Introduction

Exmoor beast said:
Laverdas in Tiverton - are you the fuel tap man on eBay by any chance? I?m Minehead but work on Exmoor in the hills all the time. Good to know there?s some Lavs local, give me a shout if your on your way to Minehead. Top man

Welcome along......and I?m in Barnstable, though unlike you lot,  I have a Zane bike , a 650 Formula, recommissioning after 13 years off the road, should have been done months ago ....but lockdown, COVID-19 etc.....

Alistair
 
Hi Jason, welcome. Funny how ex-grass track racers seem to love old Laverda's. I reckon it's the raw power delivery and the way the things come alive with a twist of the wrist

Maybe so.

Found this old picture.

Must have been early days, form tells me, the bike ended up with glitter fibreglass all over it, unlike in the picture.

And a flourish of memories just exploded in my brain.

Two valve Jawa
660 Jumbo kit ... shhhhh.

Magneto was replaced with dead loss and turned down magnets. Oh, the power increase with that mod was huge. Power wheelies out of corners and down the straights.

Streat four valve conversion just prior to, and maybe resulting in an end of racing crash, on a practice night. The power delivery was way different.

Great fucken fun.
 

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Found this old picture.

Must have been early days, form tells me, the bike ended up with glitter fibreglass all over it, unlike in the picture.

And a flourish of memories just exploded in my brain.

Two valve Jawa
660 Jumbo kit ... shhhhh.

Magneto was replaced with dead loss and turned down magnets. Oh, the power increase with that mod was huge. Power wheelies out of corners and down the straights.

Streat four valve conversion just prior to, and maybe resulting in an end of racing crash, on a practice night. The power delivery was way different.

Great fucken fun.
Lovely period shot, Classic style, asymmetric bar bend, those “cricket” gloves with the with padded fingers, and everything you own smells of Castrol R. Love it
Heres my Wasp Kawasaki 930cc, eighteen, new leathers and never ridden a sidecar of any description, first grass track race ever in Essex somewhere 1988. It had 29” straight exhausts that fanned into the chair like a Spitfire and they did Spit-fire!
It was absolutely deafening- passenger is having second thoughts...
They don’t even wear leathers nowadays.
 

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Lovely period shot, Classic style, asymmetric bar bend, those “cricket” gloves with the with padded fingers, and everything you own smells of Castrol R. Love it
Heres my Wasp Kawasaki 930cc, eighteen, new leathers and never ridden a sidecar of any description, first grass track race ever in Essex somewhere 1988. It had 29” straight exhausts that fanned into the chair like a Spitfire and they did Spit-fire!
It was absolutely deafening- passenger is having second thoughts...
They don’t even wear leathers nowadays.
Silkolene was the oil of choice here. The smell on everything permeates, and I can almost smell it now. The meth and oil combination is so addictive.

I have considered buying a ‘junior’ for my grandson, who has the ...... no fear factor, read: mad factor. But if anything happened to him his mother would cut my nuts off, I like my nuts!

We enjoyed and survived......
 
I had quite a lot to do with speedway sidecars. Never rode one or for that matter, a solo. Always preferred doing it in daylight on tarmac....

When engine customers offered me a ride, I'd politely decline - saying "I've turned down rides on everything from a Vincent outfit to FZR1000 and don't want to start now thanks"

The only grass tracks here were the mile and half mile tracks of my father's days. There were a couple of revival meetings run in the 60's and 70's.
I saw the record for the mile grass broken at one of them. By a Coleman too.

I really enjoy reading of other's experiences outside mine. thanks.
 
Sorry but I get confused when members do not name their country in a post - Somerset England Vs Somerside PEI Canada.

Granted the Membership's ID should specify a country but it's often over looked - Of Course ;o)
 
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