A friend recently narrowly missed out on aquiring one of the five original Harris-framed Laverdas that Moto Witt had commissioned in the mid-1980s, Forum member Otto was the lucky buyer. I casually remarked that I knew where there was another... my friend requested I contact the owner to see if he was willing to sell. The ball started rolling...
I called Günther and asked the fatefull question. His answer was a flat "no".
But he instead asked if I'd be interested in helping him revive the bike. So, over the past couple of months, Günther and I have assessed the bike, decided the chassis required a full restoration, disassembled the bike and embarked on a pretty thorough going over. Goal is to take part in the August event at the Nürburgring where we aim to re-unite all five of the Moto Witt-commissioned frames.
The initiated will know that one frame was built as the SFC600, displayed at the Cologne IFMA in 198? and is now part of a collection in southern Germany. Two frames recieved Brettoni-tuned 580cc engines and took part in the german BoT championship, campaigned by Günther and Georg, generously sponsored by Moto Witt. The remaining frames went to Laverda dealers Schenk of Idstein, Germany and v.Dijk of Driebergen, Netherlands. The Schenk bike was built into a race/track tool but was never raced afaIk, ended up in Andy Wagners impressive collection and is now in Ottos' possesion. The v.Dijk frame formed the basis of a road bike, was duely registered in the Netherlands where it has remained and is now also in Ottos' possesion. Georg lost interest after a season and swapped his bike for a '74 SFC with Tim Parker in the US. Tim apparently rode the bike intensively and blew the crankcase at Daytona. This bike has found its way back to Europe and also currently resides in the Netherlands. Günther alone hung on to his bike, keeping it in his garage covered with blankets for over 35years!
Enough of the history...
I drove over to Günther for a first assessment. We first removed the plugs and cautiuosly turned the crank. To both our surprise, it turned with no undue resistance at all! Things immediately brightened up! Günther decided the patina was a bit excessive and disassembled the bike, brought carbs, brake components and forks over for rebuilding which all went well without further hassle. The rear WP suspension unit seemed to be in working condition but Günther decided it could do with some TLC. He found a specialist willing to overhaul it, should be back next week. The frame and swingarm were powder coated, new bearings fore and aft installed. The engine had been supplied by Augusto Brettoni and has no starting or charging system fitted. Günther wanted a simple, fool-proof ignition system in place of the OE Bosch running constant loss with a battery in the tail. I recommended a PVL magneto unit which was duly ordered and after a bit of head-scratching, actual thinking, machining and general wizardry, found its place on the RH end of the shortened Brettoni crank. Bodywork, tank and wheels got a fresh coating of orange, all wheel bearings were renewed. Fresh Battlax CR11s are now entrusted to protect the rims from damage. Valve clearances were checked and found to be spot-on, timing chain and tensioner both in excellent condition. Rusty fasteners were swapped out, the clutch cover removed to check for internal corrosion, of which none was found. New EBC floating discs were sourced to replace the stock 280mm front rotors, these will be relegated to the spare "rain" wheel set.
Yesterday was to be the big day. We installed the engine, forks and swingarm, fiddled with spacers and axles to get the wheels correctly spaced to finish the day with a rolling chassis. To say we were pleased with ourselves would be an understatement, well and truely chuffed actually!
Back in the day...
Strip-down
Raw frame
Checking cut-off crank
Porting a la Brettoni
PVL Magneto
Found the old cover could be made to fit
Made a cover to close the hole
Time-consuming
Progress so far
To be continued.
piet
I called Günther and asked the fatefull question. His answer was a flat "no".
But he instead asked if I'd be interested in helping him revive the bike. So, over the past couple of months, Günther and I have assessed the bike, decided the chassis required a full restoration, disassembled the bike and embarked on a pretty thorough going over. Goal is to take part in the August event at the Nürburgring where we aim to re-unite all five of the Moto Witt-commissioned frames. The initiated will know that one frame was built as the SFC600, displayed at the Cologne IFMA in 198? and is now part of a collection in southern Germany. Two frames recieved Brettoni-tuned 580cc engines and took part in the german BoT championship, campaigned by Günther and Georg, generously sponsored by Moto Witt. The remaining frames went to Laverda dealers Schenk of Idstein, Germany and v.Dijk of Driebergen, Netherlands. The Schenk bike was built into a race/track tool but was never raced afaIk, ended up in Andy Wagners impressive collection and is now in Ottos' possesion. The v.Dijk frame formed the basis of a road bike, was duely registered in the Netherlands where it has remained and is now also in Ottos' possesion. Georg lost interest after a season and swapped his bike for a '74 SFC with Tim Parker in the US. Tim apparently rode the bike intensively and blew the crankcase at Daytona. This bike has found its way back to Europe and also currently resides in the Netherlands. Günther alone hung on to his bike, keeping it in his garage covered with blankets for over 35years!
Enough of the history...
I drove over to Günther for a first assessment. We first removed the plugs and cautiuosly turned the crank. To both our surprise, it turned with no undue resistance at all! Things immediately brightened up! Günther decided the patina was a bit excessive and disassembled the bike, brought carbs, brake components and forks over for rebuilding which all went well without further hassle. The rear WP suspension unit seemed to be in working condition but Günther decided it could do with some TLC. He found a specialist willing to overhaul it, should be back next week. The frame and swingarm were powder coated, new bearings fore and aft installed. The engine had been supplied by Augusto Brettoni and has no starting or charging system fitted. Günther wanted a simple, fool-proof ignition system in place of the OE Bosch running constant loss with a battery in the tail. I recommended a PVL magneto unit which was duly ordered and after a bit of head-scratching, actual thinking, machining and general wizardry, found its place on the RH end of the shortened Brettoni crank. Bodywork, tank and wheels got a fresh coating of orange, all wheel bearings were renewed. Fresh Battlax CR11s are now entrusted to protect the rims from damage. Valve clearances were checked and found to be spot-on, timing chain and tensioner both in excellent condition. Rusty fasteners were swapped out, the clutch cover removed to check for internal corrosion, of which none was found. New EBC floating discs were sourced to replace the stock 280mm front rotors, these will be relegated to the spare "rain" wheel set.
Yesterday was to be the big day. We installed the engine, forks and swingarm, fiddled with spacers and axles to get the wheels correctly spaced to finish the day with a rolling chassis. To say we were pleased with ourselves would be an understatement, well and truely chuffed actually!
Back in the day...
Strip-down
Raw frame
Checking cut-off crank
Porting a la Brettoni
PVL Magneto
Found the old cover could be made to fit
Made a cover to close the hole
Time-consuming
Progress so far
To be continued.
piet
.
