Out and About on your Laverda.No bull,Just photos

Grazie mille Redax Laverda
Paul & I had many miles of fun testing x2


Some people get all the good jobs :)
That 1200 is definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Awesome work (y) (y) (y)
 
This race bike is really way above the rest.

As for the story. I bought this machine off a Swiss friend who had bought it in Italy. I've probably had it 25 years. It is purported to have belonged to the works rider, Bruno Cretti who died in 1973, testing a racing Aermacchi on the road.
Parts of the machine are certainly ex works, notably the frame which is between S/SF and SFC inasmuch as the rear engine mounting is doubled up but only over half the height, down from the top rear fixture. The SFC is of course doubles up between the 2 bolts.
The frame has a false number in the 2000s, obviously stamped to register the bike at some time. I took the frame to the X ray dept. of the hospital I was working at and no trace of an original number which would support the works frame theory.
Original magnesium Ceriani at the front and a first type Laverda drum brake plate at the rear with the extended brake arms allowing a piece of inner tube between the 2 arms to help eliminate the servo effect of the big drum.
The engine has a first series SFC head with a pair of 36 mm Amals. There's a 6C cam in there which will be replaced by a 2C I have which the then factory gave me in 1999 in payment of my participation in the 99 Bold d'Or team.
There's a magnesium points cover and a magnesium selector cover without an oil filler "à la SFC".
We opened up the engine at home one Saturday morning with Marnix, looking for a first type SFC crank. There wasn't one. The inlet ports have been worked on, notably with short guides that don't protrude into the inlet tract. The guides are without doubt as to be expected, shot, judging by the oil on the pistons tops.
The guts of the engine have been in a box since the mid 90s.
Giuseppe Andrighetto to whom I'd lent a 5000 series SFC exhaust commissioned by Tim Isles for Giuseppe to reproduce very kindly offered me a complete set which will find it's way onto the bike if I rebuild it in lieu of that 2/1.

It narrowly escaped the bonfire in 2016. The paint on the tank has bubbled in places due to the heat.

Getting this bike airborne has rekindled my thoughts of rebuilding it. At least a race bike I could ride. My TT2 is much too radical.

Cretti 2.jpgCretti 1.jpgCretti.jpg
 
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Paul Marx said:
TI took the frame to the X ray dept. of the hospital I was working at and no trace of an original number which would support the works frame theory.
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Was the x-ray cost covered by your national health system?

Cudos for dragging your frame into a hospital to x-ray it :) but I'm not sure you can draw any conclusions from your x-ray result.

You need quite a high intensity and high frequency gamma ray machine for metallurgical analysis. Gamma rays are higher frequency than x-rays.
Medical machines tend to be lower power and emit lower photons in the x-ray frequency band (as the name implies) and into the lower end of the gamma ray band. So I'd be surprised if a medical x-ray machine would be capable of revealing hidden traces of number stamping within the crystal structure of a lump of steel. The metal would just show up as an opaque amorphous blob.
But I'm not a radiologist. I'm just making an educated guess based on the physics of EM radiation.
 
Dellortoman said:
Was the x-ray cost covered by your national health system?

Cudos for dragging your frame into a hospital to x-ray it :) but I'm not sure you can draw any conclusions from your x-ray result.

You need quite a high intensity and high frequency gamma ray machine for metallurgical analysis. Gamma rays are higher frequency than x-rays.
Medical machines tend to be lower power and emit lower photons in the x-ray frequency band (as the name implies) and into the lower end of the gamma ray band. So I'd be surprised if a medical x-ray machine would be capable of revealing hidden traces of number stamping within the crystal structure of a lump of steel. The metal would just show up as an opaque amorphous blob.
But I'm not a radiologist. I'm just making an educated guess based on the physics of EM radiation.
Click to expand...
Yes, the X ray was paid for by the French people.

The result of the X ray was surprisingly good. The rays penetrated the steel plate which isn't very thick. Stamped numbers showed up nicely and no trace of any previous number. I unfortunately don't have that X ray any more. Still on photo plate at the time.

I worked at that hospital from 92 to 94 so I have had that bike 30 years.

Paul
 
Paul Marx said:
This race bike is really way above the rest.

