Laverda Digest #31-36
laverda-digest Sunday, March 22 1998 Volume 01 : Number 031
1. Richard Taylor Subj: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
2. Bill MacCracken Subj: Laverdas at Laguna Seca
3. "Michael Moore" Subj: Re: Laverdas at Laguna Seca
4. smlnjack@toolcity.net Subj: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
5. Peter Subj: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
6. Peter Subj: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
7. Bill MacCracken Subj: Laverda Maintenance Schedule
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 22:57:26 +0000
From: Richard Taylor
Subject: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
At 23:12 21/03/98 +0100, you wrote:
>Richard Taylor wrote:
>> No, they slightly re-arranged late 180s, and the 120s to have a balanced
>> 'overhang' at either end of the crank. I never grounded mine, but then I'm
>> no speed freak! It definitely handled much better than a Mirage though...
>>
>> --
>> Regards, Richard Taylor. International Laverda Owners Club -
>> http://www.richtea.demon.co.uk/laverda
>
>Take a look at the angle you'd need to be on in order to ground it,
>we're not talking speed freak, we're talking suicidal here!
No, I've seen them do it - on track days. I was right behind the bloke - it
was a plain 3C - and he grounded it, headed for the grass, stayed on, and
kept going - all faster than me. There's no way I'm doing that, so there
goes my macho image, thought I. I'd seen his bike before, and he had
obviously done it before. (Keith McKay will probably know his name, I think
its Malcolm - used to ride an RGS with an extremely tidy monoshock rear -
so tidy you kept looking at the bike because something seemed not quite
right, but you couldn't quite decide what...)
But anyway, I consoled myself with the thought that I would live a bit longer.
And then I fell off at about 30mph the next years trackday!
Oh well...
(I have grounded the brake lever on the Mirage, but that's 'cos I have it
set at a bit low. I had to move it up to get through scrutineering.)
- --
Regards, Richard Taylor. International Laverda Owners Club -
http://www.richtea.demon.co.uk/laverda
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 20:02:18 -0800
From: Bill MacCracken
Subject: Laverdas at Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca is about a month away and I have the RGS all tuned and ready
for some early season riding. I will be trying to get down to Laguna in
April and hope to meet a few of the other list members. What's a good
place to meet?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 22:13:21 -0800
From: "Michael Moore"
Subject: Re: Laverdas at Laguna Seca
> Laguna Seca is about a month away and I have the RGS all tuned and ready
> for some early season riding. I will be trying to get down to Laguna in
> April and hope to meet a few of the other list members. What's a good
> place to meet?
My pit area if I can get the stuff running in time.
Cheers,
Michael
Michael Moore
Euro Spares, SF CA
Distributor of Lucas RITA and Powerbase products
Sole North American distributor of "The Racing Motorcycle: a technical guide for constructors"
Host of 6 m/c email lists (details on the web site)
http://www.eurospares.com
AFM/AHRMA #364
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 02:19:46 -0500
From: smlnjack@toolcity.net
Subject: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
http://www.richtea.demon.co.uk/laverda
>>
>>Take a look at the angle you'd need to be on in order to ground it,
>>we're not talking speed freak, we're talking suicidal here!
>
>No, I've seen them do it - on track days. I was right behind the bloke - it
>was a plain 3C - and he grounded it, headed for the grass, stayed on, and
>kept going - all faster than me. There's no way I'm doing that, so there
>goes my macho image, thought I. I'd seen his bike before, and he had
>obviously done it before. (Keith McKay will probably know his name, I think
>its Malcolm - used to ride an RGS with an extremely tidy monoshock rear -
>so tidy you kept looking at the bike because something seemed not quite
>right, but you couldn't quite decide what...)
Richard I have a 3C as well, actually a 3C RS. The bike was brought back
to the states directly from Europe by a US Army serviceman and it too has
the alternator cover well ground down. Supposedly the previous owners used
the bike extensively in the Alps, Dolomites, etc. I guess they really ride
'em over there but it would take bigger 'nads than I have to get that big
mother over that far.
Cheers, Jack Ballard
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 13:37:00 +0100
From: Peter
Subject: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
Richard Taylor wrote:
>
> No, I've seen them do it - on track days. I was right behind the bloke - it
> was a plain 3C - and he grounded it, headed for the grass, stayed on, and
> kept going - all faster than me. There's no way I'm doing that, so there
> goes my macho image, thought I. I'd seen his bike before, and he had
> obviously done it before. (Keith McKay will probably know his name, I think
> its Malcolm - used to ride an RGS with an extremely tidy monoshock rear -
> so tidy you kept looking at the bike because something seemed not quite
> right, but you couldn't quite decide what...)
>
> But anyway, I consoled myself with the thought that I would live a bit longer.
> And then I fell off at about 30mph the next years trackday!
> Oh well...
>
> (I have grounded the brake lever on the Mirage, but that's 'cos I have it
> set at a bit low. I had to move it up to get through scrutineering.)
> --
> Regards, Richard Taylor. International Laverda Owners Club -
> http://www.richtea.demon.co.uk/laverda
What part hit the tarmac first? The engine? On the right or the left? He
must have been riding over the edge of his tires i guess!
