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

Historical Motor Cycle Club of Queensland kick off their year with a Breakfast Run out in the country.
2026 Breakfast Run

All bikes are ridden there and back. No trailers.
One has to be courageous to ride an old belt-drive veteran with no front brakes up and over Mount Glorious.

It's great to wander about and see the oil spray dripping off them rather than seeing them abandoned in a museum.
20260111_13.jpg
Cheers, Mark
 
Jo said:
Good morning Steve,
what happened to the 3CL that you (I think) bought in 2024?

Cheers,
Jo
Click to expand...
Hallo Jo,
It is waiting for me to fix the wiring, so I can set up the Redax ignition and alternator upgrade. But at the moment I am building the engine for one of my Jotas, so it has to wait.
Regards,
Steve
 
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Some will have read about locking up of my rear brake on a recent ride which included dirt sections. When home I dismantled and one caliper pin had been displaced no doubt over some of the corrugations or large bumps I hit (remember also cracked a front wheel) and one pad was sitting skewiff creating heat, expanding the fluid and eventually locking the brake.
While apart I put new seal kit in, changed pads and while I was at it also installed a stainless braided hose I had previously bought as a good used one. Brake bled and all working correctly but recently on a ride, what do you know the fluid heated up, expanded and rear brake locked up again!!!
Took apart again and could see no problem, so just cleaned it all up and put back together, however for the life of me could not bleed the bloody thing. Finally yesterday after days and days of trying different things I had success and had brakes again and I think I have worked out what happened.
As everyone knows the long run from right to left is not a smooth arc and the stainless line is not very supple. I tried turning it as best I could to get a smooth run and arcs to the banjos, however I think there may have been some twisting and compression of the line and I think this is what caused the recent heat build up.
If any suggestion of a kink or twist it could well block during any movement meaning fluid cannot return up the line, creating heat and expansion of fluid and I am now sure this is what happened on the 2nd occasion and also created a nightmare bleeding until I could get a clearer run for the line and free trapped air bubbles (yes, I did try numerous ways to route this hose but I am now a bit wary of its possible restrictions).
Anyway, I will monitor and check for heat build created by reduced flow and if any evidence of that I will reinstall old hose or get a more supple replacement. Might be of interest to some.
 
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I once had a problem at my Honda Boldor 900 with the front brake. Becoming hot the brake almost blocked. I opened the bleeding valve to let the pressure out to continue to go home. Finally the issue was the rubber part in the master cylinder grow up and closed the small hole where the expanded fluid should return to the reservoir. I had to replace the internals of the pump.
 
Having spent a lot of time trying to troubleshoot a friends rear brake on his Z1000 special which was forever heating up and locking on,it was eventually traced down to the tiny bleed hole at the base of the master cylinder. It was located at the base of a threaded hole and with the naked eye didn't seem to exist but a hole there was and once cleared it allowed the fluid to return back to the reservoir and not sit in the line,heat up and expand then locking the brake on.
Generally with most master cylinders there are 2 holes which need to be clear for proper operation of the brake to occur.
 
Shajota said:
Some will have read about locking up of my rear brake on a recent ride which included dirt sections. When home I dismantled and one caliper pin had been displaced no doubt over some of the corrugations or large bumps I hit (remember also cracked a front wheel) and one pad was sitting skewiff creating heat, expanding the fluid and eventually locking the brake.
Click to expand...
The fit of the pins should be kept an eye on with the huge km some of our bikes have notched up. I had a front pad fall in to the hub for the same reason, pins had managed to dislodge and let the inner pad drop down. The pins always needed a tap to seat but the hole in the caliper wasn´t tight enough for the pin (even new ones) on poxy roads. I have always had them safety wired since then.
 
Shajota said:
Some will have read about locking up of my rear brake on a recent ride which included dirt sections. When home I dismantled and one caliper pin had been displaced no doubt over some of the corrugations or large bumps I hit (remember also cracked a front wheel) and one pad was sitting skewiff creating heat, expanding the fluid and eventually locking the brake.
While apart I put new seal kit in, changed pads and while I was at it also installed a stainless braided hose I had previously bought as a good used one. Brake bled and all working correctly but recently on a ride, what do you know the fluid heated up, expanded and rear brake locked up again!!!
Took apart again and could see no problem, so just cleaned it all up and put back together, however for the life of me could not bleed the bloody thing. Finally yesterday after days and days of trying different things I had success and had brakes again and I think I have worked out what happened.
As everyone knows the long run from right to left is not a smooth arc and the stainless line is not very supple. I tried turning it as best I could to get a smooth run and arcs to the banjos, however I think there may have been some twisting and compression of the line and I think this is what caused the recent heat build up.
If any suggestion of a kink or twist it could well block during any movement meaning fluid cannot return up the line, creating heat and expansion of fluid and I am now sure this is what happened on the 2nd occasion and also created a nightmare bleeding until I could get a clearer run for the line and free trapped air bubbles (yes, I did try numerous ways to route this hose but I am now a bit wary of its possible restrictions).
Anyway, I will monitor and check for heat build created by reduced flow and if any evidence of that I will reinstall old hose or get a more supple replacement. Might be of interest to some.
Click to expand...
I had a similar problem with a BMW F650ST I used to commute on. The rear brake (Brembo) started to bind. I cleaned the pistons, bleed the caliper, but the problem still persisted. Eventually I had a closer look at the master cylinder, and although it 'worked', when the cylinder pushrod was compressed fully, it seized and locked the caliper on and that was caused by a plastic bush. Removing the bush made the pushrod move freely and the caliper never locked on again.
 
I had similar experience on a Pantah; it had homemade rearsets and apparently one extra washer on its link that stopped the piston from clearing that tiny hole again.
 
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