This bloody bike. 1976 3CE

Robin, my opinion is that unless there is serious trouble below the base gasket, getting the top end sorted is the only thing really between a very nice, well-sorted bike and what you currently have. If the head is cactus, that is obviously where the expense will be. I can't recall whether the loose guides and bent valves have been sorted, but degreeing cams isn't a $5k job. Can you give us an idea what Ged sees as the really expensive part of the equation?
You've done so much already I tend to agree with Ex Beast that you may as well stick it out for the rest of the journey. I can certainly understand why you have a somewhat sour taste in your mouth ... my sympathy!
 
I think you have to be very careful before casting accusations about people on air - I have personal experience of this bike, seen it, heard it and followed it for miles. The bike certainly developed an electrical fault after being bought but it was also diagnosed & condemned by two specialists that have turned out to be nothing of the sort. I have been in the motorcycle trade most of my life, I have seen many similar stories to this. If Robin had gone to GED to start with I’m sure this would have been a different story altogether. I read the first few posts on here and thought “ this won’t end well..”
I have just repaired a mates BSA that he bought for top dollar from a dealer- it was appallingly put together. He was so excited when he bought it and I could see how disappointed he was. Robin must feel the same- but like the BSA, it can be sorted. Keep the faith!
Mind you the times I’ve shouted “F#cking BSA, I’m never going to work on one ever again..”
 
More bad news from Ged. One shim on the exhaust side is only 1mm thick so in danger of snapping. Also reported graunching noise when turned over by hand.
Engine out and strip when Ged can get it in time wise. He has five engines to do before mine.
 
Good heads are hard to find now and the early ones are usually scrap. I would get him to give you a proper estimate when he starts to strip it to see if it's worth continuing.
 
It took me a while to find a 3C head last spring.
I paid €450 for it after having had an offer from the US for well over $1000.

Purchasing an old bike is simple. Apart from knowledge, which helps, you need luck and money.

Paul
 
A11 cams and 4C timing wheels?

please dont forget that there are many cams that started life as A11's but were built up and reground as 4C, plenty of those never did get the "A11" ground off and the "4C" stamped nearby. it is also possible to redrill the A11 cam wheels for the different configerationof the 4C, there are diagrams available to do this if you are a competent mill operator.
CLEM
 
Robin Webster said:
I think one of the major issues is it was left to sit for years and years after that whilst electrics and engine parts corroded. Must have been somewhere dusty as the carbs really were filled with a thick black grinding paste. Things were bent, the vast majority of nuts and bolts were finger tight at best. The right hand side of the tank was stoved in and full of a tin of body filler. The self tapper screws for the badge went through the filler and into the tank void. When you looked from on top the right badge was further forward over the left one by some way. So many issues without reading the whole thread it is difficult to remember them all. There were live bare wires inside the headlamp shell.
I once upon a time painted racers helmets so making the bike pretty was the easy bit. Knowing the owner, he was respected in the Laverda community, and he assured me in both the advert and vocally that the thing goes as it should, it’s been well maintained, I was looking for a bike to use my skills on. As I said before if I knew it had so many issues I would have walked away but I was given the hard sell. ‘I haven’t got time to mess about, if you are coming down you need to buy it. There is no negotiation on the price’ It was a 600 mile round trip for me so coming home empty handed wasn’t on the cards.
Having been woken from it’s slumbers it reved up ok on his drive, something I've been criticised about before on here, but you don’t red line a bike on someone’s drive when you are looking to buy it!
First ride it stuttered at 70mph and would not go any more. I thought CARBS and I’d sort that.. the more I ran it the more broke down and failed, such as the electrics. When the head came off a year ago there were bent valves that wobbled in their guides. The carbs were broken and their operating mechanism bent.
As Ged looks into it, it appears there are deeper problems in the valve train and timing.
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I like others rode with this bike for years, including a trip to Breganze and back but also right up until it was sold, went like a rocket, it never sat for years and years.
 