Peter
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 13:43:31 +0100
From: Peter
Subject: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
smlnjack@toolcity.net wrote:
>
>
> Richard I have a 3C as well, actually a 3C RS. The bike was brought back
> to the states directly from Europe by a US Army serviceman and it too has
> the alternator cover well ground down. Supposedly the previous owners used
> the bike extensively in the Alps, Dolomites, etc. I guess they really ride
> 'em over there but it would take bigger 'nads than I have to get that big
> mother over that far.
>
> Cheers, Jack Ballard
Looks like here's my answer....
I could not agree with you more, I know one can get into real tight
curves in the dolomiti passes, I never grounded my RGS there though (I
wasn't really trying, you know!)
a tutto gas!
Peter
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 09:20:47 -0800
From: Bill MacCracken
Subject: Laverda Maintenance Schedule
For anyone interested I have copied the maintenance schedule for the
RGA/RGS from the factory manual. I use it as a checklist and a record of
what I have done. It may apply to other models as well . It was written
in Word but I could get it into text or html formats. If you are
interested in a copy send me an email. I will also put it on the Laverda
Owners Club Web Page http://www.hevanet.com/lavrgs/USALOC1.htm under the
"New" section
------------------------------
End of laverda-digest V1 #31
****************************
laverda-digest Sunday, March 22 1998 Volume 01 : Number 032
1. "Ann M. Calandro" <76726.2625@compuserve.com> Subj: Laverda Tubeless or not
2. Richard Taylor Subj: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
3. smlnjack@toolcity.net Subj: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
4. LErkie4877 Subj: Laverda Re: laverda-digest V1 #31
5. "Michael Moore" Subj: Laverda SF2RR update
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 19:13:57 -0500
From: "Ann M. Calandro" <76726.2625@compuserve.com>
Subject: Laverda Tubeless or not
Ed says
Subject: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
At 13:37 22/03/98 +0100, you wrote:
>Richard Taylor wrote:
>>
>> No, I've seen them do it - on track days. I was right behind the bloke - it
>> was a plain 3C - and he grounded it, headed for the grass, stayed on, and
>> kept going - all faster than me. There's no way I'm doing that, so there
>> goes my macho image, thought I. I'd seen his bike before, and he had
>> obviously done it before.
>What part hit the tarmac first? The engine? On the right or the left? He
>must have been riding over the edge of his tires i guess!
Left side, downhill (Cadwell Park, UK, at the bottom of the Gooseneck). He
was happy to repeat the manoeuvre but he only took to the grass whilst I
was following him. The downhill before makes it tempting to go to fast into
the leftie. He didn't fall off during the day - just slightly the wrong
side of safe IMHO!!
- --
Regards, Richard Taylor. International Laverda Owners Club -
http://www.richtea.demon.co.uk/laverda
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 22:28:53 -0500
From: smlnjack@toolcity.net
Subject: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
At 08:51 PM 3/22/98 +0000, Richard Taylor wrote:
>At 13:37 22/03/98 +0100, you wrote:
>>Richard Taylor wrote:
>>>
>>> No, I've seen them do it - on track days. I was right behind the bloke
- - it
>>> was a plain 3C - and he grounded it, headed for the grass, stayed on, and
>>> kept going - all faster than me. There's no way I'm doing that, so there
>>> goes my macho image, thought I. I'd seen his bike before, and he had
>>> obviously done it before.
>
>>What part hit the tarmac first? The engine? On the right or the left? He
>>must have been riding over the edge of his tires i guess!
>
>Left side, downhill (Cadwell Park, UK, at the bottom of the Gooseneck). He
>was happy to repeat the manoeuvre but he only took to the grass whilst I
>was following him. The downhill before makes it tempting to go to fast into
>the leftie. He didn't fall off during the day - just slightly the wrong
>side of safe IMHO!!
>--
>Regards, Richard Taylor. International Laverda Owners Club -
>http://www.richtea.demon.co.uk/laverda
Richard, that's rather incredible that he grounded the left side isn't it?
I've seen evidence on my own bike from a previous owner, of grounding the
alternator cover, and that's quite remarkable, but to make contact on the
left side is astounding! Where do we get such men?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 22:58:41 EST
From: LErkie4877
Subject: Laverda Re: laverda-digest V1 #31
Bill has gratiously offered to make available details of the RGS maintenance
schedules, which reminds me of a curious bit I came across in the owners
manual of my Mirage. Under "Maintenance Schedule" there is a table with
assorted bits of hardware and procedures on the vertical and mileage on the
horizontal. Under cam chain it says Adjust at 1k and 4k miles; Replace at 8k
miles. Is it possible I should REPLACE the cam chain every 8k miles? I doubt
the chain on my bike has ever been replaced (with 17 k on the clock). Since I
am now finishing rebuilding the top end, it would be a real good time to be
certain I need/don't need a cam chain.
Final drive chains I can check for serviceability... cam chains are another
matter. The cam sprocket teeth look OK. Should I take the chain completely
off and measure it? What standard do I measure it against if I don't have a
new one at hand? Anyone know what a worn cam chain would do to the idle and
running of the engine?
