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Topics - Laverda Dave
31
« on: October 04, 2022, 09:17:49 PM »
Hi All.
I wasn't sure where to put this topic so settled on Projects!
I cannot find the answer to this so maybe someone who has a similar experience can enlighten me, here goes;
If a bike has been imported in the last couple of years, is over 40 years old and has been given an age related plate by DVLA can:
A) Historic vehicle status be applied for and,
B) If A above doesn't apply will it therefore need to be MOT'd even though it is over 40 years old?
I'd like to apply for historic status but the DVLA site doesn't provide the info I'm looking for. Has anyone had any experience with this in the past with an imported bike?
Thanks in advance for any advice👍
32
« on: September 30, 2022, 07:41:32 PM »
Has anyone here ever exported a complete motorcycle to Japan? Are there export taxes to pay to our wonderful HMRC on used bikes and if there are does anyone know how much these are?
Are there any other restrictions that anyone knows of? I know someone who sold a Laverda to a guy in Australia and it was a minefield, he had to advise the bike might contain asbestos (in the gaskets) and as a result it was refused by the Australian authorities as he would be importing banned substances!
If anyone can steer me in the right direction (is that a motorcycle pun creeping in🙄) I would appreciate it👍.
33
« on: July 09, 2022, 10:37:55 AM »
I have just completed the rebuild of my Triton. It has sat outside for 18 years whilst I enjoyed all things Honda, Laverda and Morini  . It was a state to be honest, smoking, difficult to ride, the exhausts would wobble and attempt to fall off during every journey, it would not idle and stopping was really hit and miss, thankfully mostly a miss! The bike was a nightmare and was everything I thought a British bike would be. The garage roof caving in and putting a huge crease and dent in the alloy tank was the last straw and it went outside under a tarp. Fast forward 15 years and I decided to strip it and rebuild it to the way I wanted it to be so lots of redesigning and reverse engineering, months in the workshop fabricating (everyone should invest in a lathe), an engine rebuild (thank you to Miles at Morgo for all the advice) and three years later it is nearly finished. I have the wiring still to do but I have called in Ferret to make a new loom with Japanese connectors as I want the bike to be reliable and I cannot stand the huge British style bullet connectors, they always seem to pull out and corrode badly. Hopefully the bike will be on the road by end of August once Ferret has worked his magic and I have finished the odds and sods including making a new set of lock stops.
34
« on: June 11, 2022, 11:22:36 AM »
This is not SOHC related but still has a Honda theme! Actually it’s a request for my 1999 VF800fi so four cams and not one I’ve been having problems with the rear tire losing up to 10psi over 3 or 4 days. I originally put this down to a slow puncture/leaky valve but after changing the tire twice and four new valves later it is still doing it. I have tried everything from using a green anti puncture gloop in the tire to using rim sealer and nothing works. The tire fitter is sure the rim is porous as he has seen this before and especially with Chinese cast bike wheels. I bought the bike with the ‘slow puncture’ four years ago and have lived with it but now it’s become a pia when I use it for trips away. I have bought a s/h VFR wheel from ebay, it has its original paint and is in excellent condition. The tire fitter has advised I seal the inner rim with anti-porous paint before fitting the tire and new valve just in case this wheel has the same issue. Can anyone recommend a suitable anti-porous paint, all I can find is garage floor paint and I really don’t need 2.5 litres of the stuff at £50! I know 1960’s Royal Enfield’s had a problem with porous engine castings and they used to seal the inner halves with a special paint although that was a high temperature paint and I don’t know what that was called either  Any recommendations welcome otherwise I'll have to travel with my air compressor in tow! Cheers Dave
35
« on: May 07, 2022, 02:22:56 PM »
Hi All.
I have just arrived home from visiting the Kempton Park bike jumble.
I noticed the stallholder there who I have bought TEC shocks from in the past (he's the southern agent for TEC and Bell). He still has some TEC shocks in stock for the CB400, CB500 and CB750, he has about 6 sets for the CB400 @£60.
His contact details are David Hunt, 01932 786030 (evenings and weekends or leave a message).
I have read a thread on here that TEC shocks for our CB's are out of stock via TEC themselves so here's a possible source.
