So just doing a regular maintenance job on the ’82 Moto Guzzi 850 T3 was not sufficient to turn this motorbike into a reliable touring vehicle and so we went for plan B. The oil leakage clearly came from the clutch housing and so that needed to be opened up. To get access to the clutch required the gearbox to be separated from the engine. With the Moto Guzzi this can only be done when the frame is removed from the engine and gearbox. First the rear wheel is removed along with the rear drive unit and cardan. Then the engine must be supported with a few blocks of wood and all the wiring, cables and carburettors are removed from the bike. After that the 2 frame parts running underneath the engine are disconnected from the frame. Once that is done the upper part of the frame can be lifted and wheeled away on the front wheel, leaving the engine and gearbox on the supporting wooden blocks in the middle of garage.

Now the gearbox can be unbolted from the engine, which gives us access to the clutch. The inside of the clutch housing was a big mess. Both on the engine side as well the gearbox side there was a thick layer of oil and dirt. It was clear that both gearbox and engine seals needed replacement. Replacing the engine seal requires the flywheel to be taken off. But apart from that it is straightforward. During the re-assembly of the flywheel and clutch requires the clutch plates to be aligned and centred.

The gearbox requires some dedicated special to disassemble. Plus another issue surfaced: the thread of the oil plug was damaged. But putting a tap in with the gears still in place is not a good idea. I turned to an expert with all these tools readily available rather than acquiring them. Lucky for me there is a Moto Guzzi expert right down the road: Teo Lamers in Nijmegen. That turned out to be less expensive in the end and they did a quick and nice job. With all new seals and O-rings in place the gearbox was reunited with engine.

During the disassembly of the gearbox I remove the old oil and I noticed more that usual metal in the oil. During the further disassembly it turned out why: a little ring had gotten stuck between the speedometer drive gear. This left the ring in little pieces and the drive gear with a broken tooth. This ring was obviously dropped in the gearbox. Luckily it did not further damage. And only replacing the drive gear and the little ring was sufficient.