Making progress on my '74 3C

G

gpzkat

Full member
Location
Mission Viejo, California
My 74 3C tasks are proceeding apace. I have cleaned the fuel tank, rebuilt the carbs with the worn parts replaced, and cleaned and bagged all the bits I'm fixing. The fork internals (like the carbs) are very good, it's just clean, polish, and replace rubber seals/shrouds/O-rings. Brakes are next, waiting on kits.

I've done the wheels, and will mount and balance the tires in the coming days. New instrument faces are on the way from Germany. The whole upper area of instruments, headlight mounts/fork shrouds, and related bits should look new, as I am replacing / re-chroming stuff as needed. Oh, I took the springs off the original (crap) Ceriani shocks & refurbished them externally. They are operational, but yeah, no compression damping at all. I'll replace them with something good down the line.

I'm down to only a couple of small choices, such as: What grips and what mirrors shall I choose? I have some original chrome Napoleon bar-ends, maybe use those.

I'm on to polishing. I cheat a bit on the wheels, I must confess. The spokes looked tired, I sand them back and apply Seymour stainless paint on them with a brush. Not gonna win any concours, but it comes out pretty good. I have laced many wheels it's just the cost for new spokes at this time, more than the effort.

Tom
 

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gpzkat said:
My 74 3C tasks are proceeding apace. I have cleaned the fuel tank, rebuilt the carbs with the worn parts replaced, and cleaned and bagged all the bits I'm fixing. The fork internals (like the carbs) are very good, it's just clean, polish, and replace rubber seals/shrouds/O-rings. Brakes are next, waiting on kits.

I've done the wheels, and will mount and balance the tires in the coming days. New instrument faces are on the way from Germany. The whole upper area of instruments, headlight mounts/fork shrouds, and related bits should look new, as I am replacing / re-chroming stuff as needed. Oh, I took the springs off the original (crap) Ceriani shocks & refurbished them externally. They are operational, but yeah, no compression damping at all. I'll replace them with something good down the line.

I'm down to only a couple of small choices, such as: What grips and what mirrors shall I choose? I have some original chrome Napoleon bar-ends, maybe use those.

I'm on to polishing. I cheat a bit on the wheels, I must confess. The spokes looked tired, I sand them back and apply Seymour stainless paint on them with a brush. Not gonna win any concours, but it comes out pretty good. I have laced many wheels it's just the cost for new spokes at this time, more than the effort.

Tom
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Looks great-clearly not your first rodeo! Can't wait to see the finished product-
 
Looking good- Bevel Heaven offers fork springs, carb kits, and other stuff you might like. For my 750 SF I installed an updated Brembo m/c that transformed the brakes and YSS shocks.
 
I have perused Bevel Heaven's site, but ultimately bought in bulk from DAM, and escaped any tariff on my order. With no VAT and no sales tax, the order was quite reasonable. Not my typical Suzuki cheap, but hey.

There is also an eBay seller (valtermotousa) that beat everyone on genuine Dell'Orto stuff, plus some other bits like tank rubber strap, so I got a bunch from him. On shocks, I see these Bitubo shocks, they would seem to fit, and the price is good - the full chrome ones are a couple of hundred more from every other seller. Still researching. On my '79 Suzuki GS1000 I had some vintage Fox shocks that I rebuilt, they were the best twin shocks I've ever used. I'd love to find some to fit the Laverda but that's probably a pipe-dream.

On MC's, I will see how things go. I upgraded my '66 Norton N15CS with a '73 Commando disc setup, and downsized the MC bore, referencing this chart. The original was a huge affair with too large of a bore. Turned out a Yamaha scooter Nissin MC fit the bill nicely, got off eBay for $15. It is fantastic, great feel and is gives more power than the tire's grip can keep up with at any speed I've tried. And that's from a single disc.
 

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Paul Marx said:
Me too, minus an engine.
Paul
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Hi Paul - Today I received the kits for the calipers and PS15 master cylinder, and they are good to go... except for the MC. There's a dust boot that is not included in the kit. It's the very first rubber boot that slips over the piston, as is typical on MCs. Do you know what that PN / availability may be? It is something like this. Mine was disintegrated.

Next question, how about that rubber banjo cover? Yours looks minty fresh. Do you have PN or info on where to source?

Lastly, not a question, but just FYI for anyone looking - the internal reservoir bellows for the MC is available individually for $5.50 USD (plus about $14 shipping to CA) here. It was a challenge to find, but I ferreted it out, and it's on the way. Measurement seems right. I hope I'm not mistaken.
 
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gpzkat said:
Hi Paul - Today I received the kits for the calipers and PS15 master cylinder, and they are good to go... except for the MC. There's a dust boot that is not included in the kit. It's the very first rubber boot that slips over the piston, as is typical on MCs. Do you know what that PN / availability may be? It is something like this. Mine was disintegrated.

