helicopterjim
Hero member
- Location
- near Lone Butte, BC, Canada
Has anyone noticed the "original solo seat" is for the later SF models?
Just sayin' .......
Jim
750 Drummer on eBay
- Thread starter 3C-Wayne
- Start date
Has anyone noticed the "original solo seat" is for the later SF models?
Just sayin' .......
Jim
Normski
Senior member
- Location
- Devon, England
One of the worst nick pickers - someone who I thought of as the self styled high priestess of the Laverda world made plenty of mistakes himself.
ksoholm
Senior member
- Location
- Bellingham, WA, USA
France is a nice place, but market forces are what they are. People never pay more or less than they want to for things like bikes. Laverdas are now so rare in the US that prices are determined not by an established supply/demand curve as much as what an individual is willing to pay for a very rare item in a seller's market, leading to much bigger swings in value. A supply/demand curve usually demands multiples of an item for sale; in the US, there's usually only one or two Laverdas for sale at any given time in the entire country of 330+ million people. Most often there are none for sale.
If we all had more sense than money, we'd all get rid of these old bangers and ride endlessly superior modern bikes. I could have a BMW R1200RS for what I have into my RGS . . .
CLEMTOG
Hero member
I have had a service done on my SF1
it was by Slaters in Collington
the cost one £1.50 (that is one and a half GBP)
this was 1973 and I still have the receipt and still have the bike, well sort of, its now the CLEGBIVERDASON. I am fed up with saying Egli, because its not one, even though the bare chassis (no rear end) was built by Binnion, it was the first chassis he built after relinquishing his Egli License, that is why the tube tube is cut and shut, to lower the seat height, it side steps the law of copyright.
CLEM
it was by Slaters in Collington
the cost one £1.50 (that is one and a half GBP)
this was 1973 and I still have the receipt and still have the bike, well sort of, its now the CLEGBIVERDASON. I am fed up with saying Egli, because its not one, even though the bare chassis (no rear end) was built by Binnion, it was the first chassis he built after relinquishing his Egli License, that is why the tube tube is cut and shut, to lower the seat height, it side steps the law of copyright.
CLEM
I fully understand that. The problem is that high prices push bikes off the road which is where they should be. getting dirty, oily and wearing out.
And when the bikes are off the road, which is more and more the case, there's no more spare parts which is more and more the case and it's likely that in 5 years time, spares supply will be nil. Supply of people with the knowledge to accomplish certain specialised operations will also be nil.
High prices push younger people off the "market", leaving only older people with more money, who more often than not, don't ride. It is a nasty vicious circle.
It's not that people never pay more or less than they want, it's that they make the bikes unattainable for a lot of people who'd use them.
Modern bikes are certainly not superior to our old bangers, quite the contrary. They're easy to maintain and fix by the side of the raod when a problem arises.
You're not riding your RGS enough.
Paul
Last edited:
ksoholm
Senior member
- Location
- Bellingham, WA, USA
Well, the decline of anything old is just another example of ever-present entropy, nowt to be done about it. Old bikes need to be easy to repair because they fail more often and need a lot more maintenance using far less available parts.
New bikes are far more reliable and less maintenance-intensive with ready serviceability, quite apart from being much safer and having far superior handling and performance. All these factors are serious barriers to ownership for a majority of riders, people who just want to ride safely and without worry. Another high barrier for most potential old-bike owners is that most old bikes apart from Japanese brands require owners to be their own mechanics as few if any local mechanics work on them.
So, by any objective measure, new bikes are far superior to old. Zero reasonable debate about that.
Many of us have old bikes for other reasons - to make yourself feel special, they appeal to the inner snob, because old bikes can be more fun, because they're enjoyable at lower speeds, and so on. But if I'm going on a 2,500-mile fast Western deserts ride, I'm taking my 1996 R1100RS, no question.
No.
Old bikes are repairable, new ones are recyclable.
