Re: What did you do to or for or with your Laverda today?

It's off a Honda Firestorm, as is the clutch.  I don't use the bar pad though.

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I crashed my RGS Mongrel track bike today.

Fortunately it wasn't a 200kph crash on a race track, it was a 0.5kph crash in the workshop.

I hate self-retracting side stands with a passion. The RGS stand is self-retracting, so I tied it forward with a piece of rope to facilitate moving the bike around the workshop without the stand popping up every time I move it. You can see the rope in the picture.

Unfortunately, I forgot the stand was tied forward when I wheeled the bike up onto the lift to get it ready for a track day on Sunday. Before mounting the bike lift table, I lined the bike up with the centre of the ramp, then rolled it back about 3 metres so I had a good run-up to get up the ramp without giving myself a hernia. As the bike crested the top of the ramp at break-neck speed, the stand hit the ramp and launched the bike off to the right so quickly that I couldn't reign it back. It nearly took out Maurice's Guzzi engine and gearbox as it went down!

The good news is that because of the proliferation of plastic knobs all over the bike, the only damage was a small nick out of the left handlebar grip (the plastic knob in the end of the handlebar was torn out by an open drawer on the tool cabinet). I suffered more damage to myself. The poking-up side stand gouged me in the gut when I fell headlong on top of the whole mess. I also barked my shin on something.

After lifting the bike back onto its wheels and getting it up onto the lift table (successfully this time) I decided to call it quits for the day and have a medicinal scotch. The couple of maintenance jobs that need doing can wait until tomorrow.

OK, I'll accept the Dickhead of the month award.

Cam



 

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Dellortoman said:
I crashed my RGS Mongrel track bike today.

Fortunately it wasn't a 200kph crash on a race track, it was a 0.5kph crash in the workshop.

I hate self-retracting side stands with a passion. The RGS stand is self-retracting, so I tied it forward with a piece of rope to facilitate moving the bike around the workshop without the stand popping up every time I move it. You can see the rope in the picture.

Unfortunately, I forgot the stand was tied forward when I wheeled the bike up onto the lift to get it ready for a track day on Sunday. Before mounting the bike lift table, I lined the bike up with the centre of the ramp, then rolled it back about 3 metres so I had a good run-up to get up the ramp without giving myself a hernia. As the bike crested the top of the ramp at break-neck speed, the stand hit the ramp and launched the bike off to the right so quickly that I couldn't reign it back. It nearly took out Maurice's Guzzi engine and gearbox as it went down!

The good news is that because of the proliferation of plastic knobs all over the bike, the only damage was a small nick out of the left handlebar grip (the plastic knob in the end of the handlebar was torn out by an open drawer on the tool cabinet). I suffered more damage to myself. The poking-up side stand gouged me in the gut when I fell headlong on top of the whole mess. I also barked my shin on something.

After lifting the bike back onto its wheels and getting it up onto the lift table (successfully this time) I decided to call it quits for the day and have a medicinal scotch. The couple of maintenance jobs that need doing can wait until tomorrow.

OK, I'll accept the Dickhead of the month award.

Cam
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What a bugger.
Funny there's always someone around with a camera........................ :D
 
:( I hope this doesn't affect our upcoming east coast road trip.

I feel sorry for you, tell you what, I'll swap you a couple of bottles of cold climate red, some crays and cheesy :D rounds for a replacement grip.  :D
 
Sorry to hear that Cam, we've got a lot to thank yankee style litigation for don't we. :(
 
SimonR501 said:
Now, go back into the workshop and undo that hangmans noose for us  :D
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Don't worry, the hangman's noose is not for me. It's a little trick for putting bikes on the centre stand when on the bike lift.

I clamp the front wheel of a bike in the ... er, front wheel clamp, then jack the lift table up, tie the arse end of the bike to the rope hanging from the ceiling, then lower the stand so the rear wheel lifts clear of the table. Then I can lower the centre stand and jack the table up again so the bike sits on the stand, and release the rope.