PS- Do you know they are actually made in Australia, IKON maybe?
36
« on: February 11, 2022, 07:56:00 AM »
Yes it's Showtime once more. The London Motorcycle Show is on at Excel this weekend beginning today. Lots of overpriced bargains no doubt. Is anyone thinking of going? I'm going today to stand and gawp at expensive bikes I can't afford
37
« on: February 07, 2022, 04:44:14 PM »
Hi All,
I've been thinking about what to do as a next project once I've finished rebuilding the Triton.
I'd like to do something a bit different to my usual of restoring a bike back to stock condition.
Having thought for a few months I'd like to build something a bit off the wall but not radical. To this end and having restored the CB250RSA previously that I've owned for 20+ years I thought I'd have a go at building a sleeper, in other words a CB500RSA. This uses a FT or XR SOHC engine slotted into a CB250RSA frame. It was a common mod back in the day to do this conversion.
My starting point will be to obtain a decent FT or XR engine and these are really hard to find. CB250RSA rolling chassis are much easier to find crashed, bashed, barn found or hacked about.
I've been looking on eBay for a while but engine wise there's nothing about other than bits such as crankcase halves etc
If anyone has a complete FT or XR500 engine laying around or knows someone who has can you let me know. I don't expect it to be perfect, I'd be stripping it down anyway but as long as the cam and head bearings are ok and no broken fins I'd be happy😁
39
« on: September 21, 2021, 07:40:59 PM »
Not sohc related but it is bike electrical related.
I was out earlier today on the VFR getting a bit of practice in for my IAM Observed Ride tomorrow. After 40 miles I parked up at Great Missenden for a cool down. When I went to restart the bike everything went dim and it refused to start, just the click of the solenoid. After a push it fired back to life as normal. I thought it was a classic case of a bad earth. When I got home I stipped the fairing off and cleaned up all the earth's and the starter motor feed.
The bike fired first time as normal. I then decided to check the voltage going to the battery from the regulator/rectifier. I am getting 18.5 volts something tells me this is way too much? From what I remember it should be between 14/14.5 volts.
Question is, is my rectifier/regulator faulty and would this cause the dead battery indication I had earlier even though the bike ran fine once bump started? It hasn't blown any bulbs either which I thought was an indication of a faulty regulator?
The battery though was warm when I got home but I thought this was hot air being blown over it as the bike was running between 90/100c due to heavy traffic.
40
« on: September 10, 2021, 07:14:17 PM »
Just in case people are not aware but it's the Kempton Park Autojumble tomorrow and it's pay as you go and not a pre-booked ticket event.
I'll be aiming to get there for 9:30-10am if anyone is going. Weather looks good so any excuse for a ride out😊
41
« on: June 16, 2021, 04:14:23 PM »
I went for a ride out this morning on the VFR before the storms arrive later on. I was supposed to be having an observed IAM ride tomorrow as well so thought I'd get some slow riding practice in, I can ride to a dead stop in traffic using the back brake and hold it but the IAM like to see you do a fiqure of eight from full lock and on a VFR with its weight being high up it does take some practice! Anyway, after the 90 mile ride the fuel light started to flash so I thought I'd fill up ready for the early start in the morning and that's when the trouble started......... I pulled into the Shell garage and thought I'd treat the bike to a tank of V-Max to give the injectors a clean. I don't normally use super unleaded so pulled up at the normal unleaded pump. Next to the green unleaded pump nozzle was the v-max nozzle so with my crash helmet still on I filled up having looked at the price of £1.48/litre which is about right for V-max. After filling the tank with 15 litres of fuel I paid and left. The bike died before I even got to the end of the forecourt. After checking the usual things I took my lid off and smelt the fuel in case it was off and this is when I heard a large penny drop...... I had filled up with diesel  , how could I have been so stupid  . If I had taken my lid off I would have smelt the diesel straight away when filling up. I ended up pushing the bike the two miles home complete with jacket, lid and wearing armoured jeans, I was in a walking sauna suit  Having never, ever done this before in 40+ years of riding and driving I felt like a complete idiot (amongst other more suitable descriptions!). I am now left with 15 litres of top-rated prime diesel in the fuel tank although my neighbour will have it if I can drain it down. Question is, if I drain the fuel from the tank will I require a new fuel filter as well and will I have to drain the fuel from the fuel rail/injectors (its fuel injected). Having read the Haynes manual, if I need to work on the fuel rail I will need to remove the complete fuel injector system from the bike and if I disturb the fuel rail I will have to renew all the rubber seals between the rail and the injector bodies, this is starting to get expensive! I hope that by draining the tank, refilling with 5 litres of petrol this will be enough to get the engine started. Maybe I should remove the spark plugs and turn the engine over to purge the diesel from the fuel rail and injectors, its got to be easier than taking them off? Does anyone have any ideas of the best way forward to help the Ruislip village idiot please!