As such, old bikes are far more reliable because they don't need a mobile phone, a satellite, a breakdown insurance, and a credit card to get you out of trouble.
The decline of anything old is just an example of consumer society. A system that needs to produce and sell.
I ride old bikes. I used to ride them when I was young as well. I don't ride them because they appeal to my inner snob and speed is one aspect of motorcycling that leaves me stone cold. I ride old bikes because they're a way of life, and they always have been, not a fashion accessory.
Being able to maintain my bikes by myself is part of that way of life. I also repair and maintain my house and all that comes with it. That is certainly part of my personal snobbery and I view with a certain disdain anybody who hasn't got the curiosity and hasn't learnt to intervene on the objects of his every day life and his surroundings.
I have a modern 750 Aprilia which I bought to ride to work the last couple of years before retiring, before that, I rode a 750 SF daily.
That SF, I toured with this summer, 7000 km. I've done less than 1000 km with the Aprilia in the last 3 years. I only use it for local errands, the brakes are reassuring in modern traffic. Next time I'm off for a long ride, it'll be on a Laverda or my 500 Guzzi Falcone.
And if I sell my SFC, it'll be to buy a Vincent twin, to go touring.
So, no.
We definitely do not agree.
Paul
Last edited:
Old bikes break down more often because they are not properly maintained. Correctly maintained and serviced, old motorcycles needn't be any less reliable than newer models. Often, they can be even more reliable, far less to go wrong. And you don't need to be a rocket scientist to repair them.
A downside for old vehicles is the amount of service required to keep them reliable, and to a lesser scale, depending on model, parts availability. Price certainly isn't, spare part prices for new bikes are usually eye-watering.
Regular service costs aren't exactly bargain-basement either.
I'll happily chug to the North Cape, and back, in 2023 on my 750GTL. Considering using a more modern bike hasn't crossed my mind.
piet
A downside for old vehicles is the amount of service required to keep them reliable, and to a lesser scale, depending on model, parts availability. Price certainly isn't, spare part prices for new bikes are usually eye-watering.
Regular service costs aren't exactly bargain-basement either.I'll happily chug to the North Cape, and back, in 2023 on my 750GTL. Considering using a more modern bike hasn't crossed my mind.
piet
ksoholm
Senior member
- Location
- Bellingham, WA, USA
Oh, I agree; I have little-to-no interest in anything modern, with my mint 1996 R1100RS being my lone concession to modernity and reliability, for droning up and down motorways. But while loveable in its own German way for amazing efficiency and engineering - the way WWII German soldiers loved the FLAK 88 - it still bores me. The Guzzi doesn't count; it was already way outdated by 1995, though it is the most fun bike I've ever ridden for that reason.
mauricejota7604
Hero member
- Location
- Victoria Australia
I can clearly remember when my mate Tom and I toured western Europe in 2009 on our 1980 and 1981 Jota's arriving at a hotel in southern France and a group of German chaps that were BMW riders looking on in disbelief that we were travelling all over Europe on our öld"bikes, one bloke was so amazed he asked what would we do if we broke down, well we told him that we would fix them and keep going nothing unusual, maybe we Aussies are just too care free???Old bikes break down more often because they are not properly maintained. Correctly maintained and serviced, old motorcycles needn't be any less reliable than newer models. Often, they can be even more reliable, far less to go wrong. And you don't need to be a rocket scientist to repair them.
A downside for old vehicles is the amount of service required to keep them reliable, and to a lesser scale, depending on model, parts availability. Price certainly isn't, spare part prices for new bikes are usually eye-watering.
I'll happily chug to the North Cape, and back, in 2023 on my 750GTL. Considering using a more modern bike hasn't crossed my mind.
piet
In the end we did do thousands of Kms on that trip and our "öld" bikes never missed a beat.
