Laverda LZ125

P

Pookamon

New member
Location
North Lincs
I thought I might share the "restoration" of my newly acquired LZ125. I bought it off Ebay UK being the only bidder, the guy I got it off had a few old bikes that he had restored but was moving house and didn't have room at his new place, so this bike had to go. He had bought it from a Bonham's auction in August 2020, it was part of Giancarlo Morbidelli's museum collection in Pesaro, here's the Bonham's video of the bike
and the listing https://www.bonhams.com/auction/261...125-frame-no-lav125lz1-134-engine-no-9883187/
Having "won" the bike I borrowed a mate's bike trailer and did the 600+ mile round trip to Pembrokeshire collect it.
IMG20230425174936.jpg
It was a long day, but the next day when I had a good look over the bike I was pleased with the purchase, it was all there apart from the fuel tap!
 
Pretty cool.

I can see a Jota type hump seat, clip on bars, shortened rear mudguard and a cool paint colour (Kawasaki green or the like) and a fucken round headlight!

I’m not a fan of the tank shape …… a Suzuki GT250 may look better



Reckon it’d look pretty good sitting outside the local pub.
 
I remember test-riding one at a Slater's Open Day, in September '78.
Very nippy and delightful handling. A lot easier, than a Triple, to chuck around in the lanes near Collington.

LZ125.jpg
 
Zundap 125/175 engines were great
Laverda 125 engines (eg LB125, and Lezmo were fragile

both sufferred from "thermo syphon" syndrome, that is to say the water is not circulated by a pump, but rather by gravity, hot water rising etc, thrash the bikes when cold and they will seize, except the Lezmo which had an external electric water pump which was actually the cabin water heating/cooling pump from a Mercedes car, this was ugly and deemed a fairing essential, but Lezmo's as well as the non pumped ones will seize if "excersised" too early whilst cold.

DOnt forget Laverda also use Husquvarna engines as in LH125 and LH250, they were great all round, but why not just buy a Husquy?

why did Laverda not make a 125 four stroke singles which they were so good at with the 75 and 100? great little motors, very strong and very willing.
CLEM
 
I took the carb off and up it in my parts washer before putting it in the ultrasonic cleaner. The airbox was full of decomposing foam so I cleaned it out using a vacuum cleaner.IMG20230427092350.jpg I refitted the carb and tried starting it using some premix I had in the garage for my girl's TY80, could not get it to start!

That night I was telling my mate Kev (who lent me the trailer) about it, "he said get some fresh E5 fuel and quality two-stroke oil and try again", so I did as I was told (for a change), first kick nothing, second kick IT FIRED UP scared the life out of me!

Now I knew it was a runner I was happy to start tarting it up.
 
It looks like you've only taken the float off. The air screw, throttle stop screw and float valve are still in position in your photo, so I'd hazard a guess that the other jets have not been removed either. With ultrasonic cleaners, you really need to disassemble the carb completely down to a bare body for the best result.

I have a little plastic basket that I put all the little fiddly brass bits in, but you could use a cloth bag (like a teabag) to keep them all together in the cleaner bath.
 
Top tip. Disassemble and put small stuff in a plastic bag containing a solvent (white spirit, paraffin, whatever) and float that big in the water. The vibes plus the solvent give a very good cleaning action.
 
I got the little LZ125 insured on the frame number and took it for a MOT, (felt a bit strange riding on the road without a number plate!) and it passed so I have sent a load of paperwork along with the V55 off to DVLA, now just got the wait for that to be sorted.

I was well impressed with the way the bike went, just as quick as my 1979 Kawasaki Z400 twin, but the gearbox is another story, I now know why it does not have a neutral-light because it has so many chances are your in one!
 
I got the NOS tank from Paul Marx and took it to my local paint supplier, they used a fancy camera to match the paint colour, it turned out the best match was a Mercedes colour, they mixed a solvent based paint and put it in rattle-can. Scrubbed all bits up with a scotch pad and warmed them up on the BBQ (Alan Milliard trick) and sprayed them, the results are pretty good.IMG20230529165745-EDIT.jpg
Next job get the seat sorted, does anyone know if it looks like a seat off any other model of Laverda or is it a peculiar one made for the LZ125?
 
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I was at a bike meet last week and bumped into an old mate of mine who was on a 1986 Honda CG125. The seat cover looked very similar to the LZ125 one, so I bought one off eBay for £40 delivered.IMG20240730111422.jpg
The base and foam was in okay condition, a few small cracks in the base that I welded up with my TIG welder. Painted the base and fitted the cover. I'm please how it turned out. Just need to design a stencil for the gold lettering on the rear part, then use my 3D printer to make the stencil.
 
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