Changing and tweaking a gear pedal for my V7lll 750
V7lll and IV right and left side foot levers, which curve under the pegs rather than over the top as earlier V7 models, are vulnerable to bending damage when bike is dropped or crashed. New levers are horribly expensive, if you can even get hold of one. Whether new, or second-hand, replacement can be confusing due to variation in part design, and alternative levers could change tie rod alignment, affecting shift quality. * See Note 1) below.
Having bent my V7lll gearchange lever, what solution is there, apart from paying around £200 and waiting weeks for delivery of a new part? Damaged levers can be somewhat corrected by bending back to shape, but I never succeeded perfectly (maybe not enough heat) and there’s fear of the alloy snapping. There are at least four, new part and modded part options for replacing or improving the V7lll 750 and the V7 850 gear pedal, maybe five if a later(?) factory-modded(?) part 2B014642(?) can be found. * See 2) below.
Parts suppliers’ data says the same gear lever fits all these models: V7lll 750 2017-2021, V7lV 850 2021 onwards, V9 Bobber and V9 Roamer 2017-2024, so I bought an available second-hand V9 pedal. But I found it significantly different and it would put the V7 tie rod linkage out of line. This V9 lever’s linkage-attachment post (vertical on V7) is angled inwards from the lever towards the bike, plus it also has a long, threaded boss protruding inwards, where the ball joint attaches. Using it on a V7lll makes the tie rod to splined gear arm sit out of alignment, the forward joint being moved inboard. Alignment might be ok with a forward control pedal and a long tie rod between joints (as found on some V9s and shown in V7lll parts diagrams) but it’s not good with the real-V7-world short tie rod. * See note 3). The kinked angle of the link rod, back to the splined arm, will be prone to binding and make shifting awkward.
A smaller difference between V7 and V9 parts is lever length. The V9 pedal is very slightly longer than a V7’s: not necessarily a bad thing, as people complain about not having enough boot space under the V7 toe peg for upshifting.
With modification, shown here, a V9 gear lever is a good solution for a V7. Also, as previously described by others, a similar type of the ‘bolt-through’ part of the modification can be done to a standard V7 lever, 2B003348, to make more secure, straight-through connection to the lever post with external fastening nut. (I haven’t experienced problem with the standard closed thread arrangement). * See 4) below.
Photos below show the modification.
I drilled the closed end of the link-attachment post on V9 lever and tapped it, to give a straight-through, threaded hole for the ball joint’s threaded stem. The long protrusion of the threaded boss was cut off, and thickness was reduced at its outside, angled side, to fit a nut to the stem for additional security. With pedal mounted in neutral position and its link-attachment post sitting vertical from the footpeg mounting bracket, parallel to the splined shift arm it links to, the front-aft tie rod is in straight alignment between ball joints. It operates perfectly. A further job will be to fit rose joints and bolts in place of the original ball and stem parts.
* Notes. Lever design variation and maintaining good tie rod alignment for effective shifting.
1) Online listings of the well-known parts suppliers say that the one gear lever part fits all these models: V7lll 2017 – 2021, V7lV 850 2021 on, 850 V9 Bobber and V9 Roamer 2017-2024. However different models and years came with different gear lever parts and placements and so different length tie rods too. Interchanging could result in out-of-line linkage and likely bad shifting.
2) Not counting the entirely different rear set versions for V7 and V9, I see four different lever parts for V7lll and V9: numbers 2B003348, 2B003349, 2B014642, and 2B014644. I guess the 2B003348 lever (as fitted to my 2019/2020 V7lll) is most common. Some suppliers say that part is discontinued, superseded by 4644—however the supplier’s photo of the 4644 they are selling has part number 2B003349 on it, so I don’t know what 2B014644 looks like. I can’t find part 2B014644 in a search of any supplier. Otherwise, 2B003348 is ‘out of stock’. Those gear shift part numbers 2B003348, 2B003349’ B014642, 2B014644, plus modified versions with the boss drilled and/or cut short, make my ‘at least four’ options.
3) Weirdly, a Moto Guzzi parts diagram for my own 2020 V7lll bike, shows the gear lever in forward control position with long tie rod, which these bikes do not have. I have never seen a V7lll like this (maybe it’s first, early versions… or a USA thing?). What a pickle! It’s no wonder I’ve heard dealers say Piaggio-Guzzi parts referencing is a shambles.
4) The tie rod ball joint’s threaded stud can break where it screws into the shift lever post. This is an issue highlighted in forums and by Youtube commentators. In my view, this disaster can happen if the linkage hasn’t been checked and maintained: the ball joint stem unscrews, sits loosely connected, part in and part out of the gear lever, and breaks under shifting stress. Linkage fasteners need simple checking and maintenance to avoid experience of poor gear shifting, or worse, a broken part. Keep the joining parts tight, not sloppy. To make the joint attachment more secure, ball joints can be replaced with rose joints and bolts. The attachment post on gear lever, which has a closed end, is drilled through so a stronger bolt from the rose joint, with extra shaft length, is secured with an external nut to the gear lever, rather than screwed into the gear lever itself. This has been described in various online posts. Moto Guzzi perhaps adopted the ‘through bolt’ modification on later bikes (later 850 V7s?). I think I read about it in a forum and I do see a photo of a used shift lever with plain, vertical attachment post, no threaded boss, simply a bolt hole. I cannot find this lever online at any new parts supplier though, and I wonder if the photo is a part modified by a user who removed the threaded boss. Still, it does have a mysterious new number on it and I do think I have seen reference to this factory change on lever-linkage attachment: can anyone confirm?
Photos:
-2B003348 standard lever
-2B003348 standard lever, closed end boss
-V9 lever, inward angled, extended, closed end boss
-2B014642, late factory or user modded?
-V7 and V9 linkage posts
-standard linkage, closed threaded boss on gear lever post
-V9 lever post, inside boss cut off, outside hollowed for nut
-V9 lever mod
-cut post, aligned rod
-cut post, aligned rod
-cut post, aligned rod, securing nut on threaded ball joint shaft
-vertical arms aligned, tie rod aligned
-vertical arms aligned, tie rod aligned
-modifieded V9 lever on V7
-John Auchterlonie’s modded 2B003348
NI GUZZIs 