Who can help me sort this out? TIA.
- -Lawrence
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 20:19:52 -0800
From: "Michael Moore"
Subject: Laverda SF2RR update
After a weekend (mostly) in the garage I've come a bit closer to
assembling the Laverda 750 engine.
For those of you tuning in late, I'd been originally supplied in the
mid 1980s by Roger Slater with a set of SFC Electronica pistons,
which are a couple millimeters shorter in deck height than the
SF2/early SFC pistons. Not knowing about the different piston
heights I had shortened the cylinder block to fit them, presuming it
was very out of spec, .
A new set of JE pistons was obtained from Lance at 1-800-LAVERDA last
summer, and after shortening them to fit my shortened cylinder I ran
into valve pocket to upper ring groove interference problems when
opening the pockets to fit the new and bigger titanium valves. That
occurred the week before the AHRMA national at Sears Point in August,
and seeing a week's vacation effort go down the tubes at the last
minute put me off working on the engine for several months.
I obtained another set of pistons from Lance recently, and started
setting the engine up to use them with the stock deck height.
Inspection of the cylinder spigot/head counterbore showed the spigot
to be about .012" taller than the head recess was deep. However,
when a compressed head gasket is installed (.042") there is a .030"
(.75mm) thick ring around the combustion chamber.
I'd decided to ignore this, figuring the volume of the ring made at
most a tenth of a point of compression. I spent much of Saturday
morning cutting new base gaskets and aluminum shims of varying
thickness to set the squish band.
I got things set where the smashed solder was showing a .035-.040"
squish clearance, and called my friend Craig to mention that I had
made some progress.
Craig was very concerned about the gap between the spigot and head,
pointing out that it could be the cause of some detonation at some
point. I was all set to ignore the gap, figuring that every Laverda
750 seems to be set up that way (and not wanting to spend the time
to fix it), but I've discovered that when I ignore expert advice and
something goes wrong I feel fairly stupid. Craig told me today that
in a chat with John Symonds he mentioned this, and John told him
that Todd Laverda in England also thought it was worth fixing on
bikes they set up.
So yesterday evening I spent an entertaining 15-20 minutes squaring
up the head on my milling machine (it would be nice if they could
work some sort of fine adjustment into the gears built into the mill
for this purpose - trying to chase the last thou or two gets
frustrating). I decided to take enough off of the head surface to
give a .004-.005" clearance with the compressed head gasket. Since
the spigots can't be lapped into the head (unlike a Ducati twin with
separate cylinder heads), and the depth of the recess varied a
couple thou depending on where I measured, (and I didn't want to
bother taking a cleanup cut on them and the top of the cylinder
block seemed to vary slightly too and I didn't want to remove the
sleeves to true that up), I figured that a slight clearance would
ensure the head was still clamping up on the gasket and not the
spigots, yet wouldn't be significant in re the detonation problem.
After letting the mill run at a dead slow table feed for 7 or 8 hours
I finally got to that point, so now I can start redoing the base
gaskets to reset the squish.
The painter has primered the Laverda's bodywork and I have hopes that
the color (SFC orange of course) will be shot in a couple days. My
next task for this week is to clean up the cylinder head, install the
new Megacycle cams, and set the cam timing (on a cylinder with no
piston - saves bent valves). Then if the paint is done I'll go up
to Craig's shop this Saturday with the engine and have him assist me
getting the valve pocket clearances sorted out. That will finish the
engine stuff and let me collect the bodywork and chassis to bring
back to San Francisco to finish assembling everything.
Once it is assembled I'll have to organize a dyno session and see if
I can find a track day so I can set up the suspension (reminder to
me - build front and rear stands before the track day). If I'm
diligent I may actually get things done in time to catch the Team
Obsolete vintage races at the AMA national at Laguna Seca, which
will be a good warm up/shake down for the AHRMA nationals the next
two weekends.
I've got the feeling that I'm not going to have time to get the CR216
Honda put back together for those races - oh well.
What's the deal with the race promoters scheduling races before
June, the time when the season really should start (and I could
conceiveably be ready to go)?
Cheers,
Michael
Michael Moore
Euro Spares, SF CA
Distributor of Lucas RITA and Powerbase products
Sole North American distributor of "The Racing Motorcycle: a technical guide for constructors"
Host of 6 m/c email lists (details on the web site)
http://www.eurospares.com
AFM/AHRMA #364
------------------------------
End of laverda-digest V1 #32
****************************
laverda-digest Monday, March 23 1998 Volume 01 : Number 033
1. Ed Lutz Subj: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
2. Ed Lutz Subj: Laverda Bike for sale...NOT!
3. "Michael Moore" Subj: Laverda SF twin fins
4. Richard Taylor Subj: Re: Laverda Grounding Bull...
5. "Marnix" Subj: Re: Laverda SF twin fins
6. DucDave Subj: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 22:23:42 -0800
From: Ed Lutz
Subject: Re: Laverda Goin on safari
At 10:28 PM 3/22/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Richard, that's rather incredible that he grounded the left side isn't it?
>I've seen evidence on my own bike from a previous owner, of grounding the
>alternator cover, and that's quite remarkable, but to make contact on the
>left side is astounding! Where do we get such men?
