New RGS owner. Thankyou!

The Sock said:
Why, by all that’s holey, would Sid, in the Cotswolds, want them to have an office in Oregon, USA? Their engineering works are in Warrington, much closer to (his) home.
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Sir Sid has already done so. The initiator of the thread is in Oregon, USA and still has Marzo shocks :cry:
Paul
 
It's called OS purchase? Maxton quoted on work to my M1Rs and included shipping to Oz ... a lot further from the Coddscold than Oregon! Or am I missing something?
 
Hey there, I'm very psyched; I got all the maintenance items finished and took it out for a 500 mile ride over the weekend. I received the bike in very nice condition with it running excellent after replacing the spark plugs; but I wanted to renew or replace the following items:

-ceramic coated Y pipe and headers.
-rebuilt the brake calipers, master cylinders, braided steel lines and new brake pads. Painted black rotor centers.
-new fork seals, fluid and German springs from Wolfgang.
-clean sand cast cases and polish all the alloy.
-wire wheel and polish every fastener I could get to.
-new tires and change oil.

I thought I felt a bit of some strange vibrations so I took off the foot rest brackets and torqued all the engine mounts in the front and back. The mount in the front I could torque the engine mount itself but not the bolts that attach it to the frame as I could not figure out how to get access to them?! It seemed to make a difference but was wondering if I should change out the mounts? The bike only has 13k miles on it but it is 40 years old. The rubber on the mounts look fine but do they just age out over time or get too brittle or hard to work well?

I also noticed that the clutch engages almost at the very end of the lever pull but couldn't find anything in the service manual that pointed me towards a way to adjust the clutch push rod or where the clutch engages? I see there is a recessed allen screw in the clutch lever itself but do not see anything else?

The bike is a hoot to ride though; feels like a truck in town but very nice on the open road and super stable. The triple is very addicting at higher revs. The stock exhaust is very quiet so may make a change there. Thanks so much for everyone's advice and it does fill up fine with gas and no leaks! Enjoy.
 

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Nice work ! And yeah they love a few revs 😁 and a Malcom Cox exhaust tends to turn a few heads 🤣
I’ve got no advice on the clutch, except a bleed may change the feel? But I’m pulling mine apart shortly to find out why it slips at high rpm, so I’ll know more after that 😉 Although there’s a few posts about the pushrods and the ball bearings between them wearing.
Oh and if you find the 14mm master cylinder too heavy then go to a 13mm 👍
 
Its hard to know what a bike should feel like if you have not ridden a similar before or there is no one around who is familiar with that model to test ride it. Use to be some Laverda guys in the Portland area, not sure if they are still active. You could always take a nice ride to Nakusp and have Wolfgang assess it for you.

I'm still using original rubber engine mounts on my RGS, it's low mileage as well. The rear mounts are the ones that more typically need to tightened. Ignition setting and carb balance also needed to minimize vibration.

The clutch...no adjustment. Just bleeding. Ensure the clutch rods and little balls are all there....and a bit of grease. On a low milage bike normally used
ie not thrashed, I dont think the clutch components shouldn't need replacement.
 
henrywillms said:
Its hard to know what a bike should feel like if you have not ridden a similar before or there is no one around who is familiar with that model to test ride it. Use to be some Laverda guys in the Portland area, not sure if they are still active. You could always take a nice ride to Nakusp and have Wolfgang assess it for you.

I'm still using original rubber engine mounts on my RGS, it's low mileage as well. The rear mounts are the ones that more typically need to tightened. Ignition setting and carb balance also needed to minimize vibration.

The clutch...no adjustment. Just bleeding. Ensure the clutch rods and little balls are all there....and a bit of grease. On a low milage bike normally used
ie not thrashed, I dont think the clutch components shouldn't need replacement.
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Slave cylinder o-ring and dust cover are certain to have perished. The o-ring usually dissolves over the course of 2-3 seasons, the dust boot simply falls apart.

Preventive maintenance ensures you get back home hassle-free. Slave cylinder usually fails without prior notice.

piet
 
Hey there; thanks much for your replies. It is great you mentioned a comparison bike to ride. Wolfgang has told me that a member named Michael lives in the nearby area and has an RGS; I hope to give him a ring and visit him soon. I am now working on making mirror extensions (to not see the view of my shoulders!) so I can remove the bar end mirrors I installed and then get bar end weights. As I ride it more it feels better and better; I think it's mostly that I've had V twins for so many years and am just getting adjusted to the bike's characteristics...
I am also going to check the clutch slave cylinder O ring; it does work fine; just engages at the end of the lever travel.
Thanks!
 
darmahsd said:
I am also going to check the clutch slave cylinder O ring; it does work fine; just engages at the end of the lever travel.
Thanks!
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I recently rebuilt my MC on my S2 Jota and the kit supplied had an extra pad on the plunger/piston, the bit the lever engages.
This gave me the same clutch action as you described.
Took a bit to get used to but I'm good with it now.
 
T
Ian D said:
I recently rebuilt my MC on my S2 Jota and the kit supplied had an extra pad on the plunger/piston, the bit the lever engages.
This gave me the same clutch action as you described.
Took a bit to get used to but I'm good with it now.
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The pad is meant to reduce friction and ensure smooth lever movement with a minimum of lube. Should only be used in clutch applications, they are otherwise identical to the brake M/C pistons.

piet
 
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I adjusted the set screw in the clutch lever and that has made the engagement point much better and more in the middle of the movement. I spoke with Wolfgang today about about options for mufflers that are a bit louder than stock and he said his supplier for these mufflers for the RGS is no longer making them and that Jota pipes may be a bit on the loud side. I just want to hear the engine a bit more! He suggested I do two things to improve the sound; First, drill two 2" diameter holes in the bottom of the airbox. Second: my stock pipes have one central outlet but 4 smaller additional holes can be drilled surrounding the outlet very similar to how the RGS Corsa was set up. I was curious if anyone has modified stock pipes like this? I admit that I'm a bit cautious thinking that the pipes are in great condition and are only original once but folks have mentioned that they will eventually turn into rusted junk anyway! Thank you.
 
I did that 4 hole thing on the original Lamfranche:sp" mufflers that came with my 3c, I didn't notice much change, went to Jota mufflers and that did have an effect. I have plenty of nabours and even leaving at 6am for rides never had any complaints. Engines cold anyway so it gets babied till it's warm. Never really heard an offensive loud 180, maybe it's the engine design. Coasa 120s have a lot more bark or at least the one I have followed does,
 
AFAIK, the factory adopted the extra 4 holes on later RGS too...certainly on bikes here in the UK.
The Corsa exhaust central outlet was a slightly larger diameter than the RGS.
 
darmahsd said:
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I adjusted the set screw in the clutch lever and that has made the engagement point much better and more in the middle of the movement. I spoke with Wolfgang today about about options for mufflers that are a bit louder than stock and he said his supplier for these mufflers for the RGS is no longer making them and that Jota pipes may be a bit on the loud side. I just want to hear the engine a bit more! He suggested I do two things to improve the sound; First, drill two 2" diameter holes in the bottom of the airbox. Second: my stock pipes have one central outlet but 4 smaller additional holes can be drilled surrounding the outlet very similar to how the RGS Corsa was set up. I was curious if anyone has modified stock pipes like this? I admit that I'm a bit cautious thinking that the pipes are in great condition and are only original once but folks have mentioned that they will eventually turn into rusted junk anyway! Thank you.
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Go for it mate, won’t do it any harm!IMG_7510.jpeg
 
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