As for the story. I bought this machine off a Swiss friend who had bought it in Italy. I've probably had it 25 years. It is purported to have belonged to the works rider, Bruno Cretti who died in 1973, testing a racing Aermacchi on the road.
Parts of the machine are certainly ex works, notably the frame which is between S/SF and SFC inasmuch as the rear engine mounting is doubled up but only over half the height, down from the top rear fixture. The SFC is of course doubles up between the 2 bolts.
The frame has a false number in the 2000s, obviously stamped to register the bike at some time. I took the frame to the X ray dept. of the hospital I was working at and no trace of an original number which would support the works frame theory.
Original magnesium Ceriani at the front and a first type Laverda drum brake plate at the rear with the extended brake arms allowing a piece of inner tube between the 2 arms to help eliminate the servo effect of the big drum.
The engine has a first series SFC head with a pair of 36 mm Amals. There's a 6C cam in there which will be replaced by a 2C I have which the then factory gave me in 1999 in payment of my participation in the 99 Bold d'Or team.
There's a magnesium points cover and a magnesium selector cover without an oil filler "à la SFC".
We opened up the engine at home one Saturday morning with Marnix, looking for a first type SFC crank. There wasn't one. The inlet ports have been worked on, notably with short guides that don't protrude into the inlet tract. The guides are without doubt as to be expected, shot, judging by the oil on the pistons tops.
The guts of the engine have been in a box since the mid 90s.
Giuseppe Andrighetto to whom I'd lent a 5000 series SFC exhaust commissioned by Tim Isles for Giuseppe to reproduce very kindly offered me a complete set which will find it's way onto the bike if I rebuild it in lieu of that 2/1.

It narrowly escaped the bonfire in 2016. The paint on the tank has bubbled in places due to the heat.

Getting this bike airborne has rekindled my thoughts of rebuilding it. At least a race bike I could ride. My TT2 is much too radical.

View attachment 60106View attachment 60107View attachment 60108
Click to expand...
Nice cave Paul and thank you for the info on your 750. People have to be involved in the auto/motor industry until the 80's to understand how things were done in the past. I consider buying a 750 as well for some "course de côte" racing. Nothing fancy, but easier to handle compared to a 1000 and especially the past '76 ones
 
Paul Marx said:
Yes, the X ray was paid for by the French people.

The result of the X ray was surprisingly good. The rays penetrated the steel plate which isn't very thick. Stamped numbers showed up nicely and no trace of any previous number. I unfortunately don't have that X ray any more. Still on photo plate at the time.

I worked at that hospital from 92 to 94 so I have had that bike 30 years.

Paul
Click to expand...
Erratum. This bike has a DGM number and a frame number in the 554. with a matching engine number.
The restamped frame that went through X ray was a drum SFC frame modified to mount a rear master cylinder for a disc brake. I got that frame when I bought my Electronica and traced it to a bike breaker in Brittany who unfortunately, didn't have any other SFC parts. Thanks to a couple of knowledgeable friends, it turns out that the frame was the one from the machine run by the French importer in the 1973 Bol d'Or, housing a 73 works engine. A works frame with no number.The frame was obviously stamped for road use after the competition, the engine going into another machine.

That frame is now reunited with a 73 works engine.

Paul
 
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markQLD said:
Grazie mille Redax Laverda
Paul & I had many miles of fun testing x2
View attachment 60099
the Mulga pub (Mulgowie QLD)
View attachment 60098
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Very happy to see these pics of the 1200 out and about in the hands of capable riders. Now all I need to do is work out how to get it back to the Wild West across a couple of state borders. It would be an insult to transport it here in a box. We both need to stretch our legs.

Dave
 
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and what a lovely machine it is-youre going to enjoy that redax engine dave-thanks for the opportunity to ride her
 
twinweb said:
and what a lovely machine it is-youre going to enjoy that redax engine dave-thanks for the opportunity to ride her
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Looking forward to it, Redax have done a great job. I pretty sure I've met both you blokes and was very happy when Red told me who would be test riding. The moment NT sorts their shit out and I can cross the WA border, I'll be on a plane to QLD.
 
Diablo Loco said:
Looking forward to it, Redax have done a great job. I pretty sure I've met both you blokes and was very happy when Red told me who would be test riding. The moment NT sorts their shit out and I can cross the WA border, I'll be on a plane to QLD.
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You and Red both live in Australia, sounds simple. When looking at Australia from the outside, I always have to keep the relations in mind.

Imagine, to drive over to Red e.g. for a small inspection after the engine has been set up. This would be a real major affair! It wasn't at all clear to me that you were more than 4tkm away from each other. Would require some oil changes on the way ...

Cheers,
Jo
 
Jo said:
You and Red both live in Australia, sounds simple. When looking at Australia from the outside, I always have to keep the relations in mind.

Imagine, to drive over to Red e.g. for a small inspection after the engine has been set up. This would be a real major affair! It wasn't at all clear to me that you were more than 4tkm away from each other. Would require some oil changes on the way ...

Cheers,
Jo
Click to expand...
Any excuse for a ride. :D
 
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Hi Jo, for us west ozzies it's a fucken long way of emptiness to get to the east coast. The plus side is we haven't have any real covid issues affecting us apart from not being able to travel. Apart from that life has been normal. Perth is the most isolated city in the world apparently.
Enjoy your new ride Diablo. I'm on the south coast if your ever in my area happy to meet up.
 
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