Hello: new Mirage owner

R

rucksack

New member
Location
UK
Hi, my name's Chris. I picked up a very sorry 1978 Mirage at the weekend from a deceased estate. It has been stood, outside though partially sheltered from the elements, since 1991. As far as I can tell, it needed a new primary chain, which never happened and it was left. The same chap also did similar with a T150 Trident and a BMW R100RS...

Outwardly, it's complete, and superficially rough, only missing the side panels as far as I can see. The front mudguard is split, the seat is rotten but the chassis and cosmetics look to viable restorations. Pending a look down the bores and under a cover or two, it appears viable. I don't know much about the inner workings of Laverdas in particular, though I have ridden a 1200 Anniversary so I know what to expect in broader terms, and have done lots of rebuild/resto/modification on various bikes over the years so I have no fear of getting stuck in...

The major fear is the engine is rotten inside and needs everything. So I'm here to ask what the realities are: what parts are available (or not), and a rough guide to what it costs to replace and rectify internal issues. What bits are common (or not) to other models? It needs a complete seat and tail piece, for example which look like other models, but I wouldn't bet my mortgage on it as this stage... I see Laverda Scozia appear to be one of the foremost experts here in the UK, so any experience of them would be appreciated, or pointers to anyone else for the important jobs that will have to be outsourced.

Incidentally, I edit Practical Sportsbikes magazine, so the bike is going to appear initially as part of the story of its recovery, and as a restoration project should it prove viable, once I've offloaded the other bikes and finished my current project too, if you're interested. I'll likely task one of my writers with compiling an owner's restoration guide, to do some of the groundwork for me as well as fill a feature so I may well seek some restorer-owners from here, too.

Thanks for your help: hopefully the prognosis for the bike will be good and it'll be the start of a rewarding project, rather than offloading it as a spares bike...
 
I have had recent dealings with Keith Nairn at Laverdascozia and he is a top bloke, anything he doesn't know about these bikes aint worth knowing IMO...good source of spares in UK too...good luck with the 1200.
 
Hello Chris,

Welcome to the nuthouse - you will find all the advice you need (and some nonsense) here!

Pretty much everything is available. If the engine internals are rotten, it will likely get expensive. Being in the UK, you are well-positioned to take advantage of various parts sources and experts. Keith Nairn is a fantastic start - so you are on your way.

Chris
 
Welcome Chris - as above - go no further than Keith for your engine but Laverdas are tough things with the odd sensitive point like any 70s bike - the carbs will be full of crap - can be cleaned of course - Ducatipaddy.com for carb parts rubber , anything Brembo ( top bloke) etc - would also recommend joining ILOC - £25 per year good source of information , tool library and good people as well as here . If you want something specific get a post up on the wanted thread ( same on the ILOC website) - some have parts that arn't going anywhere but maybe would sell .

Avid reader of PS for some years ! will be good to see a Laverda triple in there
 
beauchemin said:
Hello Chris,

Welcome to the nuthouse - you will find all the advice you need (and some nonsense) here!

Pretty much everything is available. If the engine internals are rotten, it will likely get expensive. Being in the UK, you are well-positioned to take advantage of various parts sources and experts. Keith Nairn is a fantastic start - so you are on your way.

Chris
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I'm intending to feed an endoscope in to it soon, and see what the top end is like. I'm hoping a strip, clean, possibly a hone on the bores will be enough, but anything is possible. It was at least left with airbox/carbs fitted so the inlets aren't too exposed, but one exhaust valve could have been open...
Sir Sidney Ruffdiamond said:
Welcome Chris - as above - go no further than Keith for your engine but Laverdas are tough things with the odd sensitive point like any 70s bike - the carbs will be full of crap - can be cleaned of course - Ducatipaddy.com for carb parts rubber , anything Brembo ( top bloke) etc - would also recommend joining ILOC - £25 per year good source of information , tool library and good people as well as here . If you want something specific get a post up on the wanted thread ( same on the ILOC website) - some have parts that arn't going anywhere but maybe would sell .

