New bike has (literarily) come home, but what is the weight?

[andre g]

Looked in different moto magazines between 1985 and 1990.
Weight was between 246 and 255 kg.
To lower the weight make all plastic parts fairing and seat aut of kevlar, frame of the seat out of alu, GSXR wheels and brake disks, big screws in Titan, 3:1 exhaust, Battery in Lithium Ionen, smaller chain, battery tray in alu or carbon, all gears drilled as well as clutch, axis drilled or titan, crank lightened. camshafts drilled, main stand removed
It will safe about 30 kg +-
Good luck
Andre

 

[andre g]

Oh , I forgot, silent blocks change to smaller ones!

 

[Paul Marx]

Looked in different moto magazines between 1985 and 1990.
Weight was between 246 and 255 kg.
To lower the weight make all plastic parts fairing and seat aut of kevlar, frame of the seat out of alu, GSXR wheels and brake disks, big screws in Titan, 3:1 exhaust, Battery in Lithium Ionen, smaller chain, battery tray in alu or carbon, all gears drilled as well as clutch, axis drilled or titan, crank lightened. camshafts drilled, main stand removed
It will safe about 30 kg +-
Good luck
Andre

Or get a 350 Desmo.

Paul

 

[Andy J]

I’ve seen 253kg quoted wet including oil and fuel etc. so that’s around 230 dry. If that’s correct, then getting under 200kg is, as Andre says, not an impossible task. The factory TT1 was well under 200kg.

 

[Vince]

Now you have done it, mentioning TT1s. Scott will arrive soon. One of the race bike slightly naughty mods back in the day was replica frames made out of thin wall Chrome Molly, much lighter than the waterpipe the standard ones are made from. You can get suspension springs made from Titanium as well if cost is no object.

 

[Dellortoman]

Replace all the bodywork with carbon fibre. That'll remove a lot of weight.

I've occasionally taken my Ducati MHR for a ride without its fairing and it's way more nimble without several kg of fibreglass hanging off the front of the bike.

 

[motoddrob]

Well I got my Motodd down to 200kgs wet with half a tank of fuel= 12 litres. To achieve that figure and keep it road ridable I had to
change frames, quite abit of weight saving on the standard frame.
GSXR rims, alloy rear sprocket.
junk the original ignition/ charging system and fitted the Sachse ign and ZZR 250 alternator.
Use a Lithium battery, 1kg
Carbon fibre everywhere, bracketry, chain guard, instrument panel besides the tank, seat, fairing and guards.
Reds lightweight pistons, carrillo rods. Crank left standard but a couple of kgs can be be removed.
Simplified electrical system using thin insulation wires. Small HID headlights.
Apart from Ti bolts I can't see how I can reduce anymore weight from it and keep it road ridable.
There is really nothing on the bike that doesn''t need to be there.
I find it hard to believe that a standard laverda could get anywhere near 200kg without the above mods.
Hear of race bikes in the 170-180kg but that would be the removing starter motor and alternator.

 

[78jotadave]

The fastest way to lose 5kg is to diet and or quit drinking, HTH.Bit of a shame to start swapping and chopping on your beautiful SFC 1000.

 

[Laverdalothar]

Dave, I don't think Niels intends to chop anything off of the bike, it's more about exchanging parts (and storing the original ones properly for later road usage).

The bike feels already much more agile with the GSX-R-Rims and according brake system. Andre's list of things does not include irreversable things I'd say and is naturaly spot on, as he has done all the above and was really quick on his 1000 SFC - way to quick for me at least (which isn't to hard really to achieve though...)

Regarding the silent blocks, Michael Stöcker (former Moto Witt Laverda and later Harley Cup racer) has his old race bike back and races it on different ocasions for fun. It runs really sweet and has - lighter and smaler silent blocks... ;-) He might have some spare ones to sell, not sure.

 

[sideshow]

Well I got my Motodd down to 200kgs wet with half a tank of fuel= 12 litres. To achieve that figure and keep it road ridable I had to
change frames, quite abit of weight saving on the standard frame.
GSXR rims, alloy rear sprocket.
junk the original ignition/ charging system and fitted the Sachse ign and ZZR 250 alternator.
Use a Lithium battery, 1kg
Carbon fibre everywhere, bracketry, chain guard, instrument panel besides the tank, seat, fairing and guards.
Reds lightweight pistons, carrillo rods. Crank left standard but a couple of kgs can be be removed.
Simplified electrical system using thin insulation wires. Small HID headlights.
Apart from Ti bolts I can't see how I can reduce anymore weight from it and keep it road ridable.
There is really nothing on the bike that doesn''t need to be there.
I find it hard to believe that a standard laverda could get anywhere near 200kg without the above mods.
Hear of race bikes in the 170-180kg but that would be the removing starter motor and alternator.

