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

[Exmoor beast]

On the road for two weeks with the missus.

I am going to state the obvious but I burnt my way through some throw over panniers, they’re never touching the exhaust when you leave home…I lost my big lock and chain ( somewhere on M5) and had to drag a shoe out between the swing arm & rear wheel. Any way, have fun.

 

[Perry]

I am going to state the obvious but I burnt my way through some throw over panniers, they’re never touching the exhaust when you leave home…I lost my big lock and chain ( somewhere on M5) and had to drag a shoe out between the swing arm & rear wheel. Any way, have fun.

1980 on a Z650 on autoroute in South of France with future wife on pillion. Marshall 4 into 1 bearing on leather throw over pannier containing camping gas. Like the Hindenburg going up on Michael Bentine's potty time....

 

[Paul Marx]

I got through the bottom of Hein Gerricks best riding the SFC down to Breganze with the panniers thrown over the seat and hump. I still use them. These are dirt cheap Chinese panniers made from lorry tarpaulin. Excellent quality. And they're orange.

 

[Beucars]

On the road for two weeks with the missus.

Bonne route, profite bien de vos vacances!

 

[Paul Marx]

Bonne route, profite bien de vos vacances!

Merci.
Des bonnes motos et des bonnes routes

Tutto bene.

 

[The Sock]

Rode over to New Malden to try on a Dianese rain suit, the size they had in stock was too small.
I guess my Motomod suit is past its 'replace by' date and I think it'd make sense to have one for the 75th Anniversary Factory Trip, next year, JIC.

 

[Andy J]

Rode over to New Malden to try on a Dianese rain suit, the size they had in stock was too small.
I guess my Motomod suit is past its 'replace by' date and I think it'd make sense to have one for the 75th Anniversary Factory Trip, next year, JIC.

View attachment 83860

Well I hope it keeps out the rain better than my new Frank Thomas useless oversuit. Had to ride from Jurby to Douglas and back to chair a meeting at lunchtime today and the suit was as wet on the inside as the outside. It wasn’t as though the rain was torrential or riding for a prolonged period. Needless to say it will be sent back for a refund.

 

[Paul Marx]

I haven't used rain suits in years. I have an all weather waterproof jacket and a pair of waterproof trousers with a zip right up either side. Easy to put on. I couldn't put a suit on, my joints are way too stiff.
Paul

 

[Dellortoman]

my joints are way too stiff.

Get grease nipples installed in your joints.
Before I got my knee replacement, I'd get regular injections of a viscous knee grease (I think it may have been hyaluronic acid) to keep the buggered joint moving. In my case the problem wasn't arthritis. It was a mangled joint from a motorcycle crash when I was younger, but I had to wait until I was old enough for a replacement knee.

 

[Andy J]

I haven't used rain suits in years. I have an all weather waterproof jacket and a pair of waterproof trousers with a zip right up either side. Easy to put on. I couldn't put a suit on, my joints are way too stiff.
Paul

The FT suit has a zip from toe to shoulder, so makes it easy to put on - and is probably the reason it also leaks....

 

[LaverdaIan]

Back to the topic in hand.. debriefed the Formula 500 after a great weekends racing.. clearances and leak down in good order, all good. Off to the Suspension guy for a couple a touch ups required.. great little racer this one, made for it 'apparently'..

 

[Tippie]

The FT suit has a zip from toe to shoulder, so makes it easy to put on - and is probably the reason it also leaks....

Many rain suits have that type of inner surface that makes them stick to leather that has even just a few raindrops already on it, really frustrating at the side of the road. My suit has a huge long zipper that helps but is totally watertight, also airtight so very clammy when it isn't cold as well as wet so I generally just stay with the good quality textile stuff. There are also gloves with liners (thinsulate?) that don't want to go on or off wet hands.

 

[Vince]

That glove thing is a complete bastard, for ages, I have been going to try those thin silk inner gloves to see if that stops the Gortex liner from sticking to wet hands and pulling out. The first time it happened it took ages to sort it out at some random fuel stop while shadowing Perio Laverda on his Bathurst Mt Panorama visit. We got smashed by a Thunder Storm just out of Bathurst. I hate having gear fail at inopportune times.

 

[CLEMTOG]

I am with Paul, I wear a 3/4 length textile jacket in all weathers the ling comes out if its very hot, as in 28 plus, and a frank Thomas overtrousers with zip right up to the thighs so as to be able to put it on over leather trousers and boots, which I wear all the time and is not a problem even in 28 c, the thing is Hamsih you will get your wet gear sorted, spend money, cart it all the way there and back and never use it! if you dont take the wet kit Murphys law says you will get soacked every singkle day of the trip.
CLEM

 

[Paul Marx]

Touring the small roads of France. Nearly no cars and no bikes at all.

 

[Andy]

Touring the small roads of France. Nearly no cars and no bikes at all.

Very cool Paul.
We have lots of those kind of quiet back roads here, great fun but keep an eye out for farmers on quads!

 

[The Sock]

The thing is Hamish you will get your wet gear sorted, spend money, cart it all the way there and back and never use it!

If you dont take the wet kit Murphys law says you will get soaked every single day of the trip.

I know, Clem.
Think of it as insurance against rain, and why I want one that can be packed into a very small space.

 

[Dellortoman]

Replaced the knackered fuel hoses yesterday. Put a couple of in-line filters in while I was at it. Also cleaned the spark plugs. A bit of cold fouling was evident on the centre plug. It was pissing with rain, so I didn't take it for a test ride.

Remember when spark plug cleaning was a thing? You could take them into your local service station and they'd screw them into a little sand blaster that would blast all the black shit off them. Whatever happened to all those plug cleaning/testing machines? I just hit them with a butane torch to burn all that crap off. Gives them renewed vigour and is cheaper than replacing with new.

 

[chrisk]

Replaced the knackered fuel hoses yesterday. Put a couple of in-line filters in while I was at it. Also cleaned the spark plugs. A bit of cold fouling was evident on the centre plug. It was pissing with rain, so I didn't take it for a test ride.

Remember when spark plug cleaning was a thing? You could take them into your local service station and they'd screw them into a little sand blaster that would blast all the black shit off them. Whatever happened to all those plug cleaning/testing machines? I just hit them with a butane torch to burn all that crap off. Gives them renewed vigour and is cheaper than replacing with new.

And they had a workshop, these days they only have a convenience shop.

 

[Vince]

Cleaning Spark Plugs came close to killing me as an 18month old. My Dad was soaking plugs in a container of Petrol and I got up from a Nap thirsty and saw that container and chugged it down. That wasn't the big problem, the big problem was being forced to regurgitate it on the rushed trip to Hospital. Nobody who wasn't Medically trained back then knew how bad regurgitating and then asperating poisons were. I spent some time in Hospital with Pumonia from that Aspertions. I think that confirmed me as a Petrop head though.