cover dip the new o-ring into the old oil and fit it on the filter cover, then apply the filter spring-side down tighten the oil filter cover back to 25Nm. refill the engine so that the level is MAX when the bike is upright (not leaning to the left on the sidestand) crank the engine and let it run, making sure the oil pressure light goes out within ~5 seconds. let it run for a minute or two, kill it, wait a minute or two, and then top up if it’s sunk below the MAX mark replace the sump guard

I’ve always struggled with bleeding brakes. it doesn’t help that most gear you can buy is sized for cars and only sizes down to smaller bike brakes with awkward adapters which are prone to leak air. I noticed these Stahlbus brake bleeders which replace the existing brake nipples, and incorporate a one-way valve into the nipple itself. no matter if your pipe slips off the nipple, air won’t go back into the brake system. ...