What did you do to or for or with your Laverda today?

I was 24 years old and bought her in 1972 for $1600 for a brand new UN-assembled 1970 Breganzie 750 SF0 in a crate - Really what I went through in my life owning that ride - Don't tell my Wife (Diciest) about her but did fall in love with with that Motorcycle. She persistly tried to kill me every time I mounted her but without me she was DEAD.

The faster I made her and the older I got "The more she wanted to kill me" - LOL
 
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Not fashion alone, but a very real attempt to improve ride comfort.

By the mid-70s, suspension tech was advancing and bike manufacturers slowly realised that bikes no longer needed be firmly sprung and damped to handle well.

The 1200 models were the first Laverdas to recieve angled shocks, still Cerianis if I'm not totally mistaken, early examples also had Ceriani forks.

piet

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1978 1200 I raced in Perth had Ceris and laid fwd shocks - Lee and I laid the shocks fwd on our SFs and the positive difference it made was clear. It just makes sense. Would never go back - rivet counting be damned!
 
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Thanks for the excellent background on the rear shock mounting angle gents. Interesting, one for the Laverda history books!
 
Well, a test ride..
Fixed the charging issues and replace several wires.
Striped and rebuilt the carbs.
Repaired the leaking fuel tank.
replace the leaking carb balance pipe.

The outcome was that is all seems to run okay!

I'll raise the needle one clip and change the pilot jet from 45 to a 48 and then see how the plugs look.

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Is that just on big sleeve motors Piet?
Really don't have any experience with those Lee, I've always managed to steer well clear of them... ;)

Guess if more cubes is the goal, the spigot simply needs to be sacrificed. Do the pistons for these kits actually match up to the top of the barrel? eg, 1200 triple pistons have a lower compression height than 1000s due to the omitted spigot.

The spigot is really useful for containing combustion pressures, without one, head and barrel flatness becomes paramount. The distance from the bore to the chain tunnel is the most critical area. At least on cooking motors, one can get away with about 0.1mm warpage/deformation across the length of the head, the head gasket will generally compensate.

1978 1200 I raced in Perth had Ceris and laid fwd shocks - Lee and I laid the shocks fwd on our SFs and the positive difference it made was clear. It just makes sense. Would never go back - rivet counting be damned!
The factory laid down the '74- SFC shocks as well, the top mount was pushed well forward. But I never got around their thinking in regard to the lower mount being behind the axle.

piet
 
Quentin (or Red) have to answer that, my big bore sleeves are on the shelf until the current motor needs work. There are numerous issues to be aware of with the big sleeved motors, certainly not plug and play.
The first issue 1200 W raced (of the first ones imported to Oz iirc) we relocated the shocks upright, didn't want softer suspension allowing easier grounding.
On that motor the casting for the short barrel/head stud was really thin and cracked at first nip-up, we built it up with weld, all the other 1200s I have seen had it thicker from new.
 
The factory laid down the '74- SFC shocks as well, the top mount was pushed well forward. But I never got around their thinking in regard to the lower mount being behind the axle.

piet
Less than you might think, Piet. The top mount moved only approximately 15 mm forward, the rest comes from the lower mount above/behind the axle.

Marnix
 
Well, a test ride..
Fixed the charging issues and replace several wires.
Striped and rebuilt the carbs.
Repaired the leaking fuel tank.
replace the leaking carb balance pipe.

The outcome was that is all seems to run okay!

I'll raise the needle one clip and change the pilot jet from 45 to a 48 and then see how the plugs look.

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Nice, everything in these photos is a credit to you... Spotless workshop ( Looks like Myford early open belt drive in the background? ). Plug chop, just dealing with modern fuel and plug colour now, well done BTW on not crushing the gas seal ring into a pancake. All but pure white nose colour has me questioning what is actually in modern fuels. This type of "white" colour has indications of ethanol inclusion, though i can be shouted down, given it is new to me, after many years of plug chops. No excess plug thread body sooting, If a new build i would richen it up just a tad while running in to be safe. If older motor you have done extra well in carby setup, a win oft not found. j
 
I struggle to read plugs with modern fuels. Used to be a breeze with lead in the mix. Have to rely on A/F ratio using a dyno if you really want to know what's going on thinketh I. And then not so easy ding the low throttle setting stuff. My FCRs are fantastic but there is the slightest stutter on opening the throttle at VERY low openings and low RPM - I'm told 'needles'. Prob is Keihin FCR needles ain't cheap - and do I go one leaner or one richer?! First thing I'll do is conitinue to raise and lower through all the notches and see if it cures it.

A thread on KTMs had a similar issue and it was cured by filing the tiny 'cutaway' on the slide plate half a mm. Again, get it wrong and those slide plates will se me back big dollars!
 
