Another one bites the dust.

ksoholm said:
It boils down to what Marx said: Best to learn - and do your own - proper wrenching if you want to own any bike more than 25 years old.
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Karl or Paul ?

I guess now that modern motorcycles are leisure vehicles (or at least tend to be viewed as such ) , owners now leave servicing to their local dealer , it`s not as if you have to work on your machine now to ensure it gets you to work on a Monday morning , after all , that`s what the car is for .
People seem more inclined to modify their machines , de-cat , ECU flash , or whatever it is they do nowadays to feel they`ve "improved" their bike , but that1`s about as far as it goes.
Modern goods nowadays , whatever they are , are expected to work at maximum efficiency with minimum input from the operator , so old(er) motorcycles don`t fit in with this mindset , only new ones .

Working on bikes for a lot of people in the not so distant past seemed to be no more than removing perfectly designed and functioning items and replacing them with tasteless useless catalogue tat...

As for retro versus real , back in the mid - nineties , when the whole retro thing was just starting off , a Laverda owner wrote (It was that long ago) to Motorcycle Sport saying the Laverda wasn`t really for him , as he decided he wasn`t into "retro " bikes......
He seemed to think that anything old was "retro" , not grasping the fact that retro was brand new , with all the modern equipment , but just styled with a nod to a bygone time .
You may as well dig out a "retro" AJS Big Port , or Royal Enfield Crusader Sport .
That bloke`s letter is still annoying me all these years later...
 
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For the last half century, motorcycles have been consumer products and as such have followed consumer rules: produce, create the desire for something new and destroy or now recycle.

Laverda have nothing in common with 70s Japanese superbikes apart from the 500, the first big Laverda to have a gear primary and not a chain harking back to the days of the separate gearbox or a belt drive to the dynamo, like a Velocette. Not to mention the roller bearing camshaft.

Paul
 
As for retro versus real , back in the mid - nineties , when the whole retro thing was just starting off , a Laverda owner wrote (It was that long ago) to Motorcycle Sport saying the Laverda wasn`t really for him , as he decided he wasn`t into "retro " bikes......
He seemed to think that anything old was "retro" , not grasping the fact that retro was brand new , with all the modern equipment , but just styled with a nod to a bygone time .
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When I decided to buy a second bike, so that the Yellow Peril could be taken off the road for some long overdue TLC, I wanted something light and simple, seems all the bikes that fitted the criteria were 'retro' which I refused to consider. Ended up getting a second hand Ducati Monster 695 which has all the power I need in my advancing years.
Recently it underwent it's 25000 km service (belts changed and desmo gear checked) at great expense. While I was at the Bike Factory in Adelaide a customer rang in to book his bike in for a chain adjustment!
Have a little sticker on the Yellow Peril's seat cowl, "Real not Retro'.
 
Legs said:
When I decided to buy a second bike, so that the Yellow Peril could be taken off the road for some long overdue TLC, I wanted something light and simple, seems all the bikes that fitted the criteria were 'retro' which I refused to consider. Ended up getting a second hand Ducati Monster 695 which has all the power I need in my advancing years.
Recently it underwent it's 25000 km service (belts changed and desmo gear checked) at great expense. While I was at the Bike Factory in Adelaide a customer rang in to book his bike in for a chain adjustment!
Have a little sticker on the Yellow Peril's seat cowl, "Real not Retro'.
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Visited my local MOT / mechanic guy recently for a new final drive chain , which he sold to me but said he was reluctant to supply chains in this manner to some customers as he wasn`t sure they would secure the soft rivet link correctly , and would then come back to bite him if something went wrong...he knew I was ok with this having fitted what must be dozens over the years including the bloody great 630`s on the Mirage , but he had to be careful .
He operates a small back street business that survives pretty much on MOT tests , so he would probably welcome someone coming in to have their chain tensioned , money in the till for nothing almost , help to keep him going !

A multi brand dealer back in the `seventies who sold Meriden Bonnevilles as well as the Japanese stuff once said he would actively discourage some customers from buying the Bonneville as he would instinctively know after a short chat if they were a "bike person" or not , and then point them in the direction of the Japanese brands , knowing that the Triumph would almost certainly suffer in their hands...
 
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I googled riveting a chain the last time I did it, bloody hell. Who checks how tight the rivet is with a feeler gauge. The kit I borrowed was just as complicated, I ended up using the side of a lump hammer as an anvil and a centre punch to start and a square-ended punch to finish, as long as it still moved freely I was happy.
 
A feeler gauge...!...I`m careful but not that careful...I used to use a similar method to yours but with a large adjustable spanner with the jaws closed as an anvil .
Used chain riveters from the accessory shops for a while but they would struggle with the Mirage chain , then got a heavy duty one then a Really heavy duty one , from the `States I think , with plenty of spare push and rivet pins that can deal with almost anything .
Only real cock-up was once somehow forgetting to put the anvil in place and instead of riveting was pushing the pin I was supposed to be riveting out through the other side...

(Sorry Paul seem to have wandered off topic a little here)
 
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Paul Marx said:
For the last half century, motorcycles have been consumer products and as such have followed consumer rules: produce, create the desire for something new and destroy or now recycle.

Laverda have nothing in common with 70s Japanese superbikes apart from the 500, the first big Laverda to have a gear primary and not a chain harking back to the days of the separate gearbox or a belt drive to the dynamo, like a Velocette. Not to mention the roller bearing camshaft.

Paul
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Every thing that is made to be sold is a consumer product. There are tons of people from all eras who are absolutely into the mechanical operation of their bikes, just check any bike brand/model forum. It is not unique to Laverda (or Britbike) owners. I am helping a young guy at the moment with the SF2 he recently bought, full motor - and crankshaft- strip to hopefully get it happening, he is right into it.
 
Tippie said:
Every thing that is made to be sold is a consumer product. There are tons of people from all eras who are absolutely into the mechanical operation of their bikes, just check any bike brand/model forum. It is not unique to Laverda (or Britbike) owners. I am helping a young guy at the moment with the SF2 he recently bought, full motor - and crankshaft- strip to hopefully get it happening, he is right into it.
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Some things are made to be used, for as long as possible which is contrary to the workings of a system which needs to circulate money and keep people employed making things.
Of course some people are interested in maintaining their machine, and riding it (even if the weather's bad ).

Paul
 
Legs said:
Recently it underwent it's 25000 km service (belts changed and desmo gear checked) at great expense. While I was at the Bike Factory in Adelaide a customer rang in to book his bike in for a chain adjustment!
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Wish I’d have known, Terry. I’d have pointed you in the direction of an ex-GP mechanic who fettles from his place at Gulfview Heights (not far from me). Specialises in Ducatis and about half the price of the bandits you used. Marty had a stand-up row with them over work on his Le Mans.
 
DaveB said:
Wish I’d have known, Terry. I’d have pointed you in the direction of an ex-GP mechanic who fettles from his place at Gulfview Heights (not far from me). Specialises in Ducatis and about half the price of the bandits you used. Marty had a stand-up row with them over work on his Le Mans.
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If I had a LeMans, I’d dispute the charge on the bill for the drive chain adjustment too.
 
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