Tom repeated the exercise 10 years later and did many more K'ms pretty well trouble free and I rode a complete stranger bike my flying Kangaroo 1200 also with trouble free riding.
piranha-bro2
Hero member
- Location
- Melbourne
Yeah, I'm not sure where this concept of our 'old bangers' being unreliable and fragile comes from - IIRC Laverdas in their heyday had a reputation for strength and reliability that mirrored the Japanese of the day - smaller sales due to higher cost and fear of 'exoticity'. Both the Japanese and the Italians (not all Ducatis fit the bill!) were the 'new bikes' that made the old British offerings look old and unreliable.
I can only speak from experience, having ridden my SF1 over so many thousands of km from the most remote parts of Oz to the densest inner cities over three decades and have only ever been stranded once where I had to abandon the bike to freight. And that was due to an error made by a colleague who damaged my crank while using a hydraulic press trying to press it apart.
Laverdas aren't and never were meant to be frilly showpieces.
I can only speak from experience, having ridden my SF1 over so many thousands of km from the most remote parts of Oz to the densest inner cities over three decades and have only ever been stranded once where I had to abandon the bike to freight. And that was due to an error made by a colleague who damaged my crank while using a hydraulic press trying to press it apart.
Laverdas aren't and never were meant to be frilly showpieces.
I had a few issues in the first few years of opening my 3c, and that was the result of dumb stuff done by previous idiots becoming in my case disasters. But nothing that finding competent mechanics and specialists ended up fixing. BTW I struggle to find any modern bikes of Interest to me, maybe the latest NA, its the looks that I just cannot get past. BTW everybody including the best experts can have bike issues, just on the last ride, no I better not go there.
Roll up to any alpine pass parking spot on a Laverda, you'll be completely smothered in disbelief. The hordes of "adventure" riders can't imagine it possible to even cross their city limits on anything else than their crazy overweight behemoths, loaded with needless gadgetry. They also can't understand that it's us that are experiencing an adventure, they're just part of a stupid reality show.I can clearly remember when my mate Tom and I toured western Europe in 2009 on our 1980 and 1981 Jota's arriving at a hotel in southern France and a group of German chaps that were BMW riders looking on in disbelief that we were travelling all over Europe on our öld"bikes, one bloke was so amazed he asked what would we do if we broke down, well we told him that we would fix them and keep going nothing unusual, maybe we Aussies are just too care free???
piet
motoddrob
Hero member
- Location
- S/W Australia
In all my Oz and worldly travels on my SF2 and SFC I've never been stranded on the side of the road and had to be recovered. Only time it was put in the back of a ute was cause I stuffed the SF2 into some armco and fucked the front end.
Paul, I'd expect you to sell your SFC for a very reasonable low price so the new owner will ride it.
Paul, I'd expect you to sell your SFC for a very reasonable low price so the new owner will ride it.
I've been offered a Vincent Rapide at a low price.
I don't think so.
If racing improves the breed and ultimately sells, it does so a lot less than manufacturer's commercial departments, and the money behind them.
Ever since motorcycles aren't necessities but solely playthings, what sells is fashion and keeping up with the Jone's. The quality of the " product " concerns only a very small minority in their buying choice. Which brings us back to the asking prices of " classic " motorcycles, which have very little to do with quality or history but desirability. A 750 SFC is a machine with a much bigger pedigree than a green frame 750 SS, the difference in price between the two is due to rich uncultured wankers.
In their heyday, when 750s were winning top level races, Laverda weren't that exotic over here and barely more expensive than the japanese rubbish of the time. Laverda, like Triumph or Norton, or a little before Sarolea, Gillet Herstal, not to mention BMW, were just a stone's throw over the border.
Paul
Last edited:
helicopterjim
Hero member
- Location
- near Lone Butte, BC, Canada
Tippie
Hero member
- Location
- Dr?bak, Norway
In Australia a new SF2 cost $2200 and a CB750 cost $1400. For most of the people I knew who had them it was because of their excellent handling, robustness and build quality. The alternative was often BMW, which cost similar to Laverda but were perceived as boring and didn't handle as well and it was like buying into a bit of a snob club. Vincent ownership should prove interesting.