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

Hey Mr Catseye......reading this reminds me of that old quote....
'Expert'.....'ex' as in has been......'spert' (spurt) as in drip under pressure....
Theres a firm in the UK who run a fleet of vehicles...many of which have these words signwritten across the back....'Laugh a lot, love a few...but always paddle yer own canoe'.....
There are a couple of people on here who know it all....and can't resist tellin ya.....
Fortunately theres a few more with a sense of humour..... ;)
 
catseye said:
What could possibly go wrong?
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right, everything...  :D

Piet has a lot of experience with fixing the issues on these bikes as he does it for living - and he knows what he talks about, like always. This though bears a big issue: you only get your hands on bikes that have serious issues, rarely on those that run fine.

Owning one on the other hand though offers another side of it: the km/miles that are trouble free are pure fun! It is that what it makes a great bike for me: it absolutely polarizes the whole community in haters and lovers, almost nothing in between...  ;) That said, I know there is a big difference between the different types. Friend of mine had a Ghost legend. A bike I personally like quite much, he was very mixed in his emotions and he changed it in for a Diamante. He also sold this one short after. Then he drove my Formula and when he returned he said: "if one of the two bikes I owned had ever handled, performed or sounded this way, I would have never ever sold it..."

I think he would as he does not keep ONE bike for longer than a season, but it showed there is a big difference between the air-cooled and the water cooled ones, and especially the Formula's with the 2000 setup.

Mine you can ride from as low as 2.700 (when warm) up to the rev limiter without any issue. It has grunt where ever you pull throttle open and lifts frontwheel under accelaration even in 2nd gear by just pulling the throttle. We even had the bike hooked up to a My16M (an aftermarked Ignition/injection box) and could make it run from 1100rpm with a very steady idle. As I have no clue about programming that shit and the one that had did lose interest in the project, we hoked it back on to the WM16M which it still runs on. Never had such an agil engine ever before, even the 2-strokes I had were less agile... would have loved to get the My16M running on the bike as it get's rid of this shaking when you open throttle at 2.500 - 2.700 (which is not a design issue, it is programmed in the WM16M or the P16 for emission rule tests - similar to the Volkswagen issue today, just 20 years ago...; the Guzzis and Ducatis of that time do have it, too...).

Keep Piet's warning in mind though, there is a long list of big and minor issues to be fixed. and make sure you have enough liquids in it but more important: do not overfill (especially the water reservoir, else it will burst...).

many trouble free miles

cheers

Lothar
 
Laverdalothar said:
right, everything...  :D

Piet has a lot of experience with fixing the issues on these bikes as he does it for living - and he knows what he talks about, like always. This though bears a big issue: you only get your hands on bikes that have serious issues, rarely on those that run fine.
Keep Piet's warning in mind though, there is a long list of big and minor issues to be fixed. and make sure you have enough liquids in it but more important: do not overfill (especially the water reservoir, else it will burst...).

many trouble free miles

cheers

Lothar
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Thanks for the help and advice, and my "what could possibly go wrong" was obviously tongue-in-cheek, and second, I don't recall questioning anything of Piet's. If that was not your intention, I apologize, but it kinda sounds that way......I'm not here with dishonorable intentions. I've got better things to do than argue. That's what facebook is for....
 
And there you have it in a nut shell,ha Lothar it was a shame that adjustable box didnt proceed,I forget the developers name,mainly a Guzzi bloke from Oz I think.How many years ago was that.Just remembered,Craig I think
 
catseye said:
Thanks for the help and advice, and my "what could possibly go wrong" was obviously tongue-in-cheek, and second, I don't recall questioning anything of Piet's. If that was not your intention, I apologize, but it kinda sounds that way......I'm not here with dishonorable intentions. I've got better things to do than argue. That's what facebook is for....
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Don't worry about Lothar, that's just the way he communicates, hes German  :-* :-*
 
Cosi said:
Don't worry about Lothar, that's just the way he communicates, hes German  :-* :-*
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it's cool 8)

yes, it appears that this is certainly one of the more diverse forums I am involved in, and am new, and am new to the marquee. There certainly appears to be folks here that are quite knowledgeable, and I am eager to learn and make my experience with the Laverda enjoyable. Thanks to all for the constructive input.
 
Cosi said:
Don't worry about Lothar, that's just the way he communicates, hes German  :-* :-*
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:D

spot on, Cosi. Sorry for me causing you confusion, John. I did not think you are questioning Piet's or any others advices, I just wanted to ensure you that he knows what he's talking about.

