Laverda 750s front brake?

Grimeca 230mm. Speedo drives were available to suit the Smiths clocks only afaIk.

Earlier version was factory fitment on early GT (and S?) models. Most are badly set up and work no better than the later Laverda brake, some are very ferocious and easily block the front wheel. Nothing special, still available as repro. Got one gathering dust, not yet sure what to do with it.

piet
 
Exmoor beast said:
Lusting after this currently for sale in Italy on Car & Classic when I spotted the four leading shoe front brake- with Speedo drive?
Is this a one off / factory option or am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Grimeca made this 4LS version with speedo drive, but Laverda never fitted it. Not a bad mod though..

Marnix
 
I have that 4LS Grimeca brake on the front of a 750S and it was the feature that made me buy it.
Be aware that while it has four shoes, these are narrower than the shoes on the stock 2LS so that the braking surface area is not double the 2LS and it does need careful setup to be at all effective.
The japanese 4LS I have on one of the other bikes is far more effective - I think it came from a TD2 or similar.
 
I always lusted after a big Fontana 4LS for my SF1 - had seen them in Laverda 24-hour pics. They were unobtanium to my feeble finances back in the 70s. Always wondered what they were like - has anyone got any experience with them? I ended up going through two TZ 4LS drums - both ended up compromised from high mileage road use when the cast drum liner began to separate from the lightweight alu outer hub and hot spots developed - it was an awesome brake when newly set up though.
 
The Fontana 4LS are still available. Not cheap £2550 https://www.tga.co.uk/products/250-fontana/

There's a guy in the UK with a TT marshall's Trident which has the 4LS front brake and takes it to track days. I've seen him on a few occasions, seems to go well (faster than me) and presumably stops well too. No idea how it compares with the Rob North Tridents and their disks.
 
this is my Robinson 4 ls in one of my projects never been on the road yet as this a 20+ year affair
wonder what it feels like on the road (sometime?)
IMG_2975.jpeg
 
My brother had a Robinson 4-leader on his Kawasaki Mach III back in the day. It was OK in dry weather but scary in the wet. For some reason the servo action was amplified in moist conditions at low speed. The wheel was either rolling free or locked solid. There was no in-between control. I nearly lost it a couple of times just pulling up at traffic lights because of that.
 
My one and only experience with a TZ 4 leader on a Bultako 250 2-stroke what was called an improved tourer road race bike was eye-popping. Anytime I give someone a ride on any of my bikes they get a mini briefing of anything significant. It would have been nice to hear Number 1 the homemade expansion chamber, this one was designed for low revs power, he had a high rev one he built as well, both had an incredibly violent hit and number 2 that TZ brake had a servo action in its first application that stood the bike again violently on its nose. Both nearly had me crash and that was just riding its unregistered arse around the block wearing shorts in the leafy harbourside suburb of Wollstercraft on a Sunday morning, it was incredibly loud as well. Memorable bike. Maybe it was tamable with a few more laps but you could feel the phone calls to the Cops happening already. BTW that brake was savage.
 
My TZ 4LS became bad once the shoes had a worn a bit and the angle of the cam became more acute - also much more noticeable in cold or wet weather. Most of the time it was predictable and powerful - no doubt a better option as a road brake on a heavy SF than a lightweight Bultaco!
 
The owner builder was a pro mechanic and was fastidious or so I thought. It was my one and only ride with that first brake application from a cold drum so who knows? I also rode his much-modified and painted PINK AND PURPLE psychedelic swirled GT Bevel, I was so disappointed. He also failed to mention you needed to use your foot to lift the gear lever slightly before engaging the next gear so I got that lap of the block in 1st gear unable to get it into 2nd. Just like my 3c for the last few months after breaking the selector spring last year. Hope I have finally fixed that on my bike with the latest fiddle.
 
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