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

Yes Tom, it does sound nice. Looks like a factory 3/1 with a baffle added. Goes really well. Also has 36mm Dells fitted.
Bloody patch of oil on the concrete floor from a leaking neutral light switch!!
Motodds better though!!

Andy J, It's my mate Brook's bike.
 
Chott and bits gone.
200 ready for pickup.
Paul
View attachment 101698
When I shared the CND workshop it was above a car garage, second floor. Everything was hoisted up on a winch and run in through an upstairs door on a sliding rail. Bear in mind we specialised in V- Max, Laverda, Pan European - Bruce even built a V8 bike up there.
I always used to sweat a bit as the wires ticked as they took up the slack. Kay’s of Ealing were a Triumph dealer that were downstairs!
 
When I shared the CND workshop it was above a car garage, second floor. Everything was hoisted up on a winch and run in through an upstairs door on a sliding rail. Bear in mind we specialised in V- Max, Laverda, Pan European - Bruce even built a V8 bike up there.
I always used to sweat a bit as the wires ticked as they took up the slack. Kay’s of Ealing were a Triumph dealer that were downstairs!
Kay's of Ealing? That's a 'blast from the past'! My go to for engineering tools in the early 80s. I was sprogged and grew up near Greenford, went to Ealing Green High next door to Pitshangar House on the Green at the end of Bond Street.!
 
Last edited:
Got a bit more work done on the RGA Sprint over Christmas, with the intent of getting the Sprint off the bike bench as I need to get the Guzzi in for it's top end refurb. I had hoped to start building the wiring over Christmas, but unfortunotely Christmas and New Year visitors didn't allow for enough time to get that far. I have managed to get the external Mocal oil filter located and secured, and finally worked out the pipe and fitting requirements. The oil cooler required a slight amount of fettling to allow the M22 1/2 inch hydraulic fittings to fit. I'm just waiting for some appropriate sized heatshrink to arrive to make the oil transfer pipes.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20260104_171334167_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260104_171334167_HDR.jpg
    148.4 KB · Views: 46
  • IMG_20260104_171344539_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260104_171344539_HDR.jpg
    195.9 KB · Views: 45
  • 1000010700.jpg
    1000010700.jpg
    11.5 KB · Views: 45
  • IMG_20260104_171326660_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260104_171326660_HDR.jpg
    241.1 KB · Views: 44
  • IMG_20260104_171240545_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260104_171240545_HDR.jpg
    226.8 KB · Views: 46
Took the Chott and various related parts down from the garage mezzanine, ready for the buyer to pick up on Saturday.
Life is too short to restore and maintain the bikes that I've accumulated over the years.
I'll keep the big twins, SFC excepted, and the small singles.
Paul
View attachment 101602
View attachment 101603
I am of the same mind, Paul. I intend to sell 2 or 3 this year.
 
Kay's of Ealing? That's a 'blast from the past'! My go to for engineering tools in the early 80s. I was sprogged and grew up near Greenford, went to Ealing Green High next door to Walpole House on the Green at the end of Bond Street.!
My first job in the bike world at sixteen was just behind Kay’s at Sandringham Mews working at Misdemeaner Motorcycles ( spelt correctly) next to Snob’s Show & Go. Bit of an education building choppers ..Greenford Motorcycle City was big in those days.
 
My first job in the bike world at sixteen was just behind Kay’s at Sandringham Mews working at Misdemeaner Motorcycles ( spelt correctly) next to Snob’s Show & Go. Bit of an education building choppers ..Greenford Motorcycle City was big in those days.
Two coincidences from your's and mine's past. One is that my brother was a mate of the manager of Keelers then Motorcycle City, Brian Phillips; He used to proddy race a Yamaha RD, and another mate, Milkbottles (on account of his glasses) used to work there in parts & accessories. Brian later went on to run a breakers in Hayes, and one of my best mates worked for him for a while. The other coincidence is that I was acquanted with Snob. I used to hang out at the 'Ace Cafe' on the A40 at Perivale, in the late 70s and early '80s and Snob and some of his mates, Nigel was one of them, used to hang out there, too. It was years later, and I was watching some of the Queens Jubilee celebrations, must have been 2002, and there was a motorcycle procession riding up the mail. The TV presenter announced, in a slightly poo-faced fashion, that it was led by 'Snob'.. I almost fell off my chair! I later found out that he was the Press Liason for the Angels, which didn't surpise me as I knew he and Nigel had become 'prospects'. It's a small world!
 
