Various questions about recommissioning my RGS Executive..

Similar thjngs happen tk those never opened bikes in crates stored for 40 years just leting them sit and not riden does them no good
 
Don't feel too negative Steve. There's bound to be a few issues with an old bike. If I recall, you got both of the Laverdas for a pretty good price. So even if you have to spend a bit of money to fix them up you probably won't lose out in the long run. Hopefully Red will be able to find some replacements for the busted gears.

As for the wiring, I doubt that battery acid had anything to do with the loss of insulation. Plastic insulation is pretty much impervious to battery acid. The acid is more likely to dissolve the copper conductors and leave the insulation intact. 

The insulation can go hard and crumbly with age, heat and exposure to UV. But your wires are so completely devoid of insulation that I suspect it may have been some other cause. It almost looks like it's been in a fire. Perhaps the loom overheated for some reason (short circuit?) and burned the insulation. I reckon you need to get it checked out and obviously the wires will need to be replaced. Have an auto electrician look at it if you're not able to do it yourself.

You've acquired a couple if interesting projects. I look forward to the next episode in the story.  :D

 
Hi Cam,

the insulation was just crumbling as i touched it, you can see some small fragments behind the wires, no evidence of too much heat and melted insulation, as i was pulling back the orange insulator, there was just coarse sand sized grain falling, there are still a few fragments attached to the copper, but i've never seen insulation decaying like this... The weird thing is looking at the 2 bikes side by side, the exec is in phenomenal condition and no corrosion on any surfaces... the wiring for the starter solenoid and stator all look good... it is very weird.

My negativity crept up on me i think because we were excited about the condition of the Exec, it looked like if we threw some fuel in it, it would have fired, after i discovered the Exec problems, i looked at the Corsa and wondered, what the hell is going to be wrong with that :)

I was almost going to push them both to the back of the garage and throw a blanket on them and work on the Bimota, but i'm feeling much more positive now and will proceed working on the exec. The plan now is fit the new starter parts and ignition, have a quick look at the carbs, then try and kick the motor into life and see what happens...

 
You have your work cut out.
Follow Reds advice, you can rebuild the engine at a later date when all the rest is sorted.

Very much makes me think of those pristine bikes in restorers/dealers showrooms or ads. Paint is lovely, chrome is lovely, everything else is shot.

Welcome to a never ending steep learning curve in a world where old bikes aren't ridden so real condition is of no importance.

Paul
 
Maybe it is in very great cosmetic condition with low miles because of these issues?
Perhaps the DPO found some issues and parked it.
Stick with it, will be worth it, plus you will have hands-on experience.
 
Thanks for the positive comments guys.

After talking to Red this week, i now have a plan. Red is shipping the parts for the starter, new fuel taps, new ignition and new coils as he tells me the Motoplat coils fitted to the bike aren't great. As i want to do this right i have bit the bullet and i will work methodically through the problems i find.

I wanted to send the side covers and cam cover to a company in Carrum who do isotropic superfinishing, the polishing they do on engine internals is a work of art... Unfortunately they have told me that the process isn't suitable for the Laverda covers... So it looks like it will be just elbow grease and autosol...

So onward and upward. :)
 
180 triples with a Bosch starter do throw out .they have a spring loaded bendix and a sprag clutch as well! so it is feasible to fit a non Bendix starter (SJCE) to a 180 with no detriment to performance.
CLEM
 
The spare parts from Red arrived on Tuesday, I went and bought a M16 1.5 pitch high tensile steel bolt yesterday, so this morning i hit the garage with some slight trepidation, worried about how hard it might be to get the alternator off, i had thoughts of bits flying everywhere.. but it all went surprisingly smooth!!

When tightening up the M16, the sprag clutch did what it was supposed to do and slipped, i thought my morning was over as i couldn't figure out how to stop the assembly rotating as i was doing up the "puller bolt" I ended up grabbing a rubber strap oil filter remover tool and putting that around the outside of the alternator, i then got a nice long 24mm ring spanner and a mash hammer! I did the M16 up as tight as i could just by using the oil filter strap and ring spanner, then with a couple of swift hits with the hammer, off she slid... i was very happy at this point untill i started hearing the sound of metal bits falling... yup a couple of the sprag rollers and plungers fell.

