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

Having checked the cam chain tension, the valve clearances, it was time to check choke plunger action followed by a check of the carburettor balancing. Once I'd ensure I have a clean air filter fitted.
All's well, within tolerance. With a bank of four manometers I can swap them around to minimise potential gauge issues/differences.
I have a CarbTune set and a mercury U tube synchronising set but they don't travel well so I'll stick to the clock manometers when away from home.
I guess its all down to how you use the tools you have as much as the possible tools for any job.
 

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piranha-bro2 said:
What's the 4S cam like? Looking at cam timing figures, the 4S isn't far off a 5C.
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Over the almost 50 years of ownership, in my white SF2 I started off with the stock 7/1, then a 6/C, followed by a 4/S, to a 5/C and finally a special grind by Megacycle (in there now).
Coming from the 6/C, the 4/S really impressed me in terms of allround performance, and when I switched to a 5/C, the difference in performance was surprisingly small, and that with nothing else changed to the bike, and with an original SFC 2 into 1 megaphone, with additional absorption damper placed at the end of the cone. The engine was slightly better at high revs at the expense of a little grunt.
All in all I think that for any road 750, big valve or small, except maybe the GT, the 4/S is probably the best all round cam.

The extra grunt on the S and small valve SF comes mainly from the small valve head.

When the 5/C cam was introduced in 1974, they were stamped. Unstamped cams are generally pre-1974, not sure about the 1973 SF1 with it’s 6/1 cam.
My guess is that your unstamped cams were indeed 4/S, Quentin.

Marnix
 
Paul Marx said:
Survival kit ready for two weeks on the road. Spare clutch cable is in the tank bag.
The large adjustable spanner, known as clef anglaise in French, is for Corinnes' Triumph. The rear axle nut is 27mm.
Paul
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I bought a set of those cranked socket spanner’s when last in France, virtually unheard of in UK but handy for some applications. I would also take insulating tape and cable ties, which I seem to use more than the tools & an inner tube. I also take ( and hide on bike) spare keys.
I had to change the swollen fuel pipes on the Guzz in the queue for the Mont Blanc tunnel, I always carry a long length just in case I need to syphon some fuel. I cut the pipe to length with the knife in my Victorinox Swiss card ( which is also fantastic) and changed the pipes without getting off the bike or losing my place in the queue! Cable ties fixed my Baglux front D rings that broke, I’ve also jury rigged sagging panniers with ties. Hope you don’t need any of it especially the points back plate..
 
Exmoor beast said:
I bought a set of those cranked socket spanner’s when last in France, virtually unheard of in UK but handy for some applications. I would also take insulating tape and cable ties, which I seem to use more than the tools & an inner tube. I also take ( and hide on bike) spare keys.
I had to change the swollen fuel pipes on the Guzz in the queue for the Mont Blanc tunnel, I always carry a long length just in case I need to syphon some fuel. I cut the pipe to length with the knife in my Victorinox Swiss card ( which is also fantastic) and changed the pipes without getting off the bike or losing my place in the queue! Cable ties fixed my Baglux front D rings that broke, I’ve also jury rigged sagging panniers with ties. Hope you don’t need any of it especially the points back plate..
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Cable ties noted. Apart from that useless foam, I don't carry anything for punctures apart from a Visa card. I'm incapable of using a tyre lever.
Fuel pipe on the SF2 is 1973 vintage. It's proved its worth.
Paul
 
That tyre foam has done a resonble job for me twice in X decades. I once had a fully flat rear a couple of suburbs from my place. So flat I couldnt get the bike on its centre stand. I sat on it until someone got a Can of Foam from a local garage, used it, and rode the bike 5 km home. It immediately went flat again, but at least I had help to get it on its stand and pull the tyre. The second time was on a Sunday ride with the club, we were 40 km from a tiny town, and that town was 3 hours from home, when one of the blokes hit a 100mm bolt right through the sidewall of his rear tyre. I used my Hail Mary can of foam on it. It lasted 20 ks, and then it went flat again. The rider weaved like a drunken sailor over the last 20 km on a dead flat tyre into town, where he waited for another club bloke to get him home with a trailer. That was a 5 or 6-hour round trip. Those cans of foam are far from perfect, but they're better than nothing and raise my comfort level when I am on my own in the middle of nowhere. Even more so, back when mobile phones were not a thing.
 
I ran a flat tire coming back from Breganze a few years ago. The can of foam given to me by fellow Laverdisti Frank was absolutely useless, did nothing for the inner tube which only had a very minor hole as I found out later. As I applied the foam, Wolfgang standing beside me, told me what a waste of time and money they are on bikes with inner tubes. He was right!

Gerald
 
I was saved by one with an inner tube once, I recovered the part used can from down an embankment where the guy whose puncture it hadn't fixed had thrown it. My mate's with a holed tube took two cans of it and it did not help at all on the way back from Breganze last year. Pot luck.
 
At last years Willersey meet I picked up a front flat from a wood screw through the centre of the tread. Wobbled to a nearby fuel stop and bought a can of Holts . Had no great hopes for it but it got me 100 + home ( tubed ) , with help from Schurminater and Regalia Teds foot pump.
 
Pre Mobile phone days I would regularly ride solo into really remote places on trips to Melbourne from Sydney on my 3c, for the usual reason a mid 20s bloke did that. I would try to cross the Alpine region of Oz a different way each trip. Some of those dirt roads would be lucky to see 1 car a day. I always carried a can of foam and happily never needed it.
 
SF2:
Checked and repaired, where necessary all electrical equipment: lights; horn; etc.. Found plastic torpedo fuse body had melted breaking the connection. Replaced with ceramic torpedo and restored the generator light.
Discovered that it does have points.
Removed carburettors, inspected and ordered replacement parts required from Ducati Paddy.
Removed brake lever from master cylinder. Cleaned and lubed it to restore smooth action.
Replaced handlebar grips.
Ordered new battery.

3cE:
Refitted battery, borrowed for the SF2. Checked oil and tyre pressures.
Ready for a run down to The Huntsman, this evening.
 
Day two on the move, going South.
Paris behind us which is a relief. You really want to go around wide, we were too close. Too much traffic.
Tomorrow, we'll arrive at Le Vigeant for a few days. It's the Trofeo Rosso track week-end. Plenty of friends to meet.
Paul
 

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