Materials Engineering was a changing task, more so these modern times. Basic refined fuel ought to be as ever, perhaps the additives become the unknown factor and possibly materials engineered into a modern spark plug. Seen more white nose plugs these last few months than in all my time reading plugs, beginning 1973.

One plug in a group of 4 had a grey tinge, others that dull white. Become more reliant on the road feel now days, made use of the choke lever when at road pace to sort where a carby setup is rich or lean, without attaching your left hand onto the hot exhaust header.... gunna move that choke lever one of these days, paraphrasing Percy Kilbride. Grin j.
 
Q considers the accelerator pump as well. These carbs were used on just about every dirtbike before FI arrived. Fiddling with the timing and volume of the squit filled thousands of threads back then. Bog happened with too much, not enough or at the wrong time. Volume was fixed by changing something called the leak jet but no one stocked them so drilling was the only option. The bigger the jet resulted in less volume, for example, my TE 250 Husky required a 70-leak jet from the std 35. The equivalent drill to use was a number drill equal to 0.75mm and the only chuck small enough to use it was my Dramil. That reduced the squirt volume a lot and helped with too much volume overwhelming the spark. Another mod was adding a small O ring around the pump actuating arm to keep it hard together to avoid float with hard applications. Lots of this was found by videoing the squirt and analysing the squirt timing by frames of video per second. Another really helpful mod are gadgets called Power Nows. There a bolt-on horizontal blade across the middle of the carb mouth in its middle. They divide the flow into 2 streams convincing the carb, I know that's Anthamorphic, to function at small throtal openings like a much smaller carb. Contraversal as it couldn't be measured on a dino but you could feel its effect on acceleration. Lastly, a bloke made in the USA made a model-specific kit, DJ needle kit, with triple taper needles, 2 needles and a dino-rated chart for temperature and altitude changes so you could set the needles and needle clips to suit.
 
Q considers the accelerator pump as well. These carbs were used on just about every dirtbike before FI arrived. Fiddling with the timing and volume of the squit filled thousands of threads back then. Bog happened with too much, not enough or at the wrong time. Volume was fixed by changing something called the leak jet but no one stocked them so drilling was the only option. The bigger the jet resulted in less volume, for example, my TE 250 Husky required a 70-leak jet from the std 35. The equivalent drill to use was a number drill equal to 0.75mm and the only chuck small enough to use it was my Dramil. That reduced the squirt volume a lot and helped with too much volume overwhelming the spark. Another mod was adding a small O ring around the pump actuating arm to keep it hard together to avoid float with hard applications. Lots of this was found by videoing the squirt and analysing the squirt timing by frames of video per second. Another really helpful mod are gadgets called Power Nows. There a bolt-on horizontal blade across the middle of the carb mouth in its middle. They divide the flow into 2 streams convincing the carb, I know that's Anthamorphic, to function at small throtal openings like a much smaller carb. Contraversal as it couldn't be measured on a dino but you could feel its effect on acceleration. Lastly, a bloke made in the USA made a model-specific kit, DJ needle kit, with triple taper needles, 2 needles and a dino-rated chart for temperature and altitude changes so you could set the needles and needle clips to suit.
Thanks Vince. The behaviour of the carbs in 99.9% of riding is spot on. It's that first fraction of a mm when I'm at low revs or on a trailing throttle. I've actually disconnected the accel pump system and use it as a starting enrichener with a thumb lever only. I have had bog a couple of times when I've slowed down (eg for a red light up ahead) and then open wide suddenly looking for hard acceleration ... I literally have to back off and open just a little bit slower. The accel pumps would more than likely cure that but it doesn't bother me, as I'm aware of it. I don't think the pumps would solve that fractional stutter. Even tho carb setup indicates that needles won't come into play until 1/4 throttle several expert setterupperers say absolutely don' be fooled - these carbs don't play by the rules of 'normal' carbies (eg the main jet can affect everything, which is why you set that up first). I'm gonna try needle notches and maybe even a richer needle (my hunch). But there's no hurry, the bike is eminently rideable as is - and it's only days away from being put back into service.
 
What coating is on the frame Gert?
Paul
Hi Paul, it is nickel plated. I never cared about that. My Electronica had a very hard live under her first owner. With aluminium tank, double seat, ND instruments and switches and German papers, which declared her as a 750 SF. He used her for daily commuting as well as for trips to France and even Spain, with the girlfriend on the back seat. The second owner restored her, but not very well. Since 2002 she is in my hands. The engine was completely fucked up and I still try to bring her back to nearly original condition. BTW: It is the sister of your Electronica, mine is *18436*. Ciao, Gert
 
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