Maynard Hershon

Maynard finds that good things come to those who wait... and ride Guzzis

There's more to Guzzi oil filler caps than first meets the eye.

When I got my Moto Guzzi V7 Special, the aftermarket oil filler cap on the crankcase had a dial thermometer on top, so if I'm curious I can read my oil temperature. The cap is low on the left side of the engine, under the left cylinder. Can't be seen from the saddle.

I forget it's there. I've never checked my oil temp, and I have to use pliers to unscrew the cap to change oil.

I do have the original oil filler cap/dipstick, made of black plastic and fluted for grip-ability. My bike's previous owner warned me that the original cap, installed at the Guzzi works in Mandella del Lario, Italy, must be tightened securely or it will unscrew itself, spraying expensive, messy 10-60 synthetic motor all over the left side of the motorcycle.

When I changed my bike's oil, I re-installed the thermometer cap. If I wanted to use the genuine Guzzi cap I had to purchase a wrench specifically designed for that purpose.

I groped around on the internet and saw that there was an array of such tools, some designed to wear on your keyring - so you'd always have it around, right?

I saw that an outfit in Victoria, Australia, sold just such a tool. Blackbantam Designs, it was called. I emailed Blackbantam and ordered a black one because my bike is silver and black. Cool, huh? Incidentally, Victoria, way down in southernmost Australia, is almost 9000 miles from my home in Denver.

Distance notwithstanding, Blackbantam will engrave your filler cap tool with your name or some silly Italophile sentiment. I asked for Gussie, my

Guzzi. Blush.

I heard from Finbar McCarthy at Blackbantam, who wrote that they were temporarily out of the black material. A shortage of black 3D print filament, he said, whatever that means. He predicted a short delay before I received my tool.

No worries, Fin, I responded. I'm doing fine as it is. A few weeks later my tool arrived from down under. I picked up the filler cap/dipstick and put the new tool on it, or tried. The flanged opening in the tool was slightly undersized and would not fit over the cap. Ever resourceful, I filed and sanded patiently. Eventually, the tool worked.

I wrote to Fin McCarthy. I told him I was happy with my filler cap tool, but it had been undersized enough so that I had to file and sand to make it fit.

I did not hear from Fin for a few weeks. I had a working filler cap wrench and I figured our business, mine and Fin's, was concluded.

But then I got an email from him with a photo of a new, glistening, unscuffed-by-sandpaper filler cap wrench/keyring. In the photo, it was perfectly pressed on to a Guzzi filler cap just like mine!

Let's try this one on your Guzzi, wrote Fin. And thanks for letting me know about the issue! I'll check them all from now on!

I barely paid attention to that email because I missed the reference to MY Guzzi. Then, just two days ago, a small padded envelope appeared in my mailbox from far-off Australia. On it was a stamp with an image of the Queen, a stamp that cost three dollars Australian.

In the envelope was a shiny new Blackbantam oil filler cap tool suitable for one's keyring - and a short note from Finbar McCarthy. Let's try this one, he wrote. Really appreciate your patience.

The new tool, of course, fits perfectly. No filing required. Of course I was surprised and pleased, just as you'd have been. I wrote Fin and thanked him effusively,perhaps embarrassingly so.

He wrote back: 'Hi Maynard! Good to hear from you again! Thank you so much for getting in contact with me and letting me know about the sizing. On your feedback I have been able to make amendments to the process, resulting in a better product for other Guzzi owners! It's great to be part of the Guzzi community! Your mate, Fin:

Let's imagine that you, too, are part of the Guzzi community. You own one of those charming smallblock V-twins from Lake Como. You have yet to purchase a tool to remove and re-install your plastic oil filler cap/dipstick. You'dlike one you could carry on your keychain.

Should you find yourself in such a predicament, my experience would suggest that you contact Fin McCarthy at Blackbantam Designs in Victoria, Australia. My feeling is that Fin will meet you far more than halfway.

We have to take care of the good guys, right?

I think that if this story has a moral, that's it - the sentence about good guys. By good guys I mean genuine humans who look out for their customers. I don't mean computer-generated thank you notes or suggestions of related products some algorithm thinks you might like.

Full disclosure: I have nothing up my sleeves and

Fin McCarthy had no hint that I was associated with this fine magazine or any lesser one. I keep a low profile... and a Blackbantam oil filler tool on my motorcycle keyring.