My New Project arrives after a 44 year wait!

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I agree with  Johnny - looking at the "push mile 400" it is a painted part  the clutch cable cover.

I'm pleased I kept my 400 even though I'm too tall for long journeys on her.

My 500 build is still waiting for an injection  of enthusiasm - a nice warm spell would work for me.

[Laverda Dave]

I reckon if you pop out to the garage for a couple of hours Ted you'll get the enthusiasm back. I lost my enthusiasm when the steering stem stripped. Having to find another and get it blasted and powder coated was a real downer. The thought of having to strip the front end  and get the bearings off kept me inside finding other things to do!
Eventually reality kicked in and I knew I was the only one who would be doing the job and the sooner I got it done the quicker I could move forward so that's what I did and I've been in the garage over the last four days with renewed enthusiasm. Although that was tested again yesterday when fitting the new Boyer ignition system. A quick two hour job turned into five hours as the leads from the ignition box were too short and no matter where I tried to locate the ignition box it fouled on something or the leads were too short. Eventually I located it in the inside of the side panel with velcro and extended the leads to the coils. I also made up a new set of leads from the ignition pick ups to the ignition box as these were also missing.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

No bike work today Dave due to having had a rear wisdom tooth extracted!

I'm trying not to dribble from my partly anesthetised lower half of what feels like a semi-detached mouth.

[Laverda Dave]

Well, I finally achieved the first start up yesterday, the bikes first start in over 20 years!
It's suffering from an erratic tick over as in sometimes it does tick over but most of the time it doesn't! All cylinders are firing although it does slightly hang on the throttle before settling back down and I have to keep using the choke to start it and knock it straight off.
I set the dynamic timing on the Boyer, something I hate doing with a newly started engine so did it very quickly!
I connected the vacuum gauges and all was well although they were reading very high, at the 5pm position so I set them back to a more acceptable 3pm position although this hasn't cured the tick over. I'll try some fresh fuel before delving any deeper as the fuel I have is about 2 months old so it could be going off.
On the bright side at least the carbs haven't leaked but that could also mean the floats are not correct either (although these were checked and checked again)! Likewise the pilots are all clear as these were checked countless times with compressed air and carb cleaner sprayed through them.
I'll give it another go tomorrow, it seems to be a 400/4 thing, troublesome carbs!

[Johnny4428]

You would think with the care and time putting these machines back together after much stripping cleaning fettling that these things would just run up without issues! I guess they rarely do without that final fettling, but your well on the way to getting her out on the road Dave.😜

[Nurse Julie]

You're getting on well now Dave. Well done.

[Laverdaroo]

Closer than ever before, well done Dave you’re almost there buddy, keep it up


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[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I don't claim to be any kind of expert on 400 carbs, I was lucky I guess as my 400 runs fine having only done a bench synch.
I recently posted a U Tube video link on carb adjustments that might help me with my 500 when I put the carbs back on.

FWIW my thoughts are if it needs choke all the time to start from warm that sounds like it's running on the lean side. As you know that might be due to an air leak on the intake between carb & cylinder head as well as adjustment on the side screws.

My 400 is running on NOS Keyster Brassware with aftermarket floats - standard air box/filter set up. I did take quite a lot of time setting the float levels. I also bench synched them with a narrow gap on the lifters - I used a very small drill shaft IIRC it was 3/32".
I used an inline filter as a precaution against tank rust as mine was pretty scabby inside  When fitting the throttle cables I relied on a visual check that they allowed the carbs to shut against the main stop screw.

I suspect float levels have more impact at higher revs when more fuel is needed to pass through the main jet needle. Idle issues and hanging throttle more likely linked to the slow running jet/adjustment if no air leaks.

My apologies if I'm stating the obvious.

[Laverda Dave]

Another 3 hours in the garage today with some new V Power fuel and it's still not running right. Although no 4 is firing it's taking its time to get hot. It was a pig to start from cold as well. I've been through everything on the ignition side and cable free play etc and it's all pointing to fueling. So it's going to be carbs off to check float heights and blockages.
At the moment I don't have the enthusiasm to do it, I'm just so fed up with it and it's no longer enjoyable but has become a never ending and expensive chore.
I'm going to ride my bikes for a while and come back to it.

[AshimotoK0]

I feel your pain .... but keep yer pecker up Dave.   walk away from it for a few days and then go back to it.

It will be one hell of a classy 400 when finished and you should be proud !

[magpie114]

Bit of a blow but a few days off and I’m sure your enthusiasm will return.


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[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I'm in the same place with my 500 Dave I'm not going to touch the carbs until I'm in the right headspace.

I'll go out on my 400 when it's warm & dry until I'm ready.🏍️🏍️🏍️

[Laverda Dave]

Yep, thanks for the kind words.
I had just come in from the garage in a stinking mood when I added the post, it's been one of those frustrating days when I was up against time trying to do too much in a day (I've never been one to sit around 🙂).
It's definitely the carbs (it's a 400/4 after all 😏) it's just the thought of getting them off and back on, they always put up a fight! Working on them isn't the issue, they were THE worst set of carbs I've ever seen so I guess they were always going to be difficult, I just thought I'd been so diligent cleaning them and setting them up they would thank me by working properly 🙂.
Anyway, I'll take a few days off from it, ride the other bikes, recharge and refresh and come back to it full of optimism (and tea and digestives 😁).

[AshimotoK0]

See my other post on my Bomber Dave ... these carbs have to be worse than yours albeit off a 600 mile only bike!

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[taysidedragon]

See my other post on my Bomber Dave ... these carbs have to be worse than yours albeit off a 600 mile only bike!

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Where did you find those? Bottom of the North Sea? 😖