>
>
Grinding things on the track isn't near as difficult as on the street.
Your whole point of reference, speed wise, goes up considerable when you
have that nice wide track in front of you. Case in point. I used to be a
bit of a maniac on the street. Part of our local street racing canyon
carving crowd going way to fast for conditions. At the time I rode a '78
Suzuki GS750 that I had performed a few suspension mods on. It had rearsets
and I had tucked in the pipes so nothing much ever dragged. I entered Keith
Code's school at Riverside Raceway in California (that dates me right there
eh?). We rode twin shock KZ550's (that dates me too) and before hand Keith
warned us that in one turn (7A) we could ground the frame. I wasn't sure I
believed him until I hit something really solid on the left side and sure
nuff, it was the lower frame rail under the motor. Looking at the bike in
the pits you'd never think you could hit something like that, tucked up
under the bike like it is. Out on the track, in a downhill left turn (7A)
the suspension gets shoved down and the angles change a lot. The cornering
speed required to do this was far above what I could have done that same
turn configuration on if it was a street instead of the track. Your whole
frame of mind changes and what used to feel fast is suddenly quite slow.
Course after the class I found the alternator cover on my Suzuki seemed to
get a bit wider...
Ed
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 23:22:01 -0800
From: Ed Lutz
Subject: Laverda Bike for sale...NOT!
Those of you who were on the Laverda forum may remember my post thinking
about selling my Executive. A decision has been made. No way, no how, am I
selling this bike! The BMW R1100RT I was considering is a fine machine but
I just love my triple to much to sell it. I guess I'll continue to be the
only endurance rider out there on a Laverda. Instead of selling I'm fixing,
upgrading, and massaging the Executive. Its already got a really nice,
ugly, comfortable seat and a big set of Givi bags. Next is a full rebuild
of the brakes, some swingarm pivot maintenance, and hopefully a resolution
of my quest to find a proper ignition system. After that perhaps some
driving lights and an auxiliary fuel system.
On the subject of ignition systems, anybody out there from Australia (or
elsewhere for that matter) know anything about the status of the ignition
systems shown on Stephen Battisons web page? The systems look great and I
was trying to get one but it looks like the company has stopped operations.
Anybody have any insight on these systems?
Ed
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 04:47:10 -0800
From: "Michael Moore"
Subject: Laverda SF twin fins
My two SF2 engines have different number of fins on the cylinder
head.
Does anyone know if there are any differences between the heads other
than the fin count?
Cheers,
Michael
Michael Moore
Euro Spares, SF CA
Distributor of Lucas RITA and Powerbase products
Sole North American distributor of "The Racing Motorcycle: a technical guide for constructors"
Host of 6 m/c email lists (details on the web site)
http://www.eurospares.com
AFM/AHRMA #364
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 19:38:51 +0000
From: Richard Taylor
Subject: Re: Laverda Grounding Bull...
At 22:28 22/03/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Richard, that's rather incredible that he grounded the left side isn't it?
>I've seen evidence on my own bike from a previous owner, of grounding the
>alternator cover, and that's quite remarkable, but to make contact on the
>left side is astounding! Where do we get such men?
No, you're correct, I'm wrong. I'm cracking up - it was definitely the
'bigger' side. I think I'm mixing up the grass and grounding incident. So
much for an accurate memory. Oops.
There's no way you could get the left down without crashhing. I think... :-)
But he certainly ground it in front of me. Must have been the hairpin
straight afterwards, because the top of Gooseneck which goes right is too
fast to ground and stay up?
- --
Regards, Richard Taylor. International Laverda Owners Club -
http://www.richtea.demon.co.uk/laverda
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 22:59:57 +0100
From: "Marnix"
Subject: Re: Laverda SF twin fins
Michael wrote:
>My two SF2 engines have different number of fins on the cylinder
>head.
>
>Does anyone know if there are any differences between the heads other
>than the fin count?
There were no other differences as far as I know. For one or the other
reason, Laverda started to produce cylinders and heads with one fin less
some time in 1973. Cylinder heads went from 17 to 16 fins, cylinder from 14
to 13 fins.
Most bikes with 17 fins were small valve heads, as far as I know only many
SF1 engines had the 36 mil heads with 17 fins. Of course it is always
possible that there were still 17 fin heads laying around at the factory so
that they also ended up on an SF2...
I have also seen new SF1s with 16 fin head and 14 fin cylinder.
Drum brake SFCs had 36 mil heads with 17 fins but these had different inlet
tracts to make fitment of Amal carbs with special steel inlet manifolds
possible. These had 7mm thread ends instead of the SF's 8mm thread ends.
I don't know if this reduction of the number of fins was done to make the
casting easier or in order to make the engine more silent (less singing of
the fins?).
In any case, this excercise coincided with Laverda doing many things to
bring the noise down (air filter house, large volume Lafranconi exhaust
system etc).
For the rest the design was the same.
