This project log details the rebuild of a 1976 Moto Guzzi V1000 i-Convert. The bike has lived, disassembled, in a garage since 1986 or thereabouts so that’s a good 25 years that it’s sat there. The aim is to have it running by the end of Summer 2011 and fully refurbished within about 6 months after that.
Newer updates appear at the top of the page, older content below.
15th October 2011 – Fuel Tank Cleanup and Sealing (4 hours over several days)
25th September 2011 – Handlebar and Switchgear Assembly (2.5 hours)
And we’re back. The left-hand switchgear that I ordered from the states came through last week, it’s a Domino 0060AA model that’s very similar to those that Moto Guzzi are shipping on newer bikes like the 1200 Sport so it seemed like a spiritual successor to the originals. This particular model has a 9 pin Molex connector that isn’t compatible with the bike’s stock wiring (the horns on the Convert have a permanent +12v feed and the stock switch controls the ground side) but since I’m rebuilding the entire harness it won’t be too hard to adapt the headlamp connectors to accommodate it.
We’re reusing the original Tommaselli throttle and bar grips along with the brake and clutch levers. The brake lever piston is jammed though, hopefully there’s some way to take it apart and clean it up. Now that I’ve got some funds again for the project I’ll be working backwards, starting with the headlamp and associated wiring and then moving on to the front forks, dampers, wheel and tyre, dashboard and the fairing itself.
4th September 2011 – Check In
Not much to report this week. Started a new job so the bike has been neglected a little while I get settled into my new routine. Have some switchgear on order from the USA which should arrive by Friday.
31st August 2011 – Alternator Check, Fairing Attachment (3.5 hours)
Took the alternator apart to do some electrical tests and discovered a break in one of the 3-phase AC wires which was repaired with a dose of solder. Checked that the new wiring harness attached to it alright (it does) and that the unit is reasonably watertight when it’s all assembled.
Also dug out the fairing again, gave it a clean up and mounted it on the frame temporarily.
The resistor in the first picture is a 10W, 47ohm part that will bridge the generator light and provide energising current to the alternator regardless of the lamp state. This draws 3.3W of power compared to the old 1.2W wheat bulb that it replaces and will hopefully kick start the charging system a little more forcefully. And yes, those crimps on it are terrible but the leads are soldered in place!
20th August 2011 – Switch & Relay Restoration, Fairing Clean-up (3.5 hours)
A few odd jobs this time around. I dug out the original Magneti Marelli relays that are used for beam flashing and starter motor duties and gave the cases a clean. Once the terminals were sanded they checked out just fine with the multimeter so there’s no need to replace them just yet. The switchgear hasn’t fared so well – a common problem, I gather – and will need resoldering along with a better route to ground adding in. Shown below are the left-hand parts that control the lights and horn, there’s some minor corrosion on the contacts but it’s all repairable given time. The right-hand kill switch is a goner unfortunately, the plastic has worn down internally leaving it loose and prone to cutting the coil current at inopportune moments.
I also had time to give the fairing a wash and to replace some of the lamps in it. Exempting the odd scuff here and there it’s perfectly sound and should bolt right on. The headlamp reflector (shown above with 4W sidelight lit) is a glass Cibié model which is nice to see. When I get the chance I’ll investigate mounting options for some Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) and suitable high-output H4 bulbs (Philips Vision Plus / Osram Night Racer).
8th August 2011 – Central Wiring Conduit Construction (1.5 hours)
While the state of the wiring is remarkably good given the 20-odd years it’s been sat around for, it’s worth going to the trouble of constructing an entirely new harness. Even more so when the bike is in bits and most of the terminals would need replacement regardless of the wires themselves.
Today was spent taking the main portion of the existing harness apart, documenting it and building new runs of cable to replace it. Not that it was all accomplished in a day, I managed to finish around a third of the job before running out of bullet terminals and heat shrink. Lesson learned: I’m a lousy estimator and an even worse measurer! I’ll come back to this once the next batch of parts arrive.
Even so, I’m apparently not too bad with a crimp tool and the new cables look good and solid. I wasn’t too impressed with the water resistance of the old terminal boots (the fitting is just too loose and there’s no seal at the cable end) so the replacements feature really tight fitting silicone boots and heat-shrink seals where possible. In the meantime there’s a battery tray (shown, precariously balanced, in the first photo) that needs a lick of paint and that’s the next job.
