New Laverda owner

Franco58 said:
The bike is now sitting on a trailer in my yard while I make space in my shop for it.

Oh, to have a garage right now...

I hope it's safe in that yard - SFCs have been known to disappear WITH the trailer in quite recent times!!  :o :o :o
 
If the discs are worn and have ridges on them you?ll need to split the calipers then just bolt them back together, connect a grease gun to the tapped hole where the brake hose goes and push the pistons out with a pump grease gun.

The other option is to warm the calipers up in an oven then pull the pistons out with a bearing removal tool and a slide hammer but the grease gun method usually works best.
 
Piranha Brother 2 said:
I hope it's safe in that yard - SFCs have been known to disappear WITH the trailer in quite recent times!!  :o :o :o

It's safe, thanks. Trailer is still hooked to my truck and backer in against another trailer so it can't be offloaded. Besides, all my neighbours have 4 legs or wings. ;)

I'm just assembling my lift and then I'll move her inside. 

The rotors are in decent shape, with roughly 4000 miles  on the odometer. They slid off quite easily with pads.  Caliper rebuild is on my list. A friend who owns a 1975 Ducati 860 GT(S) said that Bevel Heaven in the US can replace the front two for roughly $250...
 
Franco58 said:
Caliper rebuild is on my list. A friend who owns a 1975 Ducati 860 GT(S) said that Bevel Heaven in the US can replace the front two for roughly $250...

Probably not necessary to replace them unless the castings are buggered beyond repair. Rebuild kits are readily available and quite cheap. If the pistons are a bit stubborn to remove, I pop them out with compressed air. I don't have an air fitting to fit the thread on the brake line port, I just hold the nozzle of an air gun against it and it provides enough pressure. Occasionally a bit of gentle heat is required to get them to shift. Not so much heat as to set fire to the seals, a hot air gun or a dunk in hot water will do.
 
The calipers from Bevel Heaven wont be the same as the originals. The originals are getting quite rare. New pistons and seals is the way to go. Original pistons are steel and can be replaced with the later light weight Teflon coated ally jobbies.
Rob, another SFC owner
 
Dellortoman said:
Probably not necessary to replace them unless the castings are buggered beyond repair. Rebuild kits are readily available and quite cheap. If the pistons are a bit stubborn to remove, I pop them out with compressed air. I don't have an air fitting to fit the thread on the brake line port, I just hold the nozzle of an air gun against it and it provides enough pressure. Occasionally a bit of gentle heat is required to get them to shift. Not so much heat as to set fire to the seals, a hot air gun or a dunk in hot water will do.

That's great news, thanks very much, Dellortoman! Where can I buy the rebuild kits? I've heard about using compressed air or grease to remove the pistons before, but I've never actually done it. I'm enjoying this project before I even start! I ordered an ultrasonic bath from Amazon to help with parts clean-up. Hoping it will come in handy!

@motoddrob; I'm really glad I joined this forum! Thanks for the heads up! I had no idea that the calipers were different! Physically, the calipers LOOKED the same to me! I suspect that I can order new pistons from the same supplier as the rebuild kits.

@exmoor beast; I agree! I wish I had a higher resolution image, I'd have it printed and framed on.my wall!!

More photos to come once I resize them.
 
The early calipers fitted to the Ceranis are threaded and machined square and flat on the front face as opposed to the later versions that were fitted to the Marzo which are machined on the back face as the bolt goes through the caliper and screws into the fork leg casting. The cerani versions are becoming rare to find and probably only available 2nd hand.
Rebuild kits are interchangable between the two. BevelHeaven should be able to supply the kits.
 
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