Power Band - Triples

1200 JOTA said:
Maybe I can re-focus the thread and maybe I should have called it "ride impressions" (or similar) so let's not go full 'social media'. It was intended as a comment & discussion thread only to share your experiences. Thanks to those that have contributed their "when does the engine settle in and sing" story.

I've had the 1200 for about 3 years and love it. It came to me with a problem in the cam timing (was a tooth out on the inlet side), it was riden for a while with standard pipes .. and I then went to the 3 - 1. The head has been off because it was obvious that the PO had tried to do it and stopped half way, failing to torque it down correctly and with mis-aligned cam blocks. It's been 6 months (off the road) and the valve timing has been corrected, the ignition changed to Ignitech (because I've had really good results from a digital upgrade on prior bikes). The bike came to me with the Redax triple Mikunis and runs the recommended jets. Aside from that, the engine is standard.

I've taken it out only once since and notice that it still lumbers a little below ~ 3200 (in top gear) aside from that it runs very nicely! This seems perfectly normal with the extractors and bell mouths on the carbs. The K&N filters were taken off because they would rattle off due to a distortion of the rubber). As an example of it's overall performance - if I'm in top gear and want to overtake then I'd better change down (to get the revs up) and then blast by. The bike does sing from 3200 all the way up and is a charm.

As to pilfering others' hard earned data ... be assured that I'm not seeking max. BHP figures or trying to compete in any way but simply keep a good example of the marque on the road. I recall from a older post that there was an optimal diameter for after-market pipes (being 50mm) and as my headers are likley standard diameter but collect to about 65mm when I coupled the collector to the muffler, I settled on 50mm which was it's diameter anyway. The 'out' end is about 10% over the combined exit of 2 standard mufflers. The pipe works fairly well (ride impression only) and as I doubt I will ever get the chance to ride another 1000 / 1200 in my lifetime, why not ask "how does your bike feel"?

Interesting to note that the dyno figures rarely dip into the lower RPM ranges.

So again ... thanks to those that have answered in kind to the original thread. I thought there were a few more triples out there.
Click to expand...
Hi there my RGS based race bike is a smaller engine based on a 77mm bore, it has a number of improvements made in the engine that include a crankshaft rephase to 180 degrees and runs a 3 into 1 and although has been on the dyno with modest results that I wont bore anyone with has consistent power all the way from 2000-8300 no sluggish areas at all to speak of.
What figures did you set your cam timing at.
My 81 Jota has worn a 3 into 1 from time to time and she was never sluggish anywhere in the range.
 
I've spent the last year or so trying to my bike to run "faultlessly". It's a '76 3CL freshly built to Jota spec. and I fully understand the original question and why he asked it. I think my bike runs well now but having never ridden a Laverda 180 before, what the hell do I know. A dyno session might help but finding someone who knows what they're doing is impossible. I suppose the best way forward is to let someone you know and trust with suitable experience ride the bike and report back. What I can say is that without the experts on here to point out the pitfalls of ownership I'd have sold the thing. I've had terrific help from Rob B who lives locally and sorted the Ignitech issues out. It had very poor throttle response and after a call to Keith Nairn he suggested checking the valve timing and he was dead right, it was miles out and the crispness is now there. Is it the best it can be? God knows, it's why we love them.
 
mauricejota7604 said:
Hi there my RGS based race bike is a smaller engine based on a 77mm bore, it has a number of improvements made in the engine that include a crankshaft rephase to 180 degrees and runs a 3 into 1 and although has been on the dyno with modest results that I wont bore anyone with has consistent power all the way from 2000-8300 no sluggish areas at all to speak of.
What figures did you set your cam timing at.
My 81 Jota has worn a 3 into 1 from time to time and she was never sluggish anywhere in the range.
Click to expand...
Cams were set by the book - check TDC / align the cam marks / chain it up (making sure not to disturb the cam alignment) then use Cam's timing wheel to run it through the phases (thanks Cam). Obviously not as accurate as using a micrometer but hopefully I have fairly evenly ground cams and it's close to synced. Eye-ball method #1 generally gets you close to what the factory would have set!

Next time (if it comes) I would try to even out the valve clearances to get more consistant timing.

Chances are my 3 - 1 kills my low-end (expected and acceptable) but when it 'barks' hell, it takes off!
 
1200 JOTA said:
Cams were set by the book - check TDC / align the cam marks / chain it up (making sure not to disturb the cam alignment) then use Cam's timing wheel to run it through the phases (thanks Cam). Obviously not as accurate as using a micrometer but hopefully I have fairly evenly ground cams and it's close to synced. Eye-ball method #1 generally gets you close to what the factory would have set!

Next time (if it comes) I would try to even out the valve clearances to get more consistant timing.

Chances are my 3 - 1 kills my low-end (expected and acceptable) but when it 'barks' hell, it takes off!
Click to expand...
Cam timing on the factory marks is only a starting point as it is not uncommon for the marks to be "not quite right" or even more common incorrect cam wheels on cams, the only way to check is to establish what the crank angle will be at maximum lift.
Adjusting the cam timing can make a huge difference in power output from the engine.
If you study the archives you will find lots of threads on this subject.
Good luck.
 
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