3rd August 2011 – LED lamps, Rectifier & Regulator Replacement, Wiring Loom (Many Hours)
That was a bit of a gap since the last update but our DSL has been out for a while, plenty has happened in the meantime.
Firstly, all of the parts that I ordered for rebuilding the wiring harness have arrived including the LED lamp replacements, replacement voltage regulator and rectifier. I’ve started to build the replacement loom, starting with the alternator-regulator-rectifier segment and so far that’s going pretty well (aside from underestimating the amount of wire required!).
Secondly, I finished rebuilding the fuse box (having cleaned all the terminals and acquired new continental-type fuses) and installed it on its bracket along with the new Euro MotoElectrics rectifier. After some quick multimeter tests it’s good to go.
And finally, take a look at that shiny dashboard unit! If anything those indicator lights are a bit too bright (I might drop them down to 9v with some in-line resistors) but the speedometer illumination benefits greatly from a BA9s light from superbrightleds.
12th July 2011 – Rust Removal and Painting (4 hours)
Over the past couple of days some of the metal brackets were removed, sanded down and repainted. Minor rust spots on the frame were treated with an acid-based rust remover ready for repainting.
The bracket holding the fuse box and rectifier was more rusted than most so all existing paint was removed and a new undercoat of red oxide was applied before a fresh coat of Hammerite. I also got to try out my new Proxxon IB/E rotary tool which works really well for removing rust spots and sanding in hard to reach places.
All the parts for the wiring harness arrived on Monday so once the frame has been cleaned up and retouched then a new wiring harness will be the next step.
4th July 2011 – Dash Switch Replacement + Fuse Box Cleanup (2 hours)
- Replaced the “emerg” and “light” switches on the dashboard with new equivalents. Fitted some new water-tight seals on top.
- Took the fuse box apart, removed all terminals and gave them a clean using fine-grit emery paper and then a liberal amount of contact cleaner.
3rd July 2011 – Wiring Harness Parts Ordered
The parts needed to build a new wiring harness are on their way. That includes all the necessary cables, sleeving, connectors and insulation save for a couple of Molex rectangular connectors that still need to be sourced.
26th June 2011 – Bulbs and Part Orders (3 hours)
Today was spent tracking down LED replacements for the majority of bulbs on the bike. I’ve listed my findings in the table below. Keep in mind that this bike has a custom fairing so the front indicator bulbs aren’t stock as far as I can tell, everything else ought to be standard though.
[toggle title='Show Lamp Replacement Table' close='true']
| Lamp Type | Old Bulb | New Bulb | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Headlamp (Beams) | Orion 12v 60/55W | Osram Night Breaker Plus (64193NBP-01B) | H4 Fitting |
| Front Headlamp (Park) | Norma 12v 4W | BA9S-WHP9 | BA9S Fitting |
| Tail / Brake Lamp | Narva 12v 21/5W | 1157-R18-T | BA15D Fitting |
| Rear Indicator Lamp | Narva 12v 21W | 1156-A24-WV | BA15S Fitting |
| Front Indicator Lamp (non-standard fairing) | 44mmx14mm Festoon Bulb | 4410-AHP12-DI | Festoon 8.5 Fitting |
| Speedometer Lamp | Generic 12v 3W | BA9S-W-12V | BA9S Fitting |
| Dash Indicator Lamp | Generic 12v 1.2W | 74-xHP | Wedge Base Fitting |
| Number Plate Lamp | 12v 10W (#97 bulb, BA15S fitting I think) | 67-W15 | These may or may not fit well. I'll update this note when I know for sure. |
To refresh the charging system I’ve put in an order for a solid-state voltage regulator and a new rectifier from Euro MotoElectrics (part numbers VR-Ext/Adj and BOALT-RECT063 respectively) along with some Silkolene Contact Cleaner for refreshing the blade terminals on any parts that can be reused.
Finally, I sent off for some new switches for the dashboard (part no: NKK S322F) and a pair of N1030B switch covers to replace the old ones that had become brittle and split over the years.
18th June 2011 – Wiring Diagrams (3 hours)
Using the wiring diagram that was kindly drawn up by Carl Allison I began to map out the connections and dependencies between components and how the schematic relates to the actual wiring loom I have in front of me. A couple of things strike me as interesting with the Guzzi wiring harness:
- The ignition switch (38) has a worrying amount of current flowing through it in a worst-case scenario. Power for everything except the auxiliary light, turn signals and turn signal dash indicators goes via this switch. That’s 13.8 amps at 12v with the stock 40/45W headlamp and 16.3 amps with the uprated 55/60W lamp. That’s not including the horns which have a 7A consumption all by themselves.
