Making progress on my '74 3C

3CBRG said:
Those wheels look remarkably familiar. Can see why they find their way on 3CL's. Well preserved machine I might add.
Click to expand...
18x3.5 aluminum rear, 18x2.5 magnesium front. Bike was in great shape with as new take-offs (carbs, pipes) that the Don Vesco shop removed when they built it. It was fairly tarnished from Bonneville and El Mirage, but not terribly so, considering. The front tire was flat-spotted so I used a car jack to get the front up, balancing it on the sidestand in the seller's driveway, and threw the original rim with the stock Bridgestone on. Still with the nubs, still held air after being stored 40 years. The slicks had last run (184MPH) at Bonneville in 1996. I had to use a reciprocating saw to get them off.
 

Attachments

  • turbo.jpg
    turbo.jpg
    135.5 KB · Views: 20
  • Bonneville.jpg
    Bonneville.jpg
    85.6 KB · Views: 20
Just before the ride, the right side carb started spewing. With the bowl off, I could see it would stay in the position I moved it to. I think this was the original problem. It was fine when installed, I'm sure of that. It was easy to fix by filing the ends of the plastic where indicated in the photo. I got focused in on the width of the floats, and now I don't think that was the problem.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_8141.png
    IMG_8141.png
    716.1 KB · Views: 21
I rode the 3C to a local show today, the Vintage Bike Meet in Huntington Beach, CA. It's a small meet, perhaps 50 bikes, very eclectic with all sorts, big and small. My son rode the Norton N15CS, squirrely on the freeway grooves with the Dunlop K70s, but he's a solid rider with serious mountain biking skills - no worries. The 3C won best of show but would have lost to the Derbi water-cooled 2-stroke racer, brought to the show by the Frenchman Philippe de Lespinay, had he decided to have it judged. That man is an absolute legend, especially in slot cars, but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

M. Lespinay brought his 1966 Honda RC116 last month. He knew everything about the Laverda, even commenting on the Italian grips I had chosen, and was a fascinating and gentle man, still vital at 81. His bikes and cars are in many museums now. I haven't ever met such a fellow, sort of like meeting royalty.

He owned and restored a 1961 Kimberly Cooper Climax, the first of the rear-engined cars to compete at the Indianapolis 500. Well, that's a relative of mine's car, 'Gentleman Jim' Kimberly, a West Palm Beach playboy and heir to the Kimberly-Clark paper company fortune. My great-grandfather's cousin's grandson, too far removed for me to inherit his spoils, unfortunately. A great day. My son helped him load the Derbi into his van. I really hope to meet him again.
 
Last edited:
gpzkat said:
Just before the ride, the right side carb started spewing. With the bowl off, I could see it would stay in the position I moved it to. I think this was the original problem. It was fine when installed, I'm sure of that. It was easy to fix by filing the ends of the plastic where indicated in the photo. I got focused in on the width of the floats, and now I don't think that was the problem.
Click to expand...
Those white floats are too light to use with stock float heights. IIrc, these are 6.5gr. Stock floats are 10 or 8.5gr.

As the origianals are hard to come by, you'll need to experiment a bit to find a suitable height for these, probably somewhere around 17mm instead of 18.

piet
 
sfcpiet said:
Those white floats are too light to use with stock float heights. IIrc, these are 6.5gr. Stock floats are 10 or 8.5gr.

As the origianals are hard to come by, you'll need to experiment a bit to find a suitable height for these, probably somewhere around 17mm instead of 18.

piet
Click to expand...
This seller has in 10 and 12.5. They are listed as being for PHB. PHF not mentioned but I researched a bit and took a chance. They're fine.

https://ebay.us/m/bWidbC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top