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

Yamaha still make musical instruments. It was a standard trick to use the horn button as a kill switch on proddy two strokes back in the day for full throttle shifting.
 
Exmoor beast said:
I bought a bike of a mate of mines brother, Robin Denny, he gave Yamaha their first win in Europe in 1963 on a TD.
He had a kill button on the handlebar so he could change gear without shutting throttle or using the clutch- so probably had the first quick shifter as well!
Yamaha logo is of course three tuning forks ( not swing arms..) they use tuning fork on cylinder head to indicate the correct R.PM. for noise testing on grass / speedway bikes.
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Using the kill button goes waaaay back. The early speedway bikes using the Binks Mousetrap carb had to use it to throttle off as once you'd pulled the string on the mousetrap it was full open - all the time. Probably learned it from early aircraft which were controlled on the cutout button.
I've been told gearchanging on the cutout was in use pre WW2. It was certainly common in the 1950's. The brakeless US dirt trackers used it - as did our mile and half mile grass bikes.
That rpm check on bikes with no tacho is clever. I'd have clipped a battery powered tacho onto the HT lead.
 
Exmoor beast said:
they use tuning fork on cylinder head to indicate the correct R.PM. for noise testing on grass / speedway bikes.
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That seems very unliklely to me. But I've never used a tuning fork for anything so what would I know?

Here's Yamaha's own blurb about their logo:

A tuning fork is a tool for tuning musical instruments. It was invented by a trumpet player named John Shore (1662-1751). The tuning fork is composed of a handle attached to the center of a U-shaped steel rod. By striking the rod, sound is created, and the frequency of the resulting vibrations per second is used as a standard for tuning a musical instrument. The three tuning forks of the Yamaha Logo represent the cooperative relationship that links the three pillars of our business -- technology, production, and sales. They also evoke the robust vitality that has forged our reputation for sound and music the world over, a territory signified by the enclosing circle. The mark also symbolizes the three essential musical elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm.
 
Yeah right ......

One of our Taiwan suppliers gave a similar speel on our way through their office foyer. No tuning fork, but a waterfall..... they rambled on how the water falls and merges at the bottom, as does the integrity and values of their company.

In short, someone in the company had been toking on a joint while looking at the waterfall and came up with the bullshit they sprout to every visitor.
 
I traded my pinkish red Yamaha DT400D toward my 79 Jota. Still running it's original spark plug after 10,000 k. That bike could hang with many 750's on the freeway, yet played well in dirt. Had an XT500 some time later. Just as dependable. Not even a blown light bulb. I've owned six and a twelve string acoustic guitars. Both well made and never needed anything. They sure made/make good stuff.
 
Here's the background to the Yamaha MC three-tuning forks logo origin:
Yamaha instruments refined the vibrating metal reed technology for use in their musical instruments, particularly the organ keyboard. When they moved into motorcycles, they carried over the advanced reed capability to create intake and exhaust valves using metal reeds because they were so fast with negligible inertia opening and closing. An example of this reed valve can be found in the Yamaha RD350 two stroke. I owned one and when you got those valves on song in the narrow torque band it was bloody fast!
 
Legs said:
To think that people are paid good money to produce such drivel, think most of them work for political parties.
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Ha ha. I once worked for a government department that paid some tosser graphic art consultant to come up with new corporate colours. It wasn't a new logo or anything that required some thought, it was just choosing colours. I think he chose red and grey, then submitted an invoice for $10,000 for his artistic talent. The fools in management paid it, thinking they were getting a good deal. FFS, you can get a Dulux colour chart from Bunnings for nothing. :rolleyes:
 
Dellortoman said:
That seems very unliklely to me. But I've never used a tuning fork for anything so what would I know?

Here's Yamaha's own blurb about their logo:

A tuning fork is a tool for tuning musical instruments. It was invented by a trumpet player named John Shore (1662-1751). The tuning fork is composed of a handle attached to the center of a U-shaped steel rod. By striking the rod, sound is created, and the frequency of the resulting vibrations per second is used as a standard for tuning a musical instrument. The three tuning forks of the Yamaha Logo represent the cooperative relationship that links the three pillars of our business -- technology, production, and sales. They also evoke the robust vitality that has forged our reputation for sound and music the world over, a territory signified by the enclosing circle. The mark also symbolizes the three essential musical elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm.
Click to expand...
I have been sound tested at a grasstrack and that was the method employed in a field in Kent, the motor was revved stationary with the forks on rocker cover of my Jawa, the decibel metre was held by the rear wheel - 1992. testing was carried out by the A.C.U.
 
GregT said:
Using the kill button goes waaaay back. The early speedway bikes using the Binks Mousetrap carb had to use it to throttle off as once you'd pulled the string on the mousetrap it was full open - all the time. Probably learned it from early aircraft which were controlled on the cutout button.
I've been told gearchanging on the cutout was in use pre WW2. It was certainly common in the 1950's. The brakeless US dirt trackers used it - as did our mile and half mile grass bikes.
That rpm check on bikes with no tacho is clever. I'd have clipped a battery powered tacho onto the HT lead.
Click to expand...
The wall of death Indians use a kill button as well but I’d not heard of anyone using ignition interruption as a means of full throttle clutch less changes. I had to fit the prototype of the quick shift that Fogarty used - it used a variable resistor that converted the distance the gear lever travelled into a resistance value, you worked out the values of the initial pressure/ full tension on forks and drum and set the cut to a value so many percent before the upper value.
Dyno testing proved interesting as the cut time had to be altered because of the drum inertia keeping the gear train tight. The Boffin who designed it had a version on his Peugeot estate and had never ridden a motorcycle.
 
Exmoor beast said:
The wall of death Indians use a kill button as well but I’d not heard of anyone using ignition interruption as a means of full throttle clutch less changes. I had to fit the prototype of the quick shift that Fogarty used - it used a variable resistor that converted the distance the gear lever travelled into a resistance value, you worked out the values of the initial pressure/ full tension on forks and drum and set the cut to a value so many percent before the upper value.
Dyno testing proved interesting as the cut time had to be altered because of the drum inertia keeping the gear train tight. The Boffin who designed it had a version on his Peugeot estate and had never ridden a motorcycle.
Click to expand...

It was well enough known that a US firm marketed an interruptor switch in the detent spring housing for quite a few 2 strokes in the 70's. Can't remember the name but it was reviewed by Cycle mag at the time. Worked well on the 2 strokes of the era with narrow power bands. Pretty sure I've heard Hugh Anderson talking about changing up on the cutout too.
Dick Mann writing about AMA roadracing has said he used the same style of cutout switch - a piece of hacksaw blade - on his roadracers as the dirttrackers. As others did too.
Couple of years back at a Southern Classic festival here, looking over Magoo's YZR500 with Mike Sinclair, he reckoned the quickshifter on that was a right bugger to set up. Probably still easier than a twin with heavy flywheels.
 
Chuck3CL said:
Here's the background to the Yamaha MC three-tuning forks logo origin:
Yamaha instruments refined the vibrating metal reed technology for use in their musical instruments, particularly the organ keyboard. When they moved into motorcycles, they carried over the advanced reed capability to create intake and exhaust valves using metal reeds because they were so fast with negligible inertia opening and closing. An example of this reed valve can be found in the Yamaha RD350 two stroke. I owned one and when you got those valves on song in the narrow torque band it was bloody fast!
Click to expand...
Yamaha used the tuning fork logo decades before it used reed valves.

Paul
 
Took Joan Collins to a classic display today ended up next to Allan Millyard ( search YouTube / top bloke )
 

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