Avid reader of PS for some years ! will be good to see a Laverda triple in there
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Thanks for the tips. Alan (from the mag) recommended Ducatipaddy too. One caliper looks OK, both are seized, and the other is missing a fin - my fault, did it prying the brakes off so it'd roll. For the price of new, it would barely seem to be worth fighting old pistons and bodies likely to be in a horrendous state, but we'll see. Sounds like Keith will be getting a shipment of whatever I pull out of the motor!

Talking of which, I can't find much in the way of replacement pistons: do oversizes exist for the 1200 if there's corrosion to be bored/honed away?
 
Lee87H said:
Sounds like an interesting project, would be great if you can get the magazine to pay for the resto.
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Ha! Not likely. Our contacts do come in useful, but this will be out of my own pocket (and probably my father's, as he credits a neighbour's Mirage with being his inspiration to ride bikes, so we'll likely share it).
 
rucksack said:
Ha! Not likely. Our contacts do come in useful, but this will be out of my own pocket (and probably my father's, as he credits a neighbour's Mirage with being his inspiration to ride bikes, so we'll likely share it).
Click to expand...
Nice to hear of another Mirage being resurrected - I do hope you keep it green!
 
Hi Chris.
Welcome to Laverda ownership. It sounds like you're not averse to a challenge and have an understanding of what it's likely to entail.
Be aware that Keith (and others) are very busy and hence are booking in work well over a year ahead, so don't necessarily expect a quick turnaround. However, it'll give you a chance to feed the piggybank.....

My Jota rebuild was subject to a multi-page article in PS mag a few years ago (courtesy of Alan Seeley) and I've also had short features on my RGS and 1200, so thankfully Laverdas have graced the pages reasonably often. It'll be great to see another one resurrected and subject to a series of articles too.

Lots of good advice from others already, so good luck and shout up when more info is needed - as always, there's no such thing as a stupid question....

Alan :)
 
rucksack said:
Something I intend to add, though the forum software wouldn't recognise the files from my iPhone for some reason, so I need to address that.
Imagine a Mirage with no side panels, rust and dead plant life strewn all over it...
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Email them to yourself first, than the iPhone will convert them from .heic to .jpg for the mailing process and you can reduce the filesize in the same process.
 
davidsmirage said:
I do hope you keep it green!
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What? Convert it to electric? :eek:

Welcome to the forum Chris.

Laverdas are built pretty solidly so as long as it hasn't had a major failure like a busted conrod, it'll be fixable without too much bother. Even if the cylinder liners have rusted so badly that you can't get the pistons out, both liners and pistons can be replaced if necessary and cranks rebuilt. Parts and expertise are available in UK.

As others have said, it'll be worth your while taking a trip to Glasgow to see Keith Nairn. But while you're up that way, travel a little further out along the northern side of the Clyde estuary to Helensburgh and talk to Grant Duguid as well. He also does professional Laverda restorations to a high standard. He calls his website Club Laverda http://clublaverda.weebly.com/
 
Dellortoman said:
What? Convert it to electric? :eek:

Welcome to the forum Chris.

Laverdas are built pretty solidly so as long as it hasn't had a major failure like a busted conrod, it'll be fixable without too much bother. Even if the cylinder liners have rusted so badly that you can't get the pistons out, both liners and pistons can be replaced if necessary and cranks rebuilt. Parts and expertise are available in UK.

As others have said, it'll be worth your while taking a trip to Glasgow to see Keith Nairn. But while you're up that way, travel a little further out along the northern side of the Clyde estuary to Helensburgh and talk to Grant Duguid as well. He also does professional Laverda restorations to a high standard. He calls his website Club Laverda http://clublaverda.weebly.com/
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Thanks for the tip, I'll take a look and get in touch if there's anything I'm unsure of.

And yes, it's staying green metalflake. Even in the faded state it's in, it looks great. If the rest wasn't so scruffy I'd be of a mind to 'oily rag', and use as is. The tank is kinda nice in its way... but equally, getting a lush coat of metalflake will be nice. It's my favourite colour for naked Laverdas, followed by the silver. Contentious perhaps, but never been a huge fan of the orange... A red RGS always looks well, too.
 
And here's a picture. Largely complete, much of it restorable as far as I can see. Seat, tail and wiring are shot, front mudguard is split but that may weld and chrome (are they chrome?) No crash damage either so the controls and exhaust are straight and scrape-free.

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