Robin Webster said:
More bad news from Ged. One shim on the exhaust side is only 1mm thick so in danger of snapping. Also reported graunching noise when turned over by hand.
Engine out and strip when Ged can get it in time wise. He has five engines to do before mine.
Click to expand...
Never seen a shim snap. At 1mm, the tappet has already been bearing on the spring retainer, the valve stem tip is a good 1mm below the top of the retainer. Unless of course other springs/retainers have been fitted. Seen this often enough...

Just a sure sign the head is on its last legs, provided stock valves are still fitted. If all shims are around the same thickness, it's worn valve seats, which can be renewed. If it's only the one with all others in the ballpark, it's very likely a stretched valve (caused possibly by incorrect float heights).

Agree with Clem, lots of mis-matched cams and wheels around, usually 4C cams with the original A11 wheels. Simple enough to convert one to another, just a matter of drilling/tapping a couple of M7 holes in the right place.

Sounds like one hell of a bodge!:rolleyes:

piet
 
LJ-2 said:
I like others rode with this bike for years, including a trip to Breganze and back but also right up until it was sold, went like a rocket, it never sat for years and years.
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The owner told me it had. And it never in my ownership has been capable of reving over 5500rpm and 70mph so something has happened to it before I bought it.
 
sfcpiet said:
Never seen a shim snap. At 1mm, the tappet has already been bearing on the spring retainer, the valve stem tip is a good 1mm below the top of the retainer. Unless of course other springs/retainers have been fitted. Seen this often enough...

Just a sure sign the head is on its last legs, provided stock valves are still fitted. If all shims are around the same thickness, it's worn valve seats, which can be renewed. If it's only the one with all others in the ballpark, it's very likely a stretched valve (caused possibly by incorrect float heights).

Agree with Clem, lots of mis-matched cams and wheels around, usually 4C cams with the original A11 wheels. Simple enough to convert one to another, just a matter of drilling/tapping a couple of M7 holes in the right place.

Sounds like one hell of a bodge!:rolleyes:

piet
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I had all the exhaust seats and valves replaced, along with H/C pistons, all supplied by Wolfgang. This issue has been caused by the shop I took it to before Ged. Why they did it is the question, no doubt that the engine was totally shagged when sold to me. As I’ve said it was full of grinding paste in the carbs so has done the valves & seats no good at all. It’s been thrashed to death without any regard to maintainance. Certainly not “fully maintained and goes as it should”.
With regard to the shim comment I am only quoting Ged.

Any comments as to how good it WAS are irrelevant, the evidence is that the engine is fooooked, so how did that happen then eh? The furthest I have ridden it is 2 miles on my test loop. It was fooooked when I bought it.
 
CLEMTOG said:
A11 cams and 4C timing wheels?

please dont forget that there are many cams that started life as A11's but were built up and reground as 4C, plenty of those never did get the "A11" ground off and the "4C" stamped nearby. it is also possible to redrill the A11 cam wheels for the different configerationof the 4C, there are diagrams available to do this if you are a competent mill operator.
CLEM
Click to expand...
Clem, it’s A11 cams and 120 timing wheels.
 
Not wanting to keep stirring the pot here but nothing adds up. We have reputable posters on here stating bike went well right up to before sale, however also clear evidence that it was not right - bent valves, finger tight screws etc etc which suggest it couldn't be flogged. (Even if it sat for some time it wouldn't cause these issues anyway)
Either the previous owner knew it was about to expire or someone in the interim did some engine work - swapping good for bad parts (?)
Anyway I wouldn't have a clue but either way a very unsavoury tale.................
 
rocketonarail said:
Well best of luck .... I believe Ged has a good reputation , so hopefully it will be sorted properly this time after all these disappointments and you can draw the line at £15 grand .........

Then you can use and enjoy it ...... and if you paint it red and polish those rims then maybe you will get a fair return if and when you decide to sell it on ........... it`s a nice looking bike .........
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