rocketonarail
Hero member
- Location
- Gloucestershire,England
Which service tasks on a Laverda do you least look forward to ?
I`m not talking about balancing crankshafts or replacing valve guides but the more routine jobs that we all have to do .
For me , in No 3 spot , unless I can think of anything else , is tyre changing...
You may think this as an odd thing to tackle yourself nowadays but it`s always been something I`ve done myself , and I`ve got the battle scarred rims to prove it...not so much difficult as exhausting , just a full on wrestling match where I have to sit down to rest between rounds , with plenty of talcum powder and washing up liquid at the ready ( I know they say don`t use washing up liquid but after 25 minutes of struggling with the tyre levers I reach the point where I don`t really care any more ) .
In No 2 spot , is replacing brake piston seals...in a way this may not really apply as I don`t remember having any problems last time with the Brembos , but had to do this yesterday on another bike and after struggling most of an afternoon trying to get the buggers into place found the OEM replacements although the correct diameter , on closer inspection were almost twice the thickness of the old ones ; as I said nothing to do with Laverda ( Suzuki ) , but the whole thing`s pissed me off so much I`m going to include it anyway...
No 1 spot...180 degree inlet cams...that is when replacing cam chains .
Pistons at midway point (out of the way of the valves ) , exhaust cam in position with datum point lined up at 12 o`clock in relation to the bearing caps , and if you don`t nudge it it stays there (good) ...sadly the inlet cams natural resting position is with the datum mark at roughly 2 pm , so you have to use a ring spanner on one of the cam sprocket bolt heads to turn it towards the 12 o`clock position , hoping it doesn`t slip because if it does the cam will snap back to the 2 pm position with all the force the valve springs can muster .
Sometime around now you will have positioned the outer pistons at TDC , and draped the ends of the new camchain over the cam sprockets , whilst keeping an iron grip on that inlet cam...
Keeping the inlet cam in position with your right hand you reach for the chain connecting link with your left hand , which of course you have kept within easy reach so you don`t have to let everything go in order to retrieve it , and confident you have stuffed every orifice leading down to the sump with rags you then proceed to slide the connecting link into the exhaust end of the chain , which takes three or four attempts , and then of course you find it is impossible to connect it to the other end as that end of the chain is wrapped around the inlet cam sprocket and nowhere near the horizontal position it should be in to connect up .
It`s at this point your right hand finally loses it`s grip on the spanner holding the inlet cam in position and it snaps violently back to the 2 pm position , where it is obviously far happier...
Happily I found a way...grab a thin zip tie and loop it through a link or so back from the exhaust end of the chain (so you don`t block the connecting links way in obviously ) , the exhaust cam waiting patiently in the correct position .
Grab that spanner and move the inlet cam forward towards the 12 o`clock position with your right hand and with your left hand insert a second zip tie through the end (but not right at the end ) of the inlet end of the chain and then loop that through the other tie and connect them up ... this will help keep the inlet cam in more or less the right position and means the ends of the chain are now close enough to each other and positioned correctly so with a further slight nudge of the inlet cam and tightening of the zip ties you can now slip that connecting link into place....Thank Christ for that...
All that remains now is to fit the link side plate and spring clip with a pair of slim nosed pliers , another operation which requires the dexterity of a brain surgeon and the eye of Ronnie O`Sullivan , with all orifices still stuffed of course...Sorry to ramble on a bit but is there any other Laverda service task people least look forward to ?
I`m not talking about balancing crankshafts or replacing valve guides but the more routine jobs that we all have to do .
For me , in No 3 spot , unless I can think of anything else , is tyre changing...
You may think this as an odd thing to tackle yourself nowadays but it`s always been something I`ve done myself , and I`ve got the battle scarred rims to prove it...not so much difficult as exhausting , just a full on wrestling match where I have to sit down to rest between rounds , with plenty of talcum powder and washing up liquid at the ready ( I know they say don`t use washing up liquid but after 25 minutes of struggling with the tyre levers I reach the point where I don`t really care any more ) .
In No 2 spot , is replacing brake piston seals...in a way this may not really apply as I don`t remember having any problems last time with the Brembos , but had to do this yesterday on another bike and after struggling most of an afternoon trying to get the buggers into place found the OEM replacements although the correct diameter , on closer inspection were almost twice the thickness of the old ones ; as I said nothing to do with Laverda ( Suzuki ) , but the whole thing`s pissed me off so much I`m going to include it anyway...
No 1 spot...180 degree inlet cams...that is when replacing cam chains .
Pistons at midway point (out of the way of the valves ) , exhaust cam in position with datum point lined up at 12 o`clock in relation to the bearing caps , and if you don`t nudge it it stays there (good) ...sadly the inlet cams natural resting position is with the datum mark at roughly 2 pm , so you have to use a ring spanner on one of the cam sprocket bolt heads to turn it towards the 12 o`clock position , hoping it doesn`t slip because if it does the cam will snap back to the 2 pm position with all the force the valve springs can muster .
Sometime around now you will have positioned the outer pistons at TDC , and draped the ends of the new camchain over the cam sprockets , whilst keeping an iron grip on that inlet cam...
Keeping the inlet cam in position with your right hand you reach for the chain connecting link with your left hand , which of course you have kept within easy reach so you don`t have to let everything go in order to retrieve it , and confident you have stuffed every orifice leading down to the sump with rags you then proceed to slide the connecting link into the exhaust end of the chain , which takes three or four attempts , and then of course you find it is impossible to connect it to the other end as that end of the chain is wrapped around the inlet cam sprocket and nowhere near the horizontal position it should be in to connect up .
It`s at this point your right hand finally loses it`s grip on the spanner holding the inlet cam in position and it snaps violently back to the 2 pm position , where it is obviously far happier...
Happily I found a way...grab a thin zip tie and loop it through a link or so back from the exhaust end of the chain (so you don`t block the connecting links way in obviously ) , the exhaust cam waiting patiently in the correct position .
Grab that spanner and move the inlet cam forward towards the 12 o`clock position with your right hand and with your left hand insert a second zip tie through the end (but not right at the end ) of the inlet end of the chain and then loop that through the other tie and connect them up ... this will help keep the inlet cam in more or less the right position and means the ends of the chain are now close enough to each other and positioned correctly so with a further slight nudge of the inlet cam and tightening of the zip ties you can now slip that connecting link into place....Thank Christ for that...
All that remains now is to fit the link side plate and spring clip with a pair of slim nosed pliers , another operation which requires the dexterity of a brain surgeon and the eye of Ronnie O`Sullivan , with all orifices still stuffed of course...Sorry to ramble on a bit but is there any other Laverda service task people least look forward to ?
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