Moto Guzzi V85 TT E5+ gearbox and final drive oil change adventure
Updated: 1 day ago
After hearing several new Guzzi owners complain about the oil levels in their Moto Guzzi gearbox and final drive units, as delivered in different shipments to dealers, I chose to personally inspect the oil levels in my own "new" 2025 V85TT.
A friend of mine owns a 2027 V85 Strada, and his bike was significantly low on all oil levels. For my own peace of mind, I felt compelled to check it thoroughly to resolve the issue once and for all.
The dealer in San Jose overfilled my engine oil by 113 ml. I used a handy suction tool, which I purchased from Auto Zone for $13.95, to remove the excess oil while my bike was upright on its Harbor freight bike stand.
The bike has to be pretty hot for this lark so as to enable more effective drain of the oil.
Do not rely on your brand-new Moto Guzzi having the correct oil levels or the appropriate oil type from the respective dealers, by the way.
That Pre Delivery Inspection they charge anywhere between $595 and $995 for, is one big sick joke IMHO.
I've been informed by the owners of at least four Moto Guzzi dealerships that they just add engine oil, inspect the bolts to ensure they're tightened to the correct torque specifications, and check the tire air pressure (if you are lucky).
Bikes in the USA do not get setup for the weight of the rider either by the way so if you are big and heavy like I am, come prepared to set it up for heavier loads before you drive off!
You could ask your dealer when you negotiate price to do this as part of the deal while they (allegedly) prep the bike for you.
Buell and Harley Davidson typically check their engine oil levels while on the side stand, unlike Japanese or most Italian motorcycles.
If the engine oil level on a Guzzi is too high, it will spew back through the air filter box, causing a smothered feeling due to improper breathing.
V7 and V85 engine oil should be between the oil level sight markers on the lower left with the bike in an upright position.
The oil quality in my V85 TT was still acceptable, and it was identified as ENI 4T 10W60 synthetic, along with whatever the dealer used to top it up.
It turns out there was something unusual happening in my shaft drive unit, as I discovered a surprising amount of grey metal filing sludge after just 353 miles.
I had all the oils I extracted sent to a Swiss lab tested for type and grade because the Final drive oil quality was particularly concerning to me.
The Guzzi community assures me that this color oil from this unit is typical for a V85 e5+ motor.
My final drive unit contained exactly 130 ml, which is perfectly accurate, despite the awful dark gray sludge that oozed from the case drain hole.
What I didn't anticipate was that the oil grade was identified as 75W90 ENI GL5 oil with 3mg of liquid Molly molybdenum paste.
The Gearbox oil turned out to be the same 75W90 ENI GL5 hypoid synthetic gear oil used in the Final drive unit, but it did not contain the molybdenum paste additive.
The gearbox and final drive unit were supposed to contain 75W140 GL5 hypoid gear oil. The measured amount was 573 ml, which is 127 ml less than the required 700 ml.
Incidentally, my ring spanner and socket couldn't grip the final drive drain nut, so I had to use an adjustable spanner.
You need a flat 17 mm spanner the likes of which Honda and Kawasaki use in their mini tool kits that new bikes come with for this job.
I found this fairly fucking annoying by the way, there should be a 17 mm flat in the motorcycle tool kit.
Ensure the drive unit bolt on the final drive drain plug is not tightened beyond 30 nm. The other bolts and gearbox drain plugs should be tightened to 25 nm.
This is fine finger tight plus 1/6 turn with a flat spanner, done very gently. The engine case is made of an aluminum alloy so the metal is soft.
You should check the final drive and gearbox plugs for wetness and looseness with your fingers before each ride by the way.
Just like an aircraft preflight check and walk around, any motorcycle V-Twin engine needs some cursory checking before you hop on it for a ride.
E4 engines have final drive units that take 160 ml, but 2024 onwards E5 units had the newer compact final drive unit that must not have more than 130 ml of gear oil in it, and yes, they did change the final drive unit with a different design that is slightly more compact than the old one.
I understand from the factory that some early model 2024 E5 bikes may have shipped with the older final drive module installed.
Good luck identifying which one your 2024 V85 has!
The Guzzi manual for the E4 specifies 180 ml, but the Mandello del Lario team quickly revised it to 160 ml after numerous final drive seals failed worldwide on V7 and V85 E5 models.
This oil, designated for both the final drive and gearbox units on the V85 TT E5+, is a 75W140 GL5 specification full synthetic gear oil.
It runs $40.99 a liter here in the USA if you shop around for it on the Googles and will do the gearbox and the final drive unit on a single 1-liter bottle as the gearbox needs 700 ml.
I bought a syringe extractor tool from Harbor freight for $19.99 and this measures the oil quite accurately for new oil injection purposes.