- The left dashboard switch (13) is a double pole, double throw model just like the right hand one. However one side of the switch is left disconnected and so could be used to attach an additional component. Power flowing via this switch comes from fuse 5 and is not routed via the ignition switch so it should be possible (if undesirable from a charging perspective) to attach a reasonably high-current device here.
I did a few mistakes in Carl’s diagram (they may simply be differences between the 1975 and 76 models) which is that the low and high beam connections (parts 8 and 9 respectively) appear to be reversed. This would mean that the flash button on the handlebars would flash the low beam light and that high beam would activate before low beam when turning the left-hand switchgear. Secondly, the diagram shows 18 pin and 15 pin rectangular connectors in use when on our bike these are 15 pin and 12 pin respectively. Aside from that the schematic seems pretty solid and it’s much, much better than working from the originals.
14th June 2011 – Wiring Inspection, Polishing (1.5 hours)
I took apart the dash/control console to find that the state of the wiring inside is actually remarkably good. The only sign of corrosion is a little surface rust on the speedo casing. The plan is to eventually replace the entire wiring harness with custom-built cabling (and this includes the dash) but it’s good to see that the spade terminals will only need some light cleaning.
Eventually the 1.5W indicator bulbs used in the dash will be replaced with 74-xHP LED bulbs from superbrightleds for better daylight visibility and vibration resistance. I gather that these are more-or-less a drop-in replacement for the incandescent bulbs, with the exception of the charge warning lamp which actually supplies energising current for the alternator rotor. Switching this bulb for an LED replacement will cause the rotor to become de-magnetised over time – the solution being a parallel resistor to provide the needed current flow. (This phenomenon is well documented on WildGuzzi, thread here).
The switchgear hasn’t fared quite as well with the engine kill switch and starter switch on the right handlebar both showing a good deal of wear. The kill switch feels very loose and will probably need replacement so I’ll try to track down a suitable Ducati / Yamaha / Honda switch to fit in its place. On the left handlebar the lighting switches feel solid so a simple re-wiring should suffice there. I plan to do as many others have done and insert relays into the wiring harness so that the full headlamp current no longer flows through the handlebar switches, that ought to go some way towards reducing the voltage drop.
I identified replacement parts for several of the components used in the dash. It’s surprising how many of the original parts are still being manufactured today. The only components I haven’t yet been able to track down are the switches used for the hazards and auxiliary light. As far as I can identify these are double pole, double throw (DPDT) switches rated at 2.5A @ 125VAC (although confusingly also rated 6A @ 125VAC on the other side of the same switch).
| Original Part | Replacement Part |
| Spade Terminal Covers | AMP180984 |
| Rubber Switch Covers | N1030B |
| Speedometer Lamp | BA9S-W |
| Indicator Lamps | 74-xHP |
I also took the opportunity to do some polishing work on the engine. The cylinder heads have been bead blasted in the past to clean them up but it’s my intention to give the entire block a good going over with some Autosol metal polish. The front of the block has turned out really well so far – if you can see your face reflected in the alternator cover that has to be a good sign, right?
11th June 2011 – Test Assembly (5.5 hours)
After a long hiatus funds are ready and free time is set aside. We’re good to go! Pulled the parts out of storage again but this time assembly is a little more permanent. The front wheel and forks were assembled without much trouble along with the fuel tank and seat.
The fuel tank shows signs of rust inside where fuel had sat at one point but it’s fairly minor damage, nothing that a flushing and sealant application won’t take care of. I also plan to have the frame and tank blasted down and powder coated to remove a load of paint chips and surface rust.
Apologies for the poor photo quality, these images are all from an iPhone. I hope to have a more substantial camera shortly.
19th September 2010 – Visual Inspection (2 hours)
Pulled the parts out of storage for a visual inspection. Given the time that’s passed everything seems in remarkably good condition, probably due to its low mileage (~11,800) and the fact that it’s been kept dry.
The engine block was mostly rebuilt 2-3 years ago with new seals, gaskets, etc where needed. The cylinder heads were also bead blasted and polished to remove any corrosion. It has sat for a while but can be easily turned over by hand using a ratchet wrench so I don’t doubt that it’ll work when the bike is fully assembled.