Yeah, Im looking forward to weighing my one when its done. I think I have at least 45kg off it now, the single biggest one was the battery weight savings. I have spoked wheels which are a smidge heavier than the alloy ones. And Red shaved a ton of weight of the engine

 

[RGSFC]

Looked in different moto magazines between 1985 and 1990.
Weight was between 246 and 255 kg.
To lower the weight make all plastic parts fairing and seat aut of kevlar, frame of the seat out of alu, GSXR wheels and brake disks, big screws in Titan, 3:1 exhaust, Battery in Lithium Ionen, smaller chain, battery tray in alu or carbon, all gears drilled as well as clutch, axis drilled or titan, crank lightened. camshafts drilled, main stand removed
It will safe about 30 kg +-
Good luck
Andre

Thanks a lot Andre for the figures you dug out. I have always had high regard for Das Motorrad. They state a fully fueled figure of 255 kg, and I am sure they put the bike on an accurate weight.
Deduct 22 liters of fuel (specific gravity 0,8) equals 17,6 kg and dry weight ends up at 237,4 kg
That is 10 kg less than the result I got. Must have been an inaccurate weighing method I used.

However 237,4 kg is the figure I will go with, and the target below 200 kg should be just within reach.

Thanks for all your advice- most of your suggestions are on my list

 

[RGSFC]

Dave, I don't think Niels intends to chop anything off of the bike, it's more about exchanging parts (and storing the original ones properly for later road usage).

The bike feels already much more agile with the GSX-R-Rims and according brake system. Andre's list of things does not include irreversable things I'd say and is naturaly spot on, as he has done all the above and was really quick on his 1000 SFC - way to quick for me at least (which isn't to hard really to achieve though...)

Regarding the silent blocks, Michael Stöcker (former Moto Witt Laverda and later Harley Cup racer) has his old race bike back and races it on different ocasions for fun. It runs really sweet and has - lighter and smaler silent blocks... ;-) He might have some spare ones to sell, not sure.

You are absolutely right Lothar. Nothing irreversible will be done to the bike. For wheels I will not go with the tried and tested GSX-R ones, but something a little lighter and wider. The lighter silent blocks sound very interesting.

 

[Pauls]

Get another set of scales (they are not expensive, not compared to motorcycles..) and a plank of wood. Roll the bike onto the plank and add the readings up having first zeroed the scales to account for the plank. Keep the bike steady without leaning on or lifting it and you should have an accurate weight. It's not much more faffing about than has already been done really.

 

[Andy J]

Thanks a lot Andre for the figures you dug out. I have always had high regard for Das Motorrad. They state a fully fueled figure of 255 kg, and I am sure they put the bike on an accurate weight.
Deduct 22 liters of fuel (specific gravity 0,8) equals 17,6 kg and dry weight ends up at 237,4 kg
That is 10 kg less than the result I got. Must have been an inaccurate weighing method I used.

However 237,4 kg is the figure I will go with, and the target below 200 kg should be just within reach.

Thanks for all your advice- most of your suggestions are on my list

So I over estimated the weight of fuel in my last post but I don’t think 0.6kg less than the 238kg I previously suggested is worth arguing over...
BTW, do I get a prize for being nearest in the ‘guess the weight competition’?

 

[Vince]

Find a commercial truck weighbridge, they are everywhere

 

[hooksey]

Regarding the silent blocks, Michael Stöcker (former Moto Witt Laverda and later Harley Cup racer) has his old race bike back and races it on different ocasions for fun. It runs really sweet and has - lighter and smaler silent blocks... ;-) He might have some spare ones to sell, not sure.

Plenty people with RG series bikes would love to get their hands on a set of these.......... After 40 years of 120 vibes there all knackered

 

[Laverdalothar]

Plenty people with RG series bikes would love to get their hands on a set of these.......... After 40 years of 120 vibes there all knackered

They are, indeed. Michael's costs are quite hight though as he only did some handfull of them. I think he asked something like 90€/ each (thanks Andre for reminding me of it), which - at 6 pieces that you need - is not really something cheap... But could maye be done by yourself by just using the right silent blocks, according tubes and some drilled steel-plates, all put together with a welder and a hydraulic press... maybe, if enough interest is being raised, we could get pricing down a lot... I can ask him.

 

[hooksey]

They are, indeed. Michael's costs are quite hight though as he only did some handfull of them. I think he asked something like 90€/ each (thanks Andre for reminding me of it), which - at 6 pieces that you need - is not really something cheap... But could maye be done by yourself by just using the right silent blocks, according tubes and some drilled steel-plates, all put together with a welder and a hydraulic press... maybe, if enough interest is being raised, we could get pricing down a lot... I can ask him.

That would be fantastic Lothar....... I also have the feelers out in Aus with a rubber specialist. Fingers crossed he comes through with the goods.

 

[ksoholm]

Italian magazine Motosprint's massive 1985 Superbike test included the SFC1000, which they measured at 234 kgs dry plus 18 kgs of fuel for 253 kgs/558 lbs wet.

A fascinating test: In a life of voracious reading of car and motorcycle tests, I've never seen any test as thorough as this which even included lap times at the Nurburgring, unheard of on 1985. https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/roadtests/superbike_grouptest_85_motosprint.html

Last, it needs to be emphasized that no big Laverda was every particularly heavy; I wish people would stop that shibboleth. Actual tested weights in period were more or less the same as any other 1,000-1,100cc Superbike; they all weighed 540-590 lbs wet, with a fully gassed Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans weighing 541 lbs. The Lavs were more top-heavy than some, especially RGSs and thus felt heavier.

 

[Vince]

But people are comparing them to late-model stuff at 170kg, hardly a fair comparison. But light is good. I hardly bother being of the copulas type. Add my 125kg and then is real top-heavy.