Next question, how about that rubber banjo cover? Yours looks minty fresh. Do you have PN or info on where to source?

Lastly, not a question, but just FYI for anyone looking - the internal reservoir bellows for the MC is available individually for $5.50 USD (plus about $14 shipping to CA) here. It was a challenge to find, but I ferreted it out, and it's on the way. Measurement seems right. I hope I'm not mistaken.
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There's no dust boot on the piston on those mc's.
There's a file posted by Lothar some years ago somewhere on this forum, it's most useful.
As for the banjo cover, I had it in my pile of bits but I should think that it's readily available from any supplier of Brembo or hydraulic kit.
Paul
 
Small thing, but I got a rubber banjo boot for the MC that's for a Honda CB750 & others, PN 45522-422-000. It's just right.

To avoid pinching tubes, which, despite my best efforts, still happens on occasion, I got a Baja Designs no-pinch tool. They are advertised for dirt bikes, but it works for any wheel 18" or larger. Of the 4 bikes I have, 7 of the wheels are 18" or over, and 6 run tubes. So it'll be handy.

Ready to start assembly in a few days, just waiting on some bits from Wolfgang. Everything is cleaned & polished, ready to bolt up.
 
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gpzkat said:
Small thing, but I got a rubber banjo boot for the MC that's for a Honda CB750 & others, PN 45522-422-000. It's just right.

To avoid pinching tubes, which, despite my best efforts, still happens on occasion, I got a Baja Designs no-pinch tool. They are advertised for dirt bikes, but it works for any wheel over 18". Of the 4 bikes I have, 7 of the wheels are 18" or over, and 6 run tubes. So it'll be handy.

Ready to start assembly in a few days, just waiting on some bits from Wolfgang. Everything is cleaned & polished, ready to bolt up.
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Hmm, interesting, I haven't seen that no pinch tool before, looks like it would be very handy.
Might save me some grief (yes, I have pinched tubes on the occasion and it drives me mad.......)
 
Happy to have the bike on its wheels and off the chain hoist. I put the handlebars on temporarily to roll it around. I took the primary cover off to polish it. A fair bit of leftover oil in there. I will make a gasket; being low on funds means DIY, and I've had luck with Fel-Pro material. At $10 it's right up my alley. I got my newly chromed headlight mounting ears and turn signal tubes/stalks back, and I like the look with the reproduction signals w/o the rectangular reflector.

I mounted the new under-headlight horn bracket and was puzzling over the fit, then realized the straight brackets from the previous location on the engine mounts (several thin metal strips, layered for vibration?) fit just right and move the horns outward to clear the headlight. I'm a bit puzzled at having only one ground wire with a round crimp connector inside the headlight shell on the inner signal bolt. Did I misplace one? Not normal for me. I can't see where it connects, can easily jumper it over to the other, but hmm.

I need to crimp on the tach retaining ring, and then I can finish off the front end.

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Tom, the last picture you posted shows your triple fitted with one of the early Bosch MHKZ ignition systems, with the connector plug on top. I am surprised to see one still functioning. Have you actually run the bike since seeing the bike and purchasing it? It could be the fact that the bike has spent its life in a very dry climate, Southern California, although the SC coastal areas have the doom and gloom marine layer, pretty wet. Notoriously, they fail in damp environments and prove to be very unreliable. The factory offered replacements to every UK Laverda triple. The ignition units with the connector plug on the bottom, also sealed differently,y solved the problem.
But, although the plug on the bottom units proved to be very reliable, the preprogrammed ignition curve is horrible. An aftermarket Witt or Ignitech system absolutely transforms the bike. Probably the best $ for a positive result you can spend on your 3C. My 3C was # 1000/2855, and it had the plug connection on the bottom; it too failed. The bike was a 1974; the ignition failed in 77, and Bosch replaced it free of charge, not going to happen these days. I do have a Bosch MHKZ bottom connector you can borrow if the need arises
When you get your 3C running, come on out to the desert, and you can compare my 78 Jota (Witt) and the 1200 Yankee Jota (Ignitech). Just do it before it becomes 'Dantes Inferno' here in the Coachella V, Cheers
 
It's got spark; I gave it a very brief spin with plugs out after I lubed the top end, put fresh oil in, and lightly fogged the cylinders and turned it over manually to make sure nothing was obviously amiss.

It spent its time in Pasadena per the PO, pretty dry there, and it shows. The only couple of spots of trace surface rust I found were in remote areas, like where a rock chipped the bottom of the frame, and the center stand. I'll get it running, knock wood, and see how it goes, and save my shekels for upgrading the ignition.
 
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