TL125S

[Laverda Dave]

Ok Bryan.
Once the frame has been alignment checked (I've put the bare engine cases back into the frame to enable that to be checked properly) I'll be taking the cases for vapour blasting. Once back I will send the barrel up to you for the rebore but I won't buy the piston until you have measured it. The s/h barrel is rusty and I have no idea what the existing bore size is as it didn't come with the piston.
Just come back indoors to make a brew before venturing out to make more missing brackets!

[Bryanj]

No problem mate, i am away for a week in April so pm me when ready and we will work out a date

[Laverda Dave]

Hi All.
It’s been a while since I updated this thread; the trials of life have intervened over the last few weeks!
I took the frame for the alignment check as although it looked straight by eye I had a feeling it probably wasn’t! Considering the bike is nearly 50 years old and the full history is unknown to me it makes sense to have the frame checked before spending a shed load of money on it only to find it wobbles all over the road despite looking (hopefully.....) in pristine condition.
My concerns was proven to be correct, the frame was twisted at the headstock and required Howard's magical touch (and hydraulic rams) at Hybrid Motorcycles in Croxley Green to straighten it.

This is the reason I always have a frame checked before painting and rebuilding, for the sake of £100 its just not worth the risk. I have only ever had one frame that was found to be in perfect alighment when checked and that was the Flying Banana (aka the Rat Bike) and the reason for that was because it had likely been checked at some time in the past and tweaked.

[Rozabikes Tim]

Fancy bit of kit Dave. Was it a do it while you wait job then with you having the pictures?

[Laverda Dave]

No Tim. I booked it in with Howard as I wanted him to alloy weld the damaged sprocket and stator covers as well as welding the new brackets I'd made and tack welded into position. My first attempts at mig welding were, err, laughable 😂😂

[Laverda Dave]

Yet more progress!

I have completed making all the missing brackets including the ignition switch, rear indicators, headlight frame bridge, front reflectors, toolbox mounting and helmet lock mounting. I attempted to mig weld them to the frame with my brand new mig welder and very limited skill set. Fair to say I could just about tack weld the brackets into position on the frame ready for an expert (Howard at Hybrid Motorcycles) to weld them on properly! There were a few other damaged mounting studs on the airbox and seat pan that I also attended to.

I took the frame and the 22 other parts for powder coating last week and I got a call today to say they were completed so I collected them this morning and on the way I dropped the engine cases in for vapour blasting and painting. I spent a good few hours with various files and grit paper on smoothing and blending the welded repairs on the sprocket and stator casing. There were a few pin hole inclusions in the welded areas and I filled these with metal putty. These will be painted so hopefully the repairs will be invisible.

Next item on the agenda is to get the various nuts and bolts etc ready for BZP and to check the fork stanchions for straightness.

[Laverda Dave]

More progress photos

[Oddjob]

Oh, I would so polish them 

If you have those abrasive discs (for the Dremel) Dave I would try flatting that area with a low grade one, say light blue to start.

Did you know BTW that there is a Honda special tool to remove those plug caps, same one also used on the CB500K clutch adjuster. I bought 2 of them last year, just to see what they were like. Saves rounding the slot off.

[Laverda Dave]

I would have polished them Ken but those inclusions are pretty deep in places hence the use of metal putty that will be covered with paint. I think polishing them will make the metal paper thin otherwise yes, I would have polished them. The sprocket cover is impossible to obtain although there is someone selling replicas on eBay but I've heard the quality isn't great. I'd rather have a painted original (or the bikes owner would anyway) than a poor quality replica.

[Laverda Dave]

I haven’t posted any progress updates for the TL for a while; I’ve not been idle but have been doing a combination of cleaning and buying spares for the project.

A couple of items to report though, I have now collected the vapour blasted and painted engine cases back from R D Cox and Son in Reading and they have made a fantastic job of those. The original sprocket cover that was really badly damaged has come out well following the welding, filing, filing, blasting and painting.
I also had the new Pirelli trials tires fitted to the existing rims yesterday. I have polished the front brake drum but have the other side still to do. The anodised original rims and spokes have come up really well with a bit of elbow grease.

I have accumulated a vast amount of spares from what seems like all over the world for this bike! Once I receive the spares from DSS I can commence the build.

[Rozabikes Tim]

I haven’t posted any progress updates for the TL for a while; I’ve not been idle but have been doing a combination of cleaning and buying spares for the project.

A couple of items to report though, I have now collected the vapour blasted and painted engine cases back from R D Cox and Son in Reading and they have made a fantastic job of those. The original sprocket cover that was really badly damaged has come out well following the welding, filing, filing, blasting and painting.
I also had the new Pirelli trials tires fitted to the existing rims yesterday. I have polished the front brake drum but have the other side still to do. The anodised original rims and spokes have come up really well with a bit of elbow grease.

I have accumulated a vast amount of spares from what seems like all over the world for this bike! Once I receive the spares from DSS I can commence the build.

Tidy work Sir! That sprocket cover has come up well. I sourced one from Japan not as bad as that which I was going to get welded etc. However won another Japside last week undamaged. Probably end up costing me £45 with shipping etc, so well pleased. There are repro ones out there for £130 and look pretty rough finished at that.

Were the spokes ok on the wheels, they look so?

Got last bits of my bike back from France now (motor and wheels) so hopefully be making a start before too long. Will never be near your standards though!

[Laverda Dave]

Thanks Tim. Progress is slow but that's more down to the money supply being drip fed. I need to get a move on with it as I am now having to rent a garage from a neighbour to store my own bikes! Apart from the chroming and the paint I am ready to begin the build.
I took the gear lever rubber off yesterday (it is marked as 'Suzuki'). When I took the rubber off I found the lever had been snapped off at some time and a bolt welded in its place.......another part required although its going to be a Fecked alloy folding type.
Your project sounds like it is gaining momentum, you'll have it out on the slopes by year end

[Laverda Dave]

Some progress to report.

I started to tap the exhaust system with a soft mallet and a lot of rust fell out, I'd say its likely to be a bit rotten inside but we are going with it as its original.

The fork have now been rebuilt with new seals (the PO had put a new set of seals on top of the old ones at some point so there were two seals in each leg!). I fitted the correct Honda seals with the metal spacer below and not the much thinner ‘universal’ type. I junked the gaiters and fitted proper dust seals. I gave the alloy fork legs a good polish on the mop.

I have run a tap through all the frame treads and engine threads with a good clean of everything and especially the engine cases. The wheels are now ready for refitting. New steering bearings have been fitted and I removed the flaky lacquer from the top yoke, gave it a good polish and fitted stainless clamp bolts after machining the bolt heads to remove the script and giving them a polish.

I am waiting for the chrome parts back before I can re-assemble the chassis.

Meanwhile....................

[Laverda Dave]

I have commenced engine assembly.

After giving the cases another good clean and blast with compressed air after running a tap through the threads and followed that up with another good clean and another good blast of air. Everything went back together really easily although I replaced the kick-start gear that was chipped and also fitted the missing kick-start shaft thrust washer (maybe the chipped gear is related to the missing thrust washer because the shaft was moving?).

I replaced the crankshaft cam chain sprocket; how the cam stayed on the old one I don’t know! Knowing the problem I had getting the old one off (I had to resort to a dremmel) I put the crank in the freezer for 3 days and the new sprocket in the over at 180c for 20 minutes and it went on with some drifting action. All gears operate as they should.

The fuel tank has had two doses of DEOX-C with a lot of the internal rust has being removed but it may take another dose.

It’s nice to be putting things back together instead of taking them apart!   

[Bryanj]

Looking good Dave