Forum member passed away, could use some help

R

ryangray

New member
Location
Boise, ID
A family friend of ours and Leverda rider recently passed away. He was active on this forum (I set up a new account for myself to create this message). His username is "lawrence" and lived in Boise, ID. Lawrence has a 1982 Mirage 1200. His surviving wife is going to need to sell the bike. But Lawrence was in the middle of some maintenance on the bike when he passed away. The valve cover was off, and judging by the items laying on the workbench, he may have been adjusting valve clearances, setting timing, or something like that. Last night me and a friend went to sort of button up the bike and see if it's running well. We are both gear heads, but neither of us have worked on these bikes before. We did carefully check for valve / piston interference before putting things back together - all good there. We were able to get the bike to fire. It idles and revs somewhat smoothly while choked, but with the chokes off, lots of spitting and popping through the Mikuni's. Based on just a little research there could be timing issues, carb issues, or probably other things. Rather than try to tear into it, I thought it would be better to reach out on this forum, and see if anyone familiar with these bikes (or even this bike in particular?) happens to be willing and able to come take a look, and try to help us come up with next steps.

Thanks so much,
Ryan
 
Sad news. I really liked Lawrence, spent time with him at various Laverda rallies, rebuilt carbs for him, and always enjoyed chatting with him.

I am not close enough to stop by (Calgary Alberta Canada) but happy to do video call when you are at the bike and walk you through diagnosis and rectification. He loved that bike.

I will direct message you my cell number through the messaging system here on this forum. I also have an 82 1200 Mirage which I rebuilt from bare frame and bare engine cases so I should be able to assist.
 
ryangray said:
A family friend of ours and Leverda rider recently passed away. He was active on this forum (I set up a new account for myself to create this message). His username is "lawrence" and lived in Boise, ID. Lawrence has a 1982 Mirage 1200. His surviving wife is going to need to sell the bike. But Lawrence was in the middle of some maintenance on the bike when he passed away. The valve cover was off, and judging by the items laying on the workbench, he may have been adjusting valve clearances, setting timing, or something like that. Last night me and a friend went to sort of button up the bike and see if it's running well. We are both gear heads, but neither of us have worked on these bikes before. We did carefully check for valve / piston interference before putting things back together - all good there. We were able to get the bike to fire. It idles and revs somewhat smoothly while choked, but with the chokes off, lots of spitting and popping through the Mikuni's. Based on just a little research there could be timing issues, carb issues, or probably other things. Rather than try to tear into it, I thought it would be better to reach out on this forum, and see if anyone familiar with these bikes (or even this bike in particular?) happens to be willing and able to come take a look, and try to help us come up with next steps.

Thanks so much,
Ryan
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Ryan, I cannot make a promise at this juncture because my wife is having some health issues, but we travel to Coeur d Alene north of Boise from Southern California for the summer months. We are normally in C d L before the end of June, if events pan out I could easily make a pit stop at Boise. The trip north this year is dependent on my wife's health issue.
I am by no means an expert but I have managed to keep my 78 Jota running tops for 41 years and I did sort out the running of a recently acquired Mikuni, Ignitech equipped 78 1200 (with help from Red and Dellortoman, Cam on this Forum).
 
I do remember Lawrence's posts. Very sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Ryan. I'm sure you will find excellent advice and hopefully direct help via this forum.
 
Sad to hear, all the best to his friends and family.
There should at least be plenty of remote help via this forum. With an unknown like this I would start by going back to basics and check cam and ignition timing and also valve clearances, then go from there.
Do you know whether those carbs were a 'sorted' addition to the bike or was he in the process of fitting them? The Mikunis are an aftermarket upgrade, the bike would originally have had Dellortos. The Mikunis are a popular upgrade and normally work very well, but popping and spitting back is not unknown when not set up correctly. There would be some basic checks to do on the carbs like what jetting/needle is fitted, where is the idle mixture screw set (3/4 turn out is a good starting point, careful to only screw it in to seating lightly as the needle part can be jammed into the seat and snap off if overtightened), is the float level correct, are they balanced correctly and are there air filters fitted?
 
