I'd be careful of removing pipe and replacing with cone style filter on crankcase as you dont want oil mist going onto your rear tyre, or worse a steady flow of oil pi$$ing out as you wheelie down the road with a short-lived grin on your face! I have flatslides so no return pipe to airbox. Therefore Im gonna remove the box and using a bit of 20mm hose to route to somewhere under seat and a foam filter to avoid possible oil dripping onto tyre.
When I got mine it just had the two oil breather pipes open under the seat unit and venting about 9" over the back tyre. I rode it like that for about 4 months with no problems.
I ran my Guzzi with a large diameter hose (20mm I think) off the crankcase breather outlet and dressed it along the frame tubes at high level under the seat, then turned it down the back of the number plate and cable tied it to the bottom of the plate so it turned away from the rear wheel with a slash cut end to the hose. I worked on the basis of it's there to relieve pressure and prevent vacuum.....large diameter meant it didn't suck or blow too hard, so there was never any need for a filter and oil couldn't get blown upwards to the horizontal length very easily.........it never dripped any.
Shock arrived and it's pretty much mint. All fitted ok, although the 900 looked a bit precarious perched on the axle stands I used to prop it up. I put it on standard settings before fitting and a long test ride on bumpy and rutted roads showed that while it could never be described as plush, and it's still a little on the firm side for me, it's not a rock hard, spine jarring nightmare like the one I took off. Thanks for all your help guys
If you grab hold of it and turn it anti clockwise and clockwise, does the alloy eye of the shock hit the swingarm lugs......?
No. I tried that as soon as I fitted it and there is enough clearance to get my thumbnail between the shock alloy outer eye and the swingarm lug. It seems like the shock is fitted with a pretty thick bush (70s stylee)
if you mean a bush as in metalastic bush ie rubber and metal it should be a spherical bearing like in a rose joint or rod end and a top hat spacer either side