I have fitted the new gears, and inspected the sprag, i just need to figure out how to keep all the bits inside when i rotate it 90 degrees to slide on the crank... I played with some duct tape, that wasn't going to work... I then searched on here and found the answer... Grease :) In the thread i read, it mentioned no EP grease, but it didn't mention what grease to use, the only stuff i have here is some moly grease... i don't know if that is suitable... so any recommendations would be appreciated.

I also noted when removing the bolt that holds the alternator to the crank there was a lot of threadlock material evident, i need to buy some loctite 243 for the ignition, will this be suitable for the retaining bolt too?

I have pulled the sprag apart it all looks good and more importantly i can reassemble it, should i replace the springs while it is all apart, or leave it? It is a public holiday here in Melbourne for a football game, so there isn't much more i can do today.

Clinkity clink....

mIBtWTC.jpg


Starter gears with all their teeth..

kE5jJyk.jpg


It all looks good, i just need to clean and reassemble it.

Q6ZwN4b.jpg
 
Hi Steve
Assemble the gear & sprag clutch on the bench then put the whole assembly on to the crank. Make sure the three M5 countersunk screws are installed with Loctite, I had one back off, locking the clutch & blowing up my starter motor. Bit of an abrupt end to our Breganze trip this summer.

HTH
Graham :D
 
Simply "assembling" the clutch won't have it last long.  The M5 countersunk screws must be done up to the verge of thread stripping, they will otherwise loosen themselves, Loctite or not!  Once they loosen, they begin to extract themselves, with varying disastrous results, as many have found out. ::)

Give the screw heads a good tap or five via an allen socket and tighten, repeat for all screws until no further movement can be achieved.  This settles the punched plate tight into the chamfered bores of the clutch inner ring, thus eliminating any future tension loss of the screws.

piet
 
Put some 'prussian blue' on the large gear where the three screws could make contact, offer up the clutch onto the shaft and give it a spin then take it off to ensure the three screws are not rubbing.
Expensive if things go pear-shaped :(
 
Thanks for all the replies guys, i didn't realise the 3 M5's were so critical to get right! In the first pic there is evidence of silvering on 2 of the heads, i'll inspect the freewheel to see if i can see evidence of rubbing. So is this cover responsible for holding the rollers in place when reassembling the sprag on the crank, is grease required and can i use my moly grease or should i use basic low temp grease?

From the comments, i'm assuming loctite 243 isn't suitable, would 263 do the job? and what about the bolt that goes into the end of the crank?

I have a kincrome allen key bit set so i'll be able to get them done up tight :)

 
I think you missed the advice from Graham to insert the gear wheel into the assembled sprag on the bench.  Obviously you've got to undo the small retainer tab at the top of the crankcase to take yours off the end of the crank first!!  Then put the complete assembly (sprag clutch and gear) back on to the crank.
The gear will engage  with the sprag as you lower it onto the rollers if you twist it against the direction that the springs are acting in.  I squirt oil in to the sprag after assembling because it seems to be easier to get the gear wheel engaged that way. Helps with the first start or two before oil splash does the job.

Loctite 243 is fine for the alternator bolt, and the M5 screws, but do as Piet says.  The countersinking of the new tin plate doesn't usually conform well to the screws.

 
Thanks Rob, i did miss that... Sorry Graham.

I had thought about doing it that way, great news that it can be done...

Thanks for the loctite feedback. I don't have a new tin plate... I was just going to use the one i took off, is there a problem doing this?
 
also........
be very sure that the male and female portions of those countersunk bolts are spotlessly clean and free from lubricant or minute grit, use brake cleaner for this and a toothbrush for the bolts and a rifle cleaning brush for the female parts, copious brake cleaner, and as red says, very, very tight, I would also dob with a centre punch, one time only, one hit only, on each bolt at the periphery, if contact can be detected on the assembled plot, it cant hurt to touch very lightly with a soft pad/small grinder, but as always beware of the dust and swarf, clean up, vacuum as you go, etc etc

CLEM
 
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