42
« on: May 21, 2021, 02:47:58 PM »
Apologies if this has been asked before but I did try a search and found nothing so thought I'd ask the experts for some advice........ So, the Kawasaki Z400J had been sitting unused and full of fuel in the carbs for 39 years. I stripped and cleaned the carbs and bought new Keyster kits although I cleaned and used the old jets in the end. The carbs were cleaned four times in the utrasonic cleaner using ali and zinc cleaning solution. Back on the rebuilt motor and it refuses to run unless on choke, turn off the choke and it dies. It also hangs on the throttle when revved. This points to a classic pilot circuit blockage or an air leak (or both). I have now replaced the inlet rubbers as they were a bit hard. The new parts are pattern carb to cyl head rubbers and new carb to airbox rubbers so they should be good and have no air leaks but still the problems persist. It looks like the carbs will have to come off again for another inspection and clean . When i inspected the pilot jets I could not see right through them although the holes on the sides were clear. I passed a carb cleaning wire through the jet but it stops dead halfway up (just beyond the holes in the side of the jet). This applied to all four pilot jets so I thought there is a deliberate factory set restriction at this point? Is my thinking correct or should the drilling in the jet be clear from top to bottom and what I though was a restriction for fuel metering ids actually crusty old petrol deposits that needs clearing out?
43
« on: April 17, 2021, 11:05:54 AM »
Hi All,
A quick question........................
I ordered a complete seal kit for the Z400J and this included the two crankshaft oil seals.
I fitted the seals and all appeared to be fine, crackshaft turned, the lip was properly in place so I bolted the two crankcase halves together. Skip forward a couple of hours and the tidy up and I noticed the old crankshaft seals had a ridge around the outside of the seal (as do Honda seals) to fit inside a machined groove in the crankcases. The new seals didn't have the ridge.
Question is do you think the new seals are OK? They are from Wemoto and they are a reputable company. The seals are Japan made. I really dont want to take thje engine apart but then again I dont want the new seals to blow under pressure.
What does the forum think....?
44
« on: March 16, 2021, 05:32:28 PM »
Is it just me but why does Hondabond go off so quickly in the tube when only a bit is used and the lid is put back on . I've just been to the workshop drawer to get the tube of Hondabond out in preperation for the return of the Z400 engine cases next week and it's gone rock hard! I only opened it three years ago to do the RSA250 cases and hardly any was used. At £18 a tube it's very expensive to use only a thin smear and then find the rest has gone off. Has anyone got any tips how to prolong the shelf life?
45
« on: March 11, 2021, 10:59:00 AM »
Hi all, I’m looking for a bit of advice regarding the piston ring orientation on the Kawasaki Z400j I am currently restoring for the BIL. When I removed the barrels during the strip-down I made sure I didn’t disturb the rings or pistons. Once the barrel was off I took notes of where each piston ring gap was in relation to the piston. I was a bit surprised to see nearly all the ring gaps were very close to each other and in one case, the gap for the top and second ring were virtually on top of each other! The engine has 380 genuine miles from new and has never been apart, I can only assume this is how the piston rings were installed at the factory unless the rings move in service although I’ve never seen this happen before. So, the question is and bearing in mind there are still feint honing marks on the barrels, can I reuse the original rings and before replacing the barrels re-orientate the ring gaps to what they should be at 120deg intervals (but not directly above the gudgeon pins) and with the gaps of the three piece oil rings spaced at 20mm apart? I really don’t want to fit new rings as that will mean a hone and these rings are impossible to get! Any advice or thoughts welcome 
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