Slipper clutch

I keep wondering if it would have been an idea to nick this engine and finish it rather than go down the current route. But there again I suppose there is more of a challenge in improving the old lumps, and I guess Red you'd have to convert it to 180 to be totally happy. :unsure:
 

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That liquid cooled 900 triple came out of the Zane era after Francesco Tognon bought the Laverda company 1n 1993. It has been speculated that the Benelli triple engine was developed from that Laverda 900 prototype. The rumor is that some key members of the design team went to Benelli when Laverda shut down. I haven't been able to verify that, so who knows what the real story is? Maybe someone else here knows the real story.

Looking at the similarities in engine architecture, it certainly looks plausible. The Benelli engine has a lot more in common with that liquid cooled Laverda triple than it does with other 3-cylinder motorcycle engines such as Triumph. So perhaps there is indeed a connection.

I've occasionally wondered how Red's race bikes would go with a Benelli Tornado 1130 motor. 163 HP at 10,500 RPM in bog standard spec. You could almost get away with calling it a Laverda.
 
and its been said that the engineers did not get paid by Moto Laverda and that the prototypes were stolen as a result. I believe that someone in Breganze has the units and might even get one or two of them running. All hearesay of course.
Paul Marx may know more, he may have told me what I know and thats it!
CLEM
 
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redax5 said:
been dreaming of a 6 speed gearbox so the clutch may not be the last modification yet :eek:
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Contact TT Industries in I think Nelson NZ. They do british style gearboxes and quite a few other layouts. They may well have something that might only need a suitable sleeve gear pair to work in a Laverda. They've been doing car boxes too. Quote the shaft c to c distances too.

I would think that a close ratio 5 speed might be of more use. Personal experience - we put a 6 speed box in a Suzuki GSXR1100 and made it live. But the torque of the big engine was such that the rider found the extra gear a pain. Literally. He wore through the top of his boot at Wanganui.
The 5 speed went back in and that was the setup when Holden went on a lap record breaking season on the bike.
 
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