I sucked it out of the liquid molly plastic bottle with this syringe until it showed 130 ml on the syringe which is clearly marked.
I then placed the long plastic tube in the oil fill hole and gently pushed on the plunger until it slurped at the bottom of the syringe.
The breather hole on the newer shaft units is no longer an indicator that the oil level is correct by the way, so you need to measure out the 130 ml it needs precisely.
With the new compact final drive unit, you need to do what I did and get a syringe that has up to 200 ml markers on it and fill it to the 130 ml level and inject it slowly while filling it.
If you fill the new shaft unit until the breather hole weeps oil, you have placed way too much oil in it and the seal will likely blow when you drive it.
The oil level is pretty important in these final drive units.
Make very sure your bike is level and upright when you do this by the way.
For the gearbox, the 700 ml goes in from the topmost 10 mm Allen bolt plug, the breather and level hole on the gearbox which you can see in the top photo (black allen bolt with bronze washer) will weep slightly when it has 700 ml in it, for the gearbox unit this is normal.
Put the allen plug with a new bronze crush washer back in ASAP when you see it weep a bit.
The big 10 mm allen bolt on the top of the gearbox has a rubber O ring you should replace after each change, they cost a few bucks from AFI if you need them with the washers for the other plugs.
Be careful extracting this O-Ring as it can end up in the gearbox, I used one of those O-Ring picks to extract it safely.
If your bike has less than 500 miles on it, changing these is not really necessary by the way - but to each his own.
If oil gushes out of the gearbox breather hole, you have put too much oil in it and as I keep saying, the bike must be level when you do all oil level adds on this bike.
I did mine in 4 x 125 ml syringe dollops, then one 100 ml shot.
I have a golf green level tool I place in the center of the seat at the rear to determine where center is when I do this by the way.
Modern motorcycles do not come with center stands and on the Guzzi adding one is best done at purchase as they are around $140 dollars.
I did not bother as I have a bike service stand and hydraulic levelers in my garage.
I used Liquid Molly 75W140 GL5 gearbox oil and they are a rather fine German synthetic oils company.
Motul and Castrol Edge both also carry this spec gear oil that can be used in a Guzzi gearbox or final drive unit as well by the way.
AMSOIL synthetic is the best but it's just not available on a reliable basis on the USA West Coast.
I used to be a Castrol Synthetic oils fan back in the day but these newer oils companies like Motul and Liquid Molly just make a far superior product.
Apparently, the MG factory likes Eni Rotra Bike Synth oils nowadays which is just rebranded AGIP oil and I knew zilch about Eni Rotra Synthetic oil company until I researched them on the Googles and found they were in fact AGIP.
I remember the 850 Le Mans III guys arguing with me back in the day about this AGIP oil stuff.
I watched a YouTube video of a Lithuanian guy doing his 20 or 21 V85 with the Motul gear oil but then he shows a follow-on video where he is adding Liquid Molly Molybdenum paste to both the Shaft Drive unit and the gearbox from a 20 mg tube. 7 mg for the gearbox and 2 mg for the final drive unit per this entertaining fellah.
He also says drain oil to compensate for the additive but that is not so easy on either gearbox or newer final drive units. On his bike with the older final drive unit, sure.
As someone who knows a bit about the chemistry of exotic synthetic oils I can tell you this molybdenum additive is not a good idea.
The molybdenum additive will break the 75W140 GL5 chemistry on the Motul and Liquid Molly GL5 oil and render it useless.
If you have a 2021 onwards V85 TT or Strada, do not add this additive to either your gearbox of final drive unit with Motul or Liquid Moly GL5 oils, no matter what rumor you hear is Mandello del Lario magic trickery and remember that the factory manuals that state 180 ml is absolutely WRONG, it needs to be 160 ml on those E4 units.
All this confusion is typical Italian MO by the way, I have had Ducati and Laverda motorcycles in my past where this sort of thing (confusion) was standard operating procedure.
Oh, and my Moto Morini Manuals were all a joke as well as I recall.
If you use AGIP oils, which this Manufacturer does use, for reasons only the Mafia could possibly articulate, then this Molybdenum additive is allegedly not an issue but Liquid Molly and Motul 75W140 GL5 oils do not need this additive and as I said this additive breaks the liquid engineering properties of these oils in any event.
Also bear in mind that each oil company adds detergent agents and other stuff as part of the chemistry of their brand of oil.
I only mention this because mixing one company's oil with another company's oil may cause chemical detergent action being cancelled. They do not mix well together is the bottom line and though they reckon topping it up with another manufacturers oil is ok, I do not recommend it.