It is sometimes difficult to separate the commends of those that have no or very limited first hand experience with the Zanes from those who have deep, deep knowledge of them. As a proud owner who never stripped the bike completely or worked on the engine etc., I am somewhere in between. I am lucky enough to have OCT in relatively short distance to me who can service the bike perfectly and removed all the issues before I bought it from them. I dealed with some issues myself so have some experience, but surely not as deep and wide as Piet. I think there are not many on this forum who can claim to having worked in that detail and for the past 24 years on them since the bikes were first introduced to the market as Piet can. That was all I wanted to point out: he is maybe by far the best ressource to listen to on this forum regarding Zanes.

Not saying there is no other competent commenter here, please. But a lot of the negative contributors never owned or even have ridden one for more than around 3 corners - if ever... or fixed any of the issues themselves. That doesn't mean they are wrong with what they say. I also never had a 120? rod bent or brake, but I know it can happen.

so - sorry again that I caused some confusion, not my intention, please.
 
Lothar, you're doing very well considering English is not your native language. It's only very occasionally that your meaning isn't clear. I read your posts with an imaginary German accent and it's all good  :D

I wish I was multi lingual. I only have a smattering of French and even less Italian. Bugger-all German other than the very basics. Ja, nein, guten tag, etc.
 
Mortimers collected my 71SF today so it"s on its" way from France  :D :D,  One owner since 72, haven t seen a Rickman topbox for awhile! Big thanks to Paul.
 

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I took a 668 for a test ride. Does that count?  :LOL:

Didn't think it was anywhere near as nice as my old triple so didn't buy one.
 
Recommissioned both the Sprint and the Formula after long winter layoffs. Normally I ride both bikes at least once a month throughout the year, but due our really wet "winter" and very busy schedule at work, haven't touched either since November... Checked all the usual on both. Sprint fired up second touch, since I turned the fuel on and hit the starter: should have waited for the float bowls to fill! Formula was first touch as ever. I hadn't bothered to charge the batteries on either since I last ride them...

Took the Formula for a ride. Such a naughty little bugger. I'll miss it when it blows up: maybe I should take it to OCT before then and get it sorted?

Changed the oil on the Sprint, and with Malcolm's new collector, realised I have to take the exhaust off to do that properly so took the strainer off too. All looking good. Refitted the exhaust - finally fitted it properly by adjusting the left down pipe with a large rubber persuader! "While I was at it" (? PLC) I took off the tax disc holder from the front calliper and retorqued the calliper bolts.

When I rolled it off the lift there was a nasty noise from the front end... :o :o :o Rolled it back onto the lift... Turns out the bolt that held the tax disc holder is slightly longer than the others and without the extra "shim" was just nudging the buttons on the disc! Fixed and took for a ride. Boy it goes well! The Mikuni's that Mr Nairn put on for me make such a difference.

Dog with two tails! :) :) :)

--
Dick
 
Yesterday, polished up the SF2 i n view of this weekends jaunt. It's nice and shiny.
Today, my girlfriend and I headed out into belgian Flanders, Ypres so as to run in her Triumph Street Twin and mahe sure my SF was running ok after tuning.
After a month of looning around on my new Aprilia 750 whilst my SF was in for maintenance, I soon realised that the garage where my SF is stored had been broken into.
Missing were:
Quite a few ponies.
The front bakes.

The burglar had also welded the steering stem to the bearings so as I couldn't catch him up.
I suspect that the frame has been sawed.

Off tomorow.

Paul
 
Took the 3C out for an extended spin during a nice and sunny spring day. Barked into life with first hit of the button, after it has been sitting unused since end of December. It didn't miss a single beat and ran like a clockwork the entire day. Just lovely.

Reading Pauls stories of constantly fettling his twin here, it seems to me the triples must have been a maior leap foward with regards to reliability and low maintenance requirements. :D
 
Dellortoman said:
Lothar, you're doing very well considering English is not your native language. It's only very occasionally that your meaning isn't clear. I read your posts with an imaginary German accent and it's all good  :D

I wish I was multi lingual. I only have a smattering of French and even less Italian. Bugger-all German other than the very basics. Ja, nein, guten tag, etc.
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thanks, very kind words. I try my best, but can't avoid expressing myself in a "to german way" sometimes. Apologies...  :-[

I hear your whish to be multilingual and can only agree to it, even if I am kind of bi-lingual if you will (working for american companies for the past 20+ years helps a lot...). I truely wished I hadn't stoped learning french when I was young. I whished I could speak italien and spanish (or at least one of it...) I know some basic words in many languages but non of them I can have a conversation in like in english or german. Not more than ordering food and drinks - that kind of things...

Had a team-mate once, she was from the hungarian part of romania with german roots. She fluently spoke
-German
-english
-hungarian
-romanian
-russian
-french

she also was able to read and write in italian and at least read spanish. what an intelligent, open minded, very much lady like woman she was. wonder if she is still allive, I was 25 when I left the company and she was around 60. Don't think she survived the past 25 years with her 30 menthol cigarettes a day...
 
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