Marnix
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
INTERNATIONAL LAVERA 750 SFC OWNERS REGISTRY
Marnix van der Schalk
Rotterdam - The Netherlands
e-mail: wschalk@euronet.nl
web site: http://www.euronet.nl/~wschalk/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 19:01:01 EST
From: DucDave
Subject: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
Hello fellow laverda gearheads :
My name is David Ill, I live in sunny Albuquerque,New Mexico.
I Currently ride a 93 duc 900SS and am restoring an 1977 Jota that had been
badly neglected and crashed. Been at the restoration for about 8 months now
but am almost ready to do thre electrics and hope it starts. previous laverda
was a 84 RGS that I rode untill I bought the Ducati. First before i forget ,
to Mr Moore., Rick Hayman said to say HI ! second a comment about the
jetting issue , i to tryed to run K&N filters on thre RGS and had a bit of
trouble getting them to work. i have read a lot of suggestions as to what
jetting to use BUT that all depends on the altitude Mr Porter rides at
(albuquerque is at an altitude over 5,000 feet with a lot of our rideing done
between that and 8,500 feet, with an occasional trip to 10,000 feet)
if mr porters jetting was close before he installed the K&N he should have
seen a lean condition throuout the throtle range, not " black plugs" at a near
full throtle what i would suggest is checking the choke valves cuz they have a
rubber bottom that tends to get hard with age . they then do not seal the
choke bypass. this is effectivly the same thing as having the choke partially
open , not good. another comment when i started the rebuld of the Jota i had
to look for a new supply of parts. this was not easy i asked around , and got
a few suggestions . one was to contact lance at 1-800-laverda. I did and
asked him if i were to fax him a list of parts i needed if he could in turn
supply me with the prices, i was told that " this isnt Honda America" and he
didnt have time to do that. he has so far missed out on close to 3,000$ worth
of business from me . I then Contacted Mr Richard Slater
at Slater Laverda in Herefordshire, UK. he has been the epitome of helpful and
curteous, and I often have the parts in 10 days or less ,nuf said . I would
like to thank a guy who i wish i knew who he was for changing the way I saw
Laverdas. this guy was from Australia. He had worhed his way to the US in a
freighter for transport of him self and his laverda, so that he could tour the
US . I met him on his way home , he stoped at the local shop that a friend
owned . we visited told stories and had a great dinner then he was on his
way . does anyone know who this guy might have been? I believe he was rideing
a triple, with large ammo boxes mounted as " panners" but that is about all I
remember about the bike. it was I think summer 1983 . one thing,he loved that
laverda !
DAVID ILL ... ducdave@aol.com
------------------------------
End of laverda-digest V1 #33
****************************
laverda-digest Tuesday, March 24 1998 Volume 01 : Number 034
1. "Michael Moore" Subj: Re: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
2. DucDave Subj: Re: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
3. "Michael Moore" Subj: Re: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
4. DucDave Subj: re Laverdas,of course
5. Carlo Klein Subj: Re: Laverda Grounding Bull...
6. Keith McKay Subj: Laverda Moto Witt ignition settings
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 17:30:53 -0800
From: "Michael Moore"
Subject: Re: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
> to Mr Moore., Rick Hayman said to say HI ! second a comment about the
Hello David,
Welcome to the list, and thanks for the greetings from Rick.
> a few suggestions . one was to contact lance at 1-800-laverda. I
> did and asked him if i were to fax him a list of parts i needed if
> he could in turn supply me with the prices, i was told that " this
> isnt Honda America" and he didnt have time to do that. he has so
> far missed out on close to 3,000$ worth of business from me . I
> then Contacted Mr Richard Slater at Slater Laverda in
> Herefordshire, UK. he has been the epitome of helpful and curteous,
> and I often have the parts in 10 days or less ,nuf said . I
> would
Lance has been helpful to me, and doesn't need me to act as his
apologist, but I can see how you might have gotten that response -
there just never seems to be enough hours in the day for a one or
two person business to handle everything, and you'd be surprised how
many times a 2 page request for prices can come in. Still, it is hard
to sell stuff without providing a quote, so both sides can have some
justification here.
My experience is that if you ask around you can find a horror story
about everyone who is running a business. I'd have been time and
money ahead if another Laverda parts supplier hadn't responded to an
order for SFC pistons for my SF2 by, presumably, saying to himself
"well, these Electronica pistons are from an SFC, even if they are
2-2.5mm shorter than standard for an SF2, so I'll send them".
Another general point on pricing: Mean Marshall, owner of one of the
west coast's biggest Brit bike dealerships told me of a guy who came
in needing some odd part for a Triumph. Marshall told him his price,
and the guy responded with "but so and so down the way wants $20 less
than that". So Marshall told him he should probably go and see so
and so, as +$20 was Marshall's price. "But so and so doesn't have
any in stock, and I need it right away". To this Marshall replied
"well, when I don't have it in stock I sell it for that price too".
On the orphaned bikes many of us seem to have a penchant for it is
often not a question of is the part too expensive, but rather is it
available at any price? I've been through having parts
developed/made, and you are often better off being able to pay what
seems a high price for the convenience of being able to get a part
off the shelf, rather than getting something made and having it in
your hands 3 months later (and maybe having to have 15 of the parts
made up to keep the per unit price within reason).
