Recent purchase

[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

I have recently purchased a Moto Guzzi 1955 Superalace and I am finding my way around it at the moment, checking and giving it a service before riding it. This is Guzzi number six.  Sold my last one five years ago but unable to stay away from them. It's an illness.

[RICHARD YAMANE]

Congrats, nice find!

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

On 02/11/2026 2:56 AM PST George Smith Located Norfolk UK <george...@outlook.com> wrote:

 

 

I have recently purchased a Moto Guzzi 1955 Superalace and I am finding my way around it at the moment, checking and giving it a service before riding it. This is Guzzi number six.  Sold my last one five years ago but unable to stay away from them. It's an illness.

 

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[Richard Harding]

Congrats George! - I have a slightly more patinated :) one I bought a couple years ago - here is a picture of me (behind a very nice bmw replica) taking part in the west wilts vmcc recreation last year - long day on the Superalce including 14 miles of green lanes (have some video somewhere)

[Richard Harding]

and one at the finish - well over a hundred miles by the time I got it home :)

[Phil Skinner]

Here is my 1954 Super Alce that was sold by the factory directly to the army in Torino. Believed to have been used for ceremonial duties hence the gloss paint, pin stripes and chromed parts. I’ve owned this since 1979 when I bought it in Parma with a view to restoring it when on pension. 

Sent from my iPhone

On 11 Feb 2026, at 19:07, Richard Harding <ric...@sprydon.com> wrote:

and one at the finish - well over a hundred miles by the time I got it home :)

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<ISDT-Finish.jpg>

[Phil Skinner]

Sent from my iPhone

On 11 Feb 2026, at 20:18, Phil Skinner <phil.sk...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here is my 1954 Super Alce that was sold by the factory directly to the army in Torino. Believed to have been used for ceremonial duties hence the gloss paint, pin stripes and chromed parts. I’ve owned this since 1979 when I bought it in Parma with a view to restoring it when on pension. 

[Alan Comfort]

Looks like a keeper.

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[Alan Greenslade]

Nice. 

Regards

Alan

 

Alan Greenslade

NZ

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[guzz...@aol.com]

Welcome to the "Super Elk " club Mr. Smith

Tim

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.

[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I have not found any major problems yet. New battery required, throttle cable frayed to be replaced, tappets adjusted. Looking forward to my first ride after oil change etc etc. I intend leaving the paintwork as it is with just a clean. Would not win any concours but it's the way I like it.  a little advice please, should I put some engine oil on the exposed valve stems and if so how often. I am a member of Norfolk UK section VMCC and the roads here are ideal for a steady ride with lots of quiet roads and good company.

[robert mcwilliams]

Roads are good for quiet ride??? Apart from the snow and ice and rain!!! Nice and warm out here. This reply powered by jealousy, Robert.

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[Alan Comfort]

"Well that's a fine motorbike. A girl could feel special on any such like" as the old song goes. It refers to a Vincent Black Lightning, but it applies equally well to just about any Guzzi single. 

They say that the old British singles fire at every fence post, but the Guzzi singles fire at every second fence post. There is something special about thumping along on one of these Guzzi singles.

Congratulations on your purchase, I am sure that you will enjoy this for many years to come.

Alan in Roberts Creek

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[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

The good news is that the SuperAlce is taxed and insured, the bad news is that I have damaged my knee so no rides for a little while. Never having owned a bike with exposed valve springs can I ask a question from those that know. Should I add a few drops of oil to the valve stems or are they lubricated from inside rocker cover.

[jerry atric]

Hi George, no need to add any extra oil, it is designed to work just as it is. Best of luck. Chris (previous owner, still suffering seller's remorse)

[Patrick Hayes]

On 4/5/26 02:43, George Smith Located Norfolk UK wrote:
> Should I add a few drops of oil to the valve stems or are they
> lubricated from inside rocker cover.

The answers are YES and YES.

Guzzi designed in an automatic stem lubricating system. The intake
valve guide has a side hole/passage that leads to the rocker chamber.
In theory, the intake suction stroke can pull a small amount of oil mist
from the rocker chamber past the valve stem and into the combustion
area. Assuming some combustion is incomplete, a bit of that residual
mist can hit the exhaust stem on the way out. Total loss lubrication.

If you have faith in that system then you wouldn't need any external
lubrication. I'd prefer to add something external for assurance. Belts
and braces.

Has the top end of your engine ever been apart?

If the intake valve guide was ever replaced, did the technician finalize
by cross drilling the oil suction hole?

If the rocker box was ever removed, did anyone notice that one of the
support spacers has an internal diameter which is much larger than the
bolt's outer diameter? That slop space is intended to allow the intake
suction to transport oil mist over to the intake valve stem.