I made a quick recce on ENI oils by the way as I had never heard of them. They are a rebranded AGIP outfit. They do not sell a 75W140 GL5 gear oil on their web site, their highest is 75W90 GL4 and GL5 ready for motorcycles but they do make an HLZ variant for use in trucks and heavy engineering equipment?
This might account for the poor quality of the oil, and the lab report also confirmed that the gear and final drive oil was indeed 75W90 motorcycle gear oil.
I know, as I said I actually checked it and also did a full lab analysis on both Motul and Liquid Molly oils while I was at it.
I would be surprised if AGIP synthetic was any different, as they all use more or less the same ester formula for this stuff. I suspect they purchase it from another company and simply put their AGIP or ENI label on it with their detergents and other enhancing additives.
Note that the Mandello del Lario folk suggest 20,000 km before you change these oils after the break in service.
This is not a very good idea, IMHO, especially with 75W90 in the gearbox or Final drive unit which the factory confessed to me they are using.
May I suggest final drive oil be changed every 3000 miles (5000 km) 130 ml for E5+ units.
Gearbox oil needs to be changed every 5000 miles (8000 km) 700 ml for E4 and E5 units.
Engine oil needs changing at 932 miles then every 3000 miles after that.
This is my considered opinion.
10W60 Motorex, Liquid Molly, and Motul JASO MA2 spec full synthetic oils are all fine motor oils by the way.
I went for the Swiss Motorex 10W60 in my machine after my lab analysis exercise.
Castrol Edge is also suitable by the way, but do not mix different manufacturers oils for reasons stated above, stick to one for each unit (Motor, Gearbox and Final drive) and document it, so when you take it for servicing the shop you use will know what to use.
The oil that came out of my gearbox came to 573 ml which was 127 ml less than the 700 ml it should have had, and I may have dribbled about 20 ml over the catalyst box but it was still well short of what it should have been.
Spilt oil always looks more than what you think it is.
The factory AGIP oil in the gearbox was still golden and I could see it was still new, unlike the dark evil shit that came out of the final drive unit, but the gearbox oil quantity was the problem.
Metal filings on the gearbox drain plug took three twists with a suitable cloth to clean up and was way less than I had been expecting as it was pretty light iron filing type sludge.
These gearboxes are much improved over the ones I had in my 1985 Le Mans III by the way but they still have the typical Guzzi quirks they have always had.
You need to gently push the gear lever down when cold on these 6 speed units and you should not hear a clunk when you nudge it gently into gear either.
Finding Neutral just requires very gentle toe wriggles and is an art I picked up fairly rapidly, this is a V85 quirk though I did feel similar on the new watercooled V100 S I tooled around on at Elk Grove.
I have ridden various 2019-2027 V85's and the gearboxes on the V85 series through the years have definitely changed since 2019.
The final drive unit has a breathe hole assistant which needs a hefty Allen key to break loose, and you should pull that before opening the drain plug under the unit.
The Gearbox has two plugs plus the oil ingress point at the top. Be warned that the drain plug under the Gearbox has very limited space to operate in, getting this one off can be done with a 17 mm ring spanner, but be warned that getting it back on izzabitch.
I ended up using a screwdriver with a thin enough shaft and a spade like flat end covered in synthetic wheel grease that I planted the drain bolt on to gently get it under the drain plug hole, then I used my fingers on the hex shaped bolt to gently find center and screw it in by hand sans any resistance.
If you just use a spanner or very flat socket it can go in at an angle and as you tighten it, you are re-threading it, with dire consequences.
I know a good few folk that have done this by the way.
Some just remove the entire exhaust catalyst box by getting the exhaust clamps on the heads on both sides loose but I find that this is not necessary as well as a serious PITA.
The bike needs to be hot when these oils drain out by the way, and you will burn your hands and fingers if you do not let it cool down when getting that gearbox drain plug back in place.
You also need to fashion a funnel made from aluminum foil to direct most of the gear oil into a catch pan and off the Catalyst box collector.
I completed the final drive unit on one day and the gearbox on another, taking 6-mile rides before draining them hot each time.
If you take it to a shop they should drain it fairly quickly, but they set the valves with a cold engine so it will be a long wait before they do the valves.
I seriously advise owners do all the oil changes themselves and get the shop to just clear codes and set valves cold and do the TPS settings of course.
For engine oil you do need to remove the bash plate to get at the drain plug and there seems to be eight bolts for that jolly jape.
Getting that skid plate back on is also a big bitch by the way, just don't force any bolts....
I have not done this full engine oil drain yet and am dithering over letting Elk Grove Power Sports do all oils with filters, valves and the air filter with the code check and TPS settings.
I need this for factory warranty purposes I am told, so I will probably need to think about this before my Australia adventure comes up.
No harm as long as they use my Motorex and Liquid Molly combo, I Guess….
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