Last edited:
Two coincidences from your's and mine's past. One is that my brother was a mate of the manager of Keelers then Motorcycle City, Brian Phillips; He used to proddy race a Yamaha RD, and another mate, Milkbottles (on account of his glasses) used to work there in parts & accessories. Brian later went on to run a breakers in Hayes, and one of my best mates worked for him for a while. The other coincidence is that I was acquanted with Snob. I used to hang out at the 'Ace Cafe' on the A40 at Perivale, in the late 70s and early '80s and Snob and some of his mates, Nigel was one of them, used to hang out there, too. It was years later, and I was watching some of the Queens Jubilee celebrations, must have been 2002, and there was a motorcycle procession riding up the mail. The TV announced, in a slightly poo-faced fashion, that it was led by 'Snob'.. I almost fell off my chair! I later found out that he was the Press Liason for the Angels, which didn't surpise me as I knew he and Nigel had become 'prospects'. It's a small world!
Bob Keeler ( of van hire fame) was a very good racer- I also knew Brian Phillips, I tried to by a Zündapp Rickman mini mettisse off him, it was £100! I did buy other various bits from him. Snob had a Comma van with sliding door, he would drive down past us, hand brake on, jump out and the van would skid to a halt and the door would slam- I thought this was really cool back then. I used to ride my Fizzy to work and Snobs lot would be ask to have a go- big fat hairy bikers on my little fizz. I tried to get a job with Bill at Reg Allen’s but he had two sons- all colour blind so electrics must have been fun! I sent my CV to all the bike shops and ended getting two jobs at once so I gave one to my mate so to speak- it was at Hayes Moto cross spares/ breakers. His first job was to skip all the tons of twinshock Maico stuff- heartbreaking even then for us young lads. Also asked at my local Laverda shop….still haven’t heard anything!😂
 
Bob Keeler ( of van hire fame) was a very good racer- I also knew Brian Phillips, I tried to by a Zündapp Rickman mini mettisse off him, it was £100! I did buy other various bits from him. Snob had a Comma van with sliding door, he would drive down past us, hand brake on, jump out and the van would skid to a halt and the door would slam- I thought this was really cool back then. I used to ride my Fizzy to work and Snobs lot would be ask to have a go- big fat hairy bikers on my little fizz. I tried to get a job with Bill at Reg Allen’s but he had two sons- all colour blind so electrics must have been fun! I sent my CV to all the bike shops and ended getting two jobs at once so I gave one to my mate so to speak- it was at Hayes Moto cross spares/ breakers. His first job was to skip all the tons of twinshock Maico stuff- heartbreaking even then for us young lads. Also asked at my local Laverda shop….still haven’t heard anything!😂
The good old days. eh? Snob and some of his mates had a house down in Isleworth for a while. It was something to envy to a 17 year old who lived bikes when you saw a motorcycle or two parked in the hallway! I moved from the Ealing area in 1987, then back to Perivale in 1996, and stayed there until 2003, when I moved out to Surrey, as I was working at Heathrow. My mother always lived in the borough, from birth until she died in 2021. I used to keep my bikes at her house off Pope's Lane until 2003, and used to go back to Bill Bunn's Motorcycles on South Ealing Road, for MOTs for quite a few years. Bill and his son were always helpful! I doubt if Brian is with us now. He and his wife were living on a canal boat on the Grand Union canal at Hayes , opposite to where he had his breakers/workshop business, the last time I saw him, which was probably 25 years ago. My mate, who had worked for Brian, went on to work at a bike shop in Hayes End, which HGB of Ruislip had brought from it's former owner. They were a bunch of shysters who left him high and dry after he'd had an serious accident whilst working.
 
Wow Otto, that is one serious looking bike. Well done on getting it back on the roads where it belongs, that will certainly put the wind up a few modern bikes on a twisty road 😂👍. Enjoy the ride and keep us informed 👍
Tom
 
Back
Top