There are reasons why the original design system my not be operational.
Spray a little lubricant every 100km.

Just my opinion. YMMV



--
Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA
Falcone-NT and SuperAlce
www.motohayes.com

[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

Thanks for the answers to my question. As the bike is 70 years old I should think that the engine has been apart at some time as there is evidence of gasket sealant on joints. I will take the suggestion of Patrick and add a few drops of oil occasionally. The bike came with the original grease gun and oil can. The oil can spout has a bend in it as shown in parts manual making it easy to reach valve stems. I wonder if this is what Moto Guzzi supplied the oil can for. Their inovations never cease to amaze me.

[jerry atric]

I've got to say, Patrick has probably forgotten more  about these bikes than I'll ever  know, indeed he has given me a lot  of advice over the years of ownership. However, I had the head off this bike as it had a seized exhaust valve when I bought it. I fitted new rocker bushes, noting the different designs for the oil way. I did about 4 thousand trouble free (except mag and gear change spring) miles on it, no problem. Having said that, where's the harm in a little extra oil?🙂

[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

I went for my first short (5 miles) ride today. It is certainly different to anything I have ever rode. Must admit I was nervous after riding my lightweight Ducati bevel singles with very good brakes. The one problem I had is that although the clutch disengages fully the gearbox crunches when changing gear. Is this normal? Perhaps it needs a good run after being stood for a while or maybe I will have to stamp on gear lever. Any suggestions welcome. There are many tractors in Norfolk but they are overtaking me at the moment, must get more practice.

[Alan Comfort]

These bikes have a "crash box" with gears that look more like something out of a tractor rather than a motor cycle. You should expect a bit of noise when shifting gears if the engine speed does not match the road speed, especially when down shifting. With practice, the shifting will become easier (and quieter) as long as you take your time during the gear change procedure. You can pretty much forget about shifting into low gear while the bike is moving, although it can be done with some practice.

Make sure that your clutch is able to fully disengage when the handlebar lever is fully up against the handlebar. Even the slightest drag will take more effort to shift gears smoothly. A thorough "clutch flush" and a small amount of free play in the cable are essential for smooth gear changes. Any buildup of oil on the clutch plates will cause drag.

Ciao, Alan in Roberets Creek

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[RICHARD YAMANE]

While Ducatis arent know for their slick shifting either I've found these bikes take a patient and deliberate foot. I know these were raced in the day but they are not designed that way. The good thing is the slow shifting gives you extra time to find the heel brake.

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

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[jerry atric]

Hi George, Alan is spot on with what he says. I think the straight cut  box was a  requirement  of the Italian military. The other thing is that you can happily pull away in 2nd gear most  of the time.

[Paul Compton]

On Tue, 7 Apr 2026 at 19:09, jerry atric <baconsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi George, Alan is spot on with what he says. I think the straight cut box was a requirement of the Italian military.

Almost every motorcycle gearbox still has straight cut gears.

Motorcycle gearboxes are usually constant mesh, that is every gear is
engaged with its partner all the time. One of each pair will be free
to spin on its shaft and drive is selected by engaging a dog clutch
for each ratio.

Before constant mesh, there were crash gearboxes. Here the actual
gears are slid in and out of mesh. Reverse is still done this way on
most cars and industrial gearboxes that didn't need to change on the
fly often still are. A tractor might be quite capable of pulling away
in all of its gears. You just pick the one you need for the task at
hand and go, not ever changing whilst in motion.

A dog clutch might have between 3 and 6 teeth, or dogs, so the gaps
for engagement are quite large. Do even a half decent job on the
timing and/or rev matching and you'll get a quiet selection. With a
crash box, you're trying to get the many small teeth of one gear to
slip into the gaps on another. Rev matching and sometimes double
de-clutching being the order of the day.

Synchromesh adds a means of matching speeds to a constant mesh 'box.
In its very simplest form, you have a friction clutch that brings the
two halves of the dig clutch to the same speed as the engage.


--
Paul Compton
www.paulcompton.co.uk (YouTube channel)

[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

Thanks for all the wise words. I shall have to try to remember the old cars i used to drive. It all makes sense now aqnd I shall have to pay more attention to engine speed. Chris, as there are no hills in Norfolk I have already found that 1st gear is redundant and 30mph in top gear is comfortable, almost a semi automatic.

[John O Regan]

Hi All,

Up until the falcone models the gearboxes were "crash" (all indirect)

First thing to do is the clutch wash using kero or similar.  Do not add oil afterwards to the primary drive/clutch

If the clutch was previously abused the plates may be warped, wear (notches) in the clutch inner and outer "drums" will stop the plates seperating.