It's a lot easier than trying to pull the bike up onto the centre stand while it's on the table. If I were to do that, the front wheel would then be too far back to be gripped by the wheel clamp, so I'd have to drag the bike forward again. The rope trick eliminates any such gut-busting effort.
 
The first thing I did to my Husky was add the stand bolt that disabled the retracting stand, well it was the second thing after losing shin skin from the stupid stand first.
 
Why not reattach the clamp further back?
Mine has several hole positions predrilled in the table.
Sounds like a hell of a system you devised there.
 
My table doesn't have an adjustable front wheel clamp. My system is simple enough and works OK. One advantage is that I can easily put packers under the centre stand while the bike is dangling from the sky-hook. Sometimes I want to raise a bike up further than normal stand lift to facilitate dropping a wheel out from under a mudguard.
 
RGS Mongrel is back on its wheels after its brief lie down yesterday, and is ready for a track day at Symmons Plains tomorrow - depending on weather. If it's pissing with rain I won't bother. My leathers aren't waterproof. Besides, I can think of better things to do than getting cold and wet while risking falling off at break-neck speed.

Falling off at break-neck speed in the wet is actually a distinct possibility at Symmons Palins. The "straight" at Symmons is scary enough when it's dry, because it isn't straight. It's generally referred to as the back straight, but it's officially called Bend 5, and is probably the fastest bend on any Australian race track. Pretty much flat out in top gear while cranked over to the right. Call me a woose, but I really don't fancy doing it in the wet. Aquaplaning at 200+ kph while cranked over is not something I want to contemplate. Oddly enough, Bend 4 which immediately precedes it is known as Brambles Hairpin and is a steep downhill left-hand first gear 180deg corner and quite possibly the slowest race circuit bend in Australia. Check out the aerial photo and you'll see what I'm talking about.
 

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I like that idea Cam, actually I like it a lot.

I am no longer fit enough to get my Pan on the stand when its on level concrete, and as for the bike lift, well I have to wait until at least one of my sons is around.

The same applies to TOG but for different reasons, this time its because I don't have any "tang" at all on the centre stand, I have cut and ground it off, this is because it has a Bushman/Lawton/JotaJoe side stand. Although I could lift the bike onto the centre stand I cant put a foot on the stand leg at the same time, so the drill is as above.

Your hangman's noose will solve the problem when either bikes are on the lift, I will do it slightly differently, with a centre hanging point and two "brothers" (a riggers term from my LRM days with big plant) one to drop to the left of the bike and one to the right, with hooks to attach to frame or rear rack etc.
CLEM
 
Yes, that's actually how I do it Clem. The one loop you can see hanging down is only part of the story. It goes on one side of the bike. The rope is looped over part of the roof structure and the other end is tied to the other side of the bike. So both sides are supported. I don't have any special hooks or anything because every bike is different and has different attachment points. Knots are more flexible than hooks. I generally try to tie on to the rear sub-frame around the upper shock mounts.

Procedure is to jack the lift table up to max height. Tie one side of the bike, pull the rope tight over the roof beam and tie to the other side. Then gently lower the table until the rear wheel is high enough above the table deck to flip the centre stand down.
 
Picked up the Mirage today. After my challenges on the NC500 in May (ignition decided it didn't like water), I bit the bullet and have had a 21st century Redax ignition system fitted, and while I was at it a JotaJoe side stand.

All work completed by Grant in his new Jock Cave.....great job, drove the 40 miles home....bike is infinitely smoother at low revs, doesn't behave like a GT750 at 5k revs......and retains the same signature tune.

Even managed to out run todays monsoon...double bubble
 

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Put some petrol in my dormant ?10 resto 1200TS and it immediately burst into life. Must get the poor thing registered.
The clutch is stuck as usual though, last time I had it running it was a bugger to free off.
 
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