This bloody bike. 1976 3CE

Exmoor beast said:
Are they definitely Laverda taps? Reason I ask is they look the same as Lambretta taps and they don’t flow enough for a Lambretta, just wondering if they have been changed for taps that look the same but are cheaply scooter ones..
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I bought a pair of taps a while back that looked the same ... they were way too small and sit unused on the shelf.
 
Appears to be running much better now and I did a 15 mile loop at the weekend just to slowly improve confidence in it.
Got home with an oily foot so have changed the oil seal behind the gearbox sprocket today. I got the fuel taps working properly but the thread on the body of the right one had had it and I couldn’t stop a drip. Bought a new pair of taps from DucatiPaddy for £20 - bargain!
Hopefully the end is in sight.
 
You'd need a hell of a tailwind to get "an oily foot" from "the oil seal behind the gearbox sprocket", Robin.
Check, first, for oil below the starter motor.
If that's clean, remove the generator cover.
If there's oil in there, it's the crankshaft seal behind the ignition pickups.
 
I bought some of those taps too a bargain, one word of warning from Ged Shorten about some taps he's come across though, although not specifically those taps, make sure they don't leak fuel in the off position.
 
The Sock said:
You'd need a hell of a tailwind to get "an oily foot" from "the oil seal behind the gearbox sprocket", Robin.
Check, first, for oil below the starter motor.
If that's clean, remove the generator cover.
If there's oil in there, it's the crankshaft seal behind the ignition pickups.
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It’s the gearbox sprocket oil seal. A previous owner had been at it with silicone. All back together now but didn’t have fresh oil at home so will get some in the morning.
 
Tippie said:
The hole must be welded up, and any search on this forum regarding tank liners should scare you off. Even ones that do not break up in the tank create a nightmare for future crash damage.
If welding a fuel tank use nature as your helper. Set the tank in a warm ventilated place, upside down and let the heavier than air fuel vapours pour out. In Australia the sun did the job in a few hours, in Norway we have sat in near a heater over night. You can see the fumes pouring out and after a while there is not even a whiff of petrol. Test as suggested. Water washing even for days with running water has had tanks explode injuring/killing people.
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Water washing is a waste of time not to mention unnecessary. Fill it with water. The water will force any remaining gas out and water doesn't explode. then prop the tank up so where you need to weld is at the highest point Sometimes people go on about the stupidity of having water near electricity!! water is nowhere near as good a conductor as metal and that's what you're welding/brazing ( that's if you're MIG, TIG welding ) though it will take heat out of the weld area, but I'd have gas brazed it myself.
 
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Well, it’s been since October that I last posted on the thread and all I can say is that the bike is living up to the title of the thread - THIS BLOODY BIKE!

There have been numerous electrical problems and the bike not consistently running on three cylinders. I’ve been through five ignition backing plates, the one that was in it, one from Peder, two from Red and one from Wolfgang. Sometimes it ran on three, sometimes not and would only rev to 3000 rpm and 60mph. When I first bought it I was told not to strip it but get on it and ride it hard.
The first ride before I took it apart it would only rev to 5000 rpm and nothing more. As I looked over it I found loose nuts and bolts everywhere - the nuts on the rear sprocket were not even finger tight.
If I had ridden it hard I no doubt would have ended up in A & E.

I was told it was a good runner by the seller and I was not looking for a bike to do a whole rebuild on, I wanted to smarten it up and ride it, I would not have made an offer on it if I knew it needed so much work.

I had a few runs on it recently and could not get it to run on three and replaced the plugs and caps AGAIN and still it didn’t run as it should. I gave up and two weeks ago took it to a bike shop I know who the owner has a lot of experience with Italian bikes.
An email tells me today that the engine needs a complete rebuild as the compression on all three cylinders is around 100psi. A good engine should have 175 psi in my racing experience of 24 years. The carbs are completely shot and it is all down no doubt to the pod air filters letting grinding paste into the engine. It’s bugered.

So, rebuild it at what cost and resign myself to not riding this year as well as last year?
Sell it at auction, say nothing, and get what I can loosing at least £4000?
Sell it to one of you who has the information of what it is and the patience/ability to fix it?

Wish I’d never bought it. I feel shafted.
 
I'm sure people didn't mean get on it and thrash the arse off it without doing basic safety checks.
So it's a nail then? Maybe it can be rescued as you say by the right person but demand seems to have disappeared.
Advertise it and see what happens, maybe you can cut your losses.
 
pf1 said:
I'm sure people didn't mean get on it and thrash the arse off it without doing basic safety checks.
So it's a nail then? Maybe it can be rescued as you say by the right person but demand seems to have disappeared.
Advertise it and see what happens, maybe you can cut your losses.
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Sorry fella, but you weren’t there!

I still have the eBay listing and it is full of frazes like - properly maintained - just get on it and ride - goes exactly as it should - ready for someone else to enjoy.
 
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And I thought my situation was bad! Low compression shouldn't cause 'on again/off again' operation though. I had exact same symptoms but with good compression. Installed an Ignitec, Nology coils and HT wire. With the help of a timing light to check spark continuity, turned out to be the new HT wire, so installed original (copper cored ones with the green rubber caps) wires. Viola!
 
From the numerous posts it’s clear that you have electrical ignition issues, and a carb / top end rebuild to deal with, and hopefully not a bottom end rebuild. Dell Orto rebuild kits and new slides you can do yourself for @ $500, and new pistons/ rebore @ $2k, depending on the shop. Your electrical issues may be harder to diagnose, but I would look for a system that has better support and instructions. Rebuilding the carbs may be needed instead of the ignition, so maybe start there. You,ll take a huge loss selling as is, so I say fix it, as long as the rest of the bike is sound.
 
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