On My 1948/9 GTW, the ritual to engage first is to let the revs drop to almost stalling and smartly jab it into first and grab some throttle to prevent the engine stalling.. When changing up a slow and deliberate movement and keep your foot on the lever to make sure the gear has engaged. (feel the gears engaging)

If approaching a stop, I leave the bike coast down in top and in the last few meters quickly change down, down,down.

I had a short ride on a 50's Falcone last year and the difference between them is huge

John

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[jerry atric]

Thanks for explaining the evolution of the gearboxes, John, Super Alce is the only postwar single I've ridden. The military requirement was presumably as opposed to the gears then fitted to the Falcone.

[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

Hi John

Thanks for the gearbox explanation. I have come to the conclusion that I have been trying to change gear at to high engine revs and doing the usual thing of giving engine a rev before changing down, I have had a read of my 'Moto Guzzi Complete History Book' and although my Superalce is a 1956 model, coming to the end of production, it is derived from the Alce which in turn was based oh the GT17 with very few changes to the gearbox. Therefore gearbox is similar to your GTW and I shall take your advice and change my technique changing gear. 

The clutch fully disengages so that is not the problem.

[John O Regan]

Hi George,

Please let me know how it goes?  It does take  time to get the knack and avoid most of the crunches 

John

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[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

Hi John, I intend to find a quiet place and practice slow speed manouvering and gear changes. Although I have been riding for many years this machine is different to anything I have rode and I want to concentrate on being able to ride it without worrying about traffic. I will let you know how things progress, I am looking forward to a new experience

[Mike Peavey]

Last year when I was encouraged to buy my GT17 while in Italy by 3 Italian friends, who I ride Falcone’s with, two who own Sport 15’s  and one a GT16, they said, take it to a large parking lot and spend an hour with it, trailered it over and sure enough, after about an hour I departed the parking lot and had a nice quiet ride on some small two lane roads.  On the plus side, last summer as I was waiting for a right knee replacement,  I learned that the only thing I had to do with the bum right leg was, be able to get it off the peg when I cam to a stop and back on the peg as I rode away, with everything else accomplished with my left leg, kick start and (I already have a Falcone Turismo with heel brake) the heel brake  and my hands, clutch and magneto advance, left hand, front brake, choke and thumb throttle right hand… I rode nothing else all last season and I learned to love it. 

Mike 

Boston, Massachusetts 

USA

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[Mike Peavey]

Apologies, 

Forgot one more job and a very important one for the left hand. the compression release, for when all else fails. 

[Mike Peavey]

and of course the rich hand ship, slow and deliberate on that…. 

A mind is a terrible thing to loose…..

[Alan Comfort]

You haven't lost your mind if you are still riding the old 'slicer. These contraptions are pure joy and it doesn't take long to master their quirks.

When the decompressor cable broke on a two day ride, I had to master the method of rocking the flywheel for starting the engine. Now I only use the decompressor for stopping the engine.

Alan in Roberts Creek

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[jerry atric]

I've never had success at rocking, what's  the  secret?

[John O Regan]

Hi Again,

I had a total right knee replacement 5 years ago, it took an age and lots of physio to get halfway right, although fairly good now.

The guzzi got me through as said with the lefthand kick and brake, 

Although i'm lefthanded i have spent almost 50 years kicking with my right leg up to the op. I used an MZ as a work hack for 8-9 years and had CZ's in my teens, but stood on the left of the bikes and used my right leg..

With the GTW, i stand on the left side bring it up to tdc using the valve lifter, i set the throttle grip about a 1/4 inch from closed

( it likes throttle to start) and swing on the kickstart, hardly any effort required.

John 

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[Alan Comfort]

I'm going for a ride today and I'll pay attention to the drill so that I can give you a proper description. Maybe someone will stop by with a cell phone and I'll get them to do a video. Stay tuned.

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[Andrew Nahum]

You can overcome the lack of decompressor by using the kick start to just nudge the piston over compression.  Then release and let the lever come right to the top again.  Sometimes a series of nudges on the lever are better than a hard push because you don't want to go too far and arrive almost at the next compression.  If you position the crank just right, (ie just at or over TDC and you'll soon get the feel), then there should be little resistance to a good kick which then spins up the flywheel and the inertia should take you through the next compression (firing stroke) and with luck there's a bang and you are away!  A

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[RICHARD YAMANE]

The other thing you can do is rotate the engine backwards until you come up to compression. That will be the backside of the compression stroke.

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

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[Diederik Hagen]

It looks like it's a one piece with the plunger.