Cheers,
Michael
Michael Moore
Euro Spares, SF CA
Distributor of Lucas RITA and Powerbase products
Sole North American distributor of "The Racing Motorcycle: a technical guide for constructors"
Host of 6 m/c email lists (details on the web site)
http://www.eurospares.com
AFM/AHRMA #364
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 20:56:57 EST
From: DucDave
Subject: Re: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
Mr Moore:
I will pass the hello on to Rick.
you are right about a simple request turning onto a lot of work ,but afterall
that is business.actually you will very rarely hear me comment on price, if
its an issue i just pass . I am sure I have payed more to have Mr Slater send
me the parts ,pay shipping and duty. but he was willing to do business and I
appreciate his help. I can FAX him and usually get a responce back in less
than an Hr. Since this "project" turned out to be a bit more work than I had
anticipated ( near total dissasembly!) i can only say that I appreciate Mr
Slaters help.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 18:08:18 -0800
From: "Michael Moore"
Subject: Re: Laverda new subscrib and other comments
> you are right about a simple request turning onto a lot of work ,but afterall
> that is business.actually you will very rarely hear me comment on price, if
> its an issue i just pass . I am sure I have payed more to have Mr Slater send
> me the parts ,pay shipping and duty. but he was willing to do business and I
> appreciate his help. I can FAX him and usually get a responce back in less
> than an Hr. Since this "project" turned out to be a bit more work than I had
> anticipated ( near total dissasembly!) i can only say that I appreciate Mr
> Slaters help.
Hello Dave,
Fair is fair, and whoever can do you a good deal in a timely manner
is worth supporting.
Then again, you may have caught Lance at a bad time - consider trying
him again if you have a chance. I often try to give someone the
benefit of the doubt first time around if possible, especially when
they may end up having something I need that can't be sourced
elsewhere.
Cheers,
Michael
Michael Moore
Euro Spares, SF CA
Distributor of Lucas RITA and Powerbase products
Sole North American distributor of "The Racing Motorcycle: a technical guide for constructors"
Host of 6 m/c email lists (details on the web site)
http://www.eurospares.com
AFM/AHRMA #364
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 01:26:21 EST
From: DucDave
Subject: re Laverdas,of course
thanks Bob :
I might be able to do that, when & where? so far i have only one trip planed
this summer, the annual trip to the laguna for the WSB races. so unless my
Wfe changes my mind, that will leave a lot of vacation time to play with.
David
Ill
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 14:38:19 +0100
From: Carlo Klein
Subject: Re: Laverda Grounding Bull...
At 19:38 23-03-98 +0000, Richard Taylor emerged and wibbled:
>No, you're correct, I'm wrong. I'm cracking up - it was definitely the
>'bigger' side. I think I'm mixing up the grass and grounding incident. So
>much for an accurate memory. Oops.
>
>But he certainly ground it in front of me. Must have been the hairpin
>straight afterwards, because the top of Gooseneck which goes right is too
>fast to ground and stay up?
If you're speaking of Cadwell Park circuit, then it's possible to ground the
lhs in Mansfield which is the lefthander after the *steep downhill* stretch
from the Gooseneck. The suspension may have been upset by this. The hairpin
drops by about a foot or so midway so it's very easy to ground there too.
I have tried too :-)
Carlo
- --
Carlo Klein Hengelo, The Netherlands
"I only chewed in self defence, but I never swallowed!" - Draco the dragon
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 18:07:16 +0100
From: Keith McKay
Subject: Laverda Moto Witt ignition settings
Hi everybody! I mentioned a while back I'd dig up the data sheets
on the Moto Witt box.
Sorry for the delay but I've been insanely busy last week.
So; for the DIP switch box, the curves are selected as follows.
(1 = on, 0 = off)
DIP1 DIP2 DIP3 Curve
0 0 0 1
1 0 0 2
0 1 0 3
1 1 0 4
0 0 1 5
1 0 1 6
0 1 1 7
1 1 1 8
DIP4 is the test switch and selects 'test' mode when it's on.
The curves are summarised as follows.
Curve Max advance BTDC Rev limit Comment (by Moto Witt)
1 32 deg 8500 As standard
2 26 deg 8500 For poor petrol
3 29 deg 8500 For poor petrol
4 32 deg 6500 Low rev limit for running in
5 34 deg 8700 Different max advance
6 34 deg 8700 For motors with low performance
at low revs, eg 3-1 exhaust
7 36 deg 8700 Different max advance
8 36 deg 8700 For motors with low performance
at low revs, eg 3-1 exhaust
I'll keep a copy of the data sheets here; if anyone wants anything
specific then let me know. There a lot of info there. I hope this
is helpful to some of the lads having ignition problems!
Disclaimers;
This was reproduced from the Moto Witt data sheets without permission.
My only connection with Moto Witt is that of a satisfied customer.
