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

Bought a new battery for my Jota, after a float charger malfunctioned and killed the last one stone dead by flattening it to zero volts in just a couple of months.
I was really pissed off because it was a super expensive DEKA EXT30LA (made for Harleys) that was only a few months out of its 2-year warranty period. I've had DEKA batteries last over 20 years with care, so I blame myself for using a cheap, 20-year-old float charger of dubious quality. I coughed up the almost $400 asking price in a battery shop for an identical new DEKA battery. I probably could have got it cheaper online, but I didn't want to muck about with mail order. I bought a couple of new smart chargers while I was there. An expensive trip to the battery shop.
 
The Deka in my Pantah died a couple of weeks back. It didn't get ridden during the Pandemic lockdown for approx 3 months and then its carbs were blocked, Marty Ultra soniced them and I haven't got around to fitting them for again approx a year, but I did every few months hit the battery with my 7 stage Intelligent Charger. But obviously not offer enough. My last attempt to charge it last week showed Fauly Battery on the charger. It's the slightly smaller version but that was close to $300 last time. Painful situation.
 
With so many bikes, battery life/survival is always an issue for me. With the 350/500 bikes, having a couple of batteries between them works okay as they are quick enough to swap around, but a different matter with the Zane bikes. I sometimes think it would be easier to only have bikes that don’t need a battery, but then that can bring its own set of problems. 😕
 
Last weekend I went for a trip to Germany with two friends on 3 Zane 650 sport/formula.
1200 km in 3 days without great problems.
It was great to visit OCT and speak to Roger about our past on the 24 h of Spa in late nineties with team Gijs van Dijk.
 

Attachments

  • a1a94207-47b6-4295-8028-c1869058f174.jpeg
    a1a94207-47b6-4295-8028-c1869058f174.jpeg
    201.8 KB · Views: 48
  • IMG_0492.jpeg
    IMG_0492.jpeg
    262.4 KB · Views: 48
With so many bikes, battery life/survival is always an issue for me. With the 350/500 bikes, having a couple of batteries between them works okay as they are quick enough to swap around, but a different matter with the Zane bikes. I sometimes think it would be easier to only have bikes that don’t need a battery, but then that can bring its own set of problems. 😕
All these battery problems?

I’m thinking Roadside Assistance is going to need a huge truck full of spare batteries, as more EV’s die.
 
Thanks to Quentin, I stopped taking my SFC to bits and put it back together.
His comment on the valve stem tips mushrooming and the adjuster screws led me to look, and check valve clearance. Remember, the intakes had been opening up by about 0.2 every hour's running. Well, one intake was 0.15 and the other was about 0.18. Nothing to write home about, so I put it back together and will run it a few hours. I changed the oil as well.

The first and the last of the big sporting Laverda side by side. 1970 750 S and 1976 750 SFC.

Paul

1687273829812.png
 
I hope they are different to mine Paul. Mine have uncanny ability to let go of the chain. The sound of the slink-n-chink as the chain dissappears down the tunnel is something I'm very used to....
 
Back
Top