Op zo 12 apr 2026, 20:46 schreef 'RICHARD YAMANE' via Guzzi Singles <guzzi-...@googlegroups.com>:

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[Alan Comfort]

I fired up the Falcone using the technique of rocking the flywheel this morning.  Here is how I do it: Find the start of the compression stroke. It's best when the starting lever is somewhere between 2 o'clock and 3 o'clock. Gently depress the pedal to get the flywheel moving and stop when the resistance is felt. Then quickly let the pedal up to about 1 o'clock and the flywheel will rotate counter clockwise to somewhere near the bottom of the compression stroke. Do this three or four times speeding up as you go and the flywheel will rock back and forth until there is enough momentum to go past Top Dead Centre on the compression stroke. Then bang, the engine is up and running. A cold start needs a little tickle on the carb, the enrichment valve cable tight and no throttle. A warm start needs just the slightest throttle opening.

I believe that the rocking action helps to charge the cylinder with just enough fuel to get it running.

It is a difficult process to describe, but once you get the feel, it is quite natural and an easy way to get the old 'slicer going. Sometimes quicker than using the decompressor.

There used to be a YouTube video of an older gentleman firing up his Sport 15 this way, but I could not find it.

Alan in Roberts Creek

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[Alan Greenslade]

With my Falcone (Tourismo), I pull in the valve lifter lever, give it a big kick to spin the flywheel, and release the decompression lever. It’s a 1-2 kick starter. I’ve also used the ‘just past tdc’ and rocking methods but found the ‘kick and release’ method the easiest. 
Pre-start procedure is; open the petcock,  tickle the carb until petrol just appears, close the petcock, 1/4 choke, kick start, open petcock, open choke. I find if I flood it at pre-start it can be a pig to start. That’s why I turn off the petcock after tickling. When it’s warm I don’t shut off the petcock or use choke. 

Regards
Alan NZ

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[Patrick Hayes]

On 4/12/26 13:45, Alan Comfort wrote:
> I believe that the rocking action helps to charge the cylinder with just
> enough fuel to get it running.

Bingo Alan. When air is sucked in through the carb it passes over a
Venturi tube which delivers misted fuel into the air stream. When you
conduct the rocking or bouncing action, that same slug of sucked-in air
is pushed partly backwards out of the mouth of the carb. Next bounce
inward, the Venturi now adds more misted fuel to the already charged air
stream for a double (or triple) dose of fuel mixture. None of that fuel
gets burned until you kick over TDC and add spark.

[Patrick Hayes]

On 4/12/26 13:45, Alan Comfort wrote:

> There used to be a YouTube video of an older gentleman firing up his
> Sport 15 this way, but I could not find it.

Alan, for unknown reasons that video disappeared. I know a friend of a
friend who just happened to download the video before it vaporized. It
can't go easily via email as it is 185Mb large. Would be nice to find
somewhere to host it so we could reference via hyperlink. The
functional difference between a novice knee and an old, experienced knee
is quite impressive. The novice eventually gets the idea.

[steven s.]

And to further accent the ease of that technique, if I remember correctly, the elderly gent was wearing sandals!

SS

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[Alan Comfort]

Generally speaking, the old 'slicers are very easy to start provided that your mag is good, the valve & ignition timing are set correctly and you have a bit of compression. Unlike the big British singles which can kick back with an ungentlemanly meanness, the old 'slicers are civilized. High compression, lumpy cams, over-sized carburetors and cold plugs might improve performance, but are not your friends when they are fitted to kick start motorcycles.

Alan in Roberts Creek

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[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

Thanks to all the good advice received here, I had my first 15 mile ride today to the Desert rats Memorial. I seem to have got the knack of changing gear without to much crunching and also the cold kickstart procedure. This is what I found the best method for this bike. Half choke, tickle, four swift kicks with decompressor pulled in, ease over TDC compression stroke then a FULL confident kick all the way to get to the next firing stroke. Starts first or second kick. Happy days. I will have a few more short runs before venturing further. Once again thanks for all the help.

[John O Regan]

Good News Alan,

The GTW will give a good ole kickback unless i retart it most of the way

John

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[John O Regan]

Sorry I meant George

[RICHARD YAMANE]

Nice! Glad it's sorted.

Rick Yamane
Importer of Vape/Powerdynamo ignition systems and Polisher of bikes at Motion Pro

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[George Smith Located Norfolk UK]

Fortunately being a 1956 model I have auto advance ignition. Having a post ride check i notice that the front chain sprocket is sending out a lot of oil, enough to reach back tyre, not good. I believe that there is a chain oil feed / breather above sprocket. My questions are: 1) can the amount of oil be reduced and 2) is this the only breather as it does not seem very big for a 500 displacement piston and is positioned low.

[guzz...@aol.com]

It helps to avoid the crunch shifting by not being in a hurry to go through the gears on my SA.

That's a nice clean machine there Mr. Smith 

Tim

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