Our esteemed list manager is the agent for Lucas ignitions. Michael; if
I have erred in posting info on a competitive product feel free to
give me a rap on the knuckles.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
Keith McKay tel. : +31 (0)30 2809461
Vicorp International Services fax : +31 (0)30 2897323
Europalaan 542 email : kmk@vicorp.nl
3526 KS Utrecht
The Netherlands
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
Screw up your courage! You've screwed up everything else.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
End of laverda-digest V1 #34
****************************
laverda-digest Tuesday, March 24 1998 Volume 01 : Number 035
1. zottel@bbs.bybyte.de (Zottel) Subj: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
2. Stephen Wilcox Subj: Laverda Re: Various stuff...
3. Ed Lutz Subj: Re: Laverda Re: Various stuff...
4. Ed Lutz Subj: Re: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
5. Henry Willms Subj: Laverda Hard saddlebags for RGS
6. Ed Lutz Subj: Re: Laverda Hard saddlebags for RGS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 18:30:00 GMT
From: zottel@bbs.bybyte.de (Zottel)
Subject: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
> On the subject of ignition systems, anybody out there from Australia (or
> elsewhere for that matter) know anything about the status of the ignition
> systems shown on Stephen Battisons web page? The systems look great and I
> was trying to get one but it looks like the company has stopped operations.
If you are rich you might want to check out the Silent Hektik
unit, it's very expensive though but looks even better than the
Moto Witt ignition...
Bye
Chris
- ---
_ RM 1.31 3336 _
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 13:58:30 -0800
From: Stephen Wilcox
Subject: Laverda Re: Various stuff...
Howdy,
Been away from email for a few days, funny how out of touch it
feels! Anyway, comments on a few things:
'Bout Lance & 1-800 Laverda. I second Ed's & Michael's comments.
I'll admit I had a little trouble a few times (forgotten orders,
etc.) but when I was in a bind once and had a bent valve a week
before taking off on a long trip, Lance really came through and
helped me out with parts and advice, and got me on the road on time.
I figure any source of parts (rare commodities over here) & knowledge
is worth putting up with some idiosyncrasies. I do spread my business
around a little, having ordered from the usual suspects, and feel
gratitude to all of 'em who have helped me out. And I intend to keep
giving 'em all business as long as they have parts (or until any of
'em give me good reason not to)
I said:
> he said were from the RGS repair manual. I could not find any
> in my copy, and they were slightly different from the ones in
> the RGS parts manual. I'll have to look again.
I took another look, and saw 'em. On a page I've looked at about
a million times, not sure how I missed 'em!
Grounding the left side of the engine... One of the previous
owners of my RGS had apparently done so. The lower corner of the
ignition pickup cover is ground all the way through at just the angle
it would hit the road. No evidence of it going all the way down on
that side. Wow!
To Lawrence, if you are here, thanks for the tip on Mat 7 over on the
Forum page. I got some and tried it out, and it worked great! I've not
put the side cover back on yet, but it feels quite strong and looks
great. Awesome stuff. I embedded some glass fiber cloth on the back
side for extra strength, I hope it holds up.
See ya'll (well, some of ya'll) at Laguna. Hope you will all understand
if my bike is still grimy, it is not because I don't love her, just
that I'm not sure when I'll find a quiet afternoon to clean her up!
Stephen Wilcox
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 14:25:52 -0800
From: Ed Lutz
Subject: Re: Laverda Re: Various stuff...
I'll second the comments about Mat-7. I used it on the hand guards on my
Executive. One of them cracked right at the mirror mount. The Mat-7 fixed
worked great and was also easy to use. Didn't go the glass fiber route but
I will if it breaks again.
Ed
At 01:58 PM 3/24/98 -0800, you wrote:
> To Lawrence, if you are here, thanks for the tip on Mat 7 over on the
>Forum page. I got some and tried it out, and it worked great! I've not
>put the side cover back on yet, but it feels quite strong and looks
>great. Awesome stuff. I embedded some glass fiber cloth on the back
>side for extra strength, I hope it holds up.
>
> See ya'll (well, some of ya'll) at Laguna. Hope you will all understand
>if my bike is still grimy, it is not because I don't love her, just
>that I'm not sure when I'll find a quiet afternoon to clean her up!
>
> Stephen Wilcox
>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 14:22:48 -0800
From: Ed Lutz
Subject: Re: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
I e-mailed them and got a reply. Seems they don't have anything yet for a
triple. Have you seen different? language may have been a barrier. You
mention they are expensive, how much?
Thanks,
Ed
At 06:30 PM 3/24/98 GMT, you wrote:
>> On the subject of ignition systems, anybody out there from Australia (or
>> elsewhere for that matter) know anything about the status of the ignition
>> systems shown on Stephen Battisons web page? The systems look great and I
>> was trying to get one but it looks like the company has stopped
operations.
>
>If you are rich you might want to check out the Silent Hektik
>unit, it's very expensive though but looks even better than the
>Moto Witt ignition...
>
>Bye
>
>Chris
>
>---
> _ RM 1.31 3336 _
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 18:13:59 -0500
From: Henry Willms
Subject: Laverda Hard saddlebags for RGS
Anybody have any recommendations for what will fit reasonably easily? I am
assuming I will need to make some mounting brackets.
I know the Executive Bags are hard to find, and they are small, but I would
consider them if someone has them. I am thinking of the GIVI bags as a likely
alternative but concerned they are too big .