Very sad news. Lawrence was a regular at Wolfgang's rallies and I enjoyed chatting with him. He did regular maintenance on his bikes so they should not need much. Laverdas are cold blooded so getting off the choke too soon can cause issues. If possible take the bike out for at least 10-15 minutes and then asses how it runs
 
very sads to hear have had a very similar scenario here in UK with a pal who is now confined for life to a care home.

first things first, if the carbs were still on the bike, for now, leave them alone, the cams may have been off, as you stated valve clearances might have been under way, this would suggest that you have the cam timing one tooth out, very quick and easy to check, but remember, remember the fifth of November, ALWAYS fit a fit a new split link if the chain ends get parted., it is also possible that shims are in the wrong places, the clearanaces from the heel of each cam should be 8 thou inlet 10 thou exhaust (in USA speak)

But if the bike hasnt been ridden in anger in a long time, it could be that the carbs have some minor blockages, this is very often masked by the choke, being "on" it is actually a fuel enrichment device, and the excess fuel will very often get a bike started, but once off, blocked or partially blocked pilot jets can acuse the syptoms you describe.
CLEM
 
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breganzane said:
Sad to hear, all the best to his friends and family.
There should at least be plenty of remote help via this forum. With an unknown like this I would start by going back to basics and check cam and ignition timing and also valve clearances, then go from there.
Do you know whether those carbs were a 'sorted' addition to the bike or was he in the process of fitting them? The Mikunis are an aftermarket upgrade, the bike would originally have had Dellortos. The Mikunis are a popular upgrade and normally work very well, but popping and spitting back is not unknown when not set up correctly. There would be some basic checks to do on the carbs like what jetting/needle is fitted, where is the idle mixture screw set (3/4 turn out is a good starting point, careful to only screw it in to seating lightly as the needle part can be jammed into the seat and snap off if overtightened), is the float level correct, are they balanced correctly and are there air filters fitted?
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Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. I am not sure if the carbs were sorted or not. I have a lot of experience with webers on german cars, and Keihins on shifter karts. The Mikunis are new to me but I can jump in if needed! Talking with my buddy helping me (he's a KTM and japanese bike guy), we feel step 1 is a good carb clean-up. We won't change anything but we'll try to make sure things arent obstructed, gummed up, etc. That's an easy step, and we'll report back!
 
78jotadave said:
Ryan, I cannot make a promise at this juncture because my wife is having some health issues, but we travel to Coeur d Alene north of Boise from Southern California for the summer months. We are normally in C d L before the end of June, if events pan out I could easily make a pit stop at Boise. The trip north this year is dependent on my wife's health issue.
I am by no means an expert but I have managed to keep my 78 Jota running tops for 41 years and I did sort out the running of a recently acquired Mikuni, Ignitech equipped 78 1200 (with help from Red and Dellortoman, Cam on this Forum).
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for this. I'll DM you so we can connect in case this does come together.
 
Mikuni's are not stock, Dellorto's was factory, no harder to work on one or the other, but they must be sycronised with vacuum gauges for the best results, of course syncing by eye and drill bits will get the bike going, but you will miss out on the best, especially constant tickover and low throttle response.
CLEM
 
RIP Lawrence. Great guy, remember him well from Wolfgang’s rallies in Nakusp. Yes, he really did enjoy his Mirage. Always spoke highly of Boise as well, and it is a great area.
Can’t offer any advice on the tuning of non stock carbs on Laverda’s unfortunately.
 
Remember him from Wolfgangs rallies in Nakusp as well. Nice fellow.

Sounds like you may get some help from Forum members but if not you could try to see if Wolfgang would look at it. You would have to get it to him in Nakusp. While he is a Laverda expert with the stock carbs, and would have replacements, I recall he did have one of his own bikes with non stock carbs.... Mikunis maybe.
 
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