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 15:55:28 -0800
From: Ed Lutz
Subject: Re: Laverda Hard saddlebags for RGS
I would recommend the Givis. I got the big ones, 36L I think but smaller
are available. The mounts I made are a combination of the Givi universal
kit and some homemade pieces. If you want, check out Stephen Battisons
Laverda page for some pictures. They're in a story I wrote about a trip to
Nevada. Its at:
http://rsphy1.anu.edu.au/~stb107/laverda/behindbars.html
If you like I can send you some .jpgs of my mounts showing you how I put it
all together. If a few people are interested then I can post it to my web
page.
Stephen mounted some on his RGS too and I think I have some shots of his
setup. His are different as mine were purposely mounted quite far forward
for better weight distribution. Works since I always travel alone. If you
want to carry a passenger then some changes would be necessary.
Ed
At 06:13 PM 3/24/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Anybody have any recommendations for what will fit reasonably easily? I am
>assuming I will need to make some mounting brackets.
>I know the Executive Bags are hard to find, and they are small, but I would
>consider them if someone has them. I am thinking of the GIVI bags as a likely
>alternative but concerned they are too big .
>
------------------------------
End of laverda-digest V1 #35
****************************
laverda-digest Tuesday, March 24 1998 Volume 01 : Number 036
1. Martin Buck Subj: Re: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
2. "Michael Moore" Subj: Re: Laverda Moto Witt ignition settings
3. Ed Lutz Subj: Re: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
4. "~admin"<~admin_at_~eurhub@rdm-cc.eucom.mil> Subj: Laverda cc:Mail Link to SMTP Undeliverable Message
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 11:17:42 +0800
From: Martin Buck
Subject: Re: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
Zottel wrote:
> > On the subject of ignition systems, anybody out there from Australia (or
> > elsewhere for that matter) know anything about the status of the ignition
> > systems shown on Stephen Battisons web page? The systems look great and I
> > was trying to get one but it looks like the company has stopped operations.
Hi Zottel,
All I have heard is that the manufacturers of the ignition system are relocating
premises and not gone out of business. Could try the Laverda Club of New South
Wales web page and should get more info.
Martin
Perth, Australia
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 20:42:27 -0800
From: "Michael Moore"
Subject: Re: Laverda Moto Witt ignition settings
> This was reproduced from the Moto Witt data sheets without permission.
> My only connection with Moto Witt is that of a satisfied customer.
> Our esteemed list manager is the agent for Lucas ignitions. Michael; if
> I have erred in posting info on a competitive product feel free to
> give me a rap on the knuckles.
Hello Keith,
Not a problem - there is no L-triple RITA kit, so I've been
recommending the Witt ignition to people when they inquire. I think
someone does a triple ignition based on the dreaded B-ignition, but
don't know any details about that.
I've got a few of the RITAs I made up for the 750s (with points
fitted OEM) - there should be a couple of running racers/street bikes
with those up and about soon.
Cheers,
Michael
Michael Moore
Euro Spares, SF CA
Distributor of Lucas RITA and Powerbase products
Sole North American distributor of "The Racing Motorcycle: a technical guide for constructors"
Host of 6 m/c email lists (details on the web site)
http://www.eurospares.com
AFM/AHRMA #364
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 21:19:50 -0800
From: Ed Lutz
Subject: Re: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
Martin,
That was me asking about the AU ignition system. Where is the New South
Wales web page? Don't have that one in my links file.
Ed
At 11:17 AM 3/25/98 +0800, you wrote:
>
>
>Zottel wrote:
>
>> > On the subject of ignition systems, anybody out there from Australia (or
>> > elsewhere for that matter) know anything about the status of the
ignition
>> > systems shown on Stephen Battisons web page? The systems look great
and I
>> > was trying to get one but it looks like the company has stopped
operations.
>
>Hi Zottel,
>
>All I have heard is that the manufacturers of the ignition system are
relocating
>premises and not gone out of business. Could try the Laverda Club of New
South
>Wales web page and should get more info.
>
>Martin
>Perth, Australia
>
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 98 07:42:03 +0100
From: "~admin"<~admin_at_~eurhub@rdm-cc.eucom.mil>
Subject: Laverda cc:Mail Link to SMTP Undeliverable Message
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- ---------------------
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Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 21:19:50 -0800
To: laverda@list.sirius.com
From: Ed Lutz
Subject: Re: Laverda LAVERDA BIKE FOR SALE...N
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Martin,
That was me asking about the AU ignition system. Where is the New South
Wales web page? Don't have that one in my links file.
Ed
At 11:17 AM 3/25/98 +0800, you wrote:
>
>
>Zottel wrote:
>
>> > On the subject of ignition systems, anybody out there from Australia (or
>> > elsewhere for that matter) know anything about the status of the
ignition
>> > systems shown on Stephen Battisons web page? The systems look great
and I
>> > was trying to get one but it looks like the company has stopped
operations.
>
>Hi Zottel,
>
>All I have heard is that the manufacturers of the ignition system are
relocating
>premises and not gone out of business. Could try the Laverda Club of New
South
>Wales web page and should get more info.
>
>Martin
>Perth, Australia
>
>
>
- --simple boundary--
------------------------------
End of laverda-digest V1 #36
****************************
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