The NC30 Thread

[Johnwebley]

Dave, that was my bikes,it was all I expected, and more, handles beautifully, so much so I didn't have a chicken strip on the rear tyre,

The reason I sold it was two fold,I was to old and inflexible, it killed my knees after about an hour's riding,
Secondly, I couldn't ride it slowly, it cruised so sweetly at 10 to 11k rpm,which is nearly 100mph,
No stress, just swooped through the corners, easy, and great brakes as well,

I could see my licence vanishing so  quickly ,

Maybe I am getting old !!!



BTW,Wemoto do a great brake spares service, pistons, seals, nipples etc,



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[Rozabikes Tim]

Rode one once - what a jewel with mega soundtrack.

[andut]

Nice project Dave, and you’ll enjoy the finished bike.

I have a mostly original, very low mileage NC30 in the RC30 colours, and it’s fabulous to look at and fun to ride, although not quite so comfortable as an SOHC.

As you’ve likely already read, cooling is one of the NC’s weak points, so definitely check what comes out when you drain it, and make sure the rads are as clean as possible inside and out with straight cooling fins.  They don’t like sitting in traffic.  Water pumps can also fail and are nla, but are repairable.

The other big weak point you have already found with the reg rec cooking the battery.

Might be worth checking valve clearances whilst the cam covers are off.  They’re a pain to get to, so often overlooked in the maintenance schedule.  The previously mentioned Rick Oliver does a shim swap if he has stock of what you need to keep costs down if you need a few.
 
Rear shock is generally a bit on the soft side - swapping to one of Rick’s Nitron shocks made my bike much more pleasant to ride and allows the option to play with ride height’s, but not a budget friendly choice, so maybe one to think about after you’ve ridden it for a few miles.

Final thing to mention is the rear tyre size.  Bit difficult to get the right tyre size for the 18 inch rim these days, so keep an eye out for the identically styled 17” wheel from an RVF - quite rare and therefore expensive, but does offer tyre choices (adjustable ride height Nitron shock compensates for smaller wheel if you go that route)

Enjoy !

[andut]

Forgot to add ….. definitely a later add speedo.  MPH speed is quite rare.  Don’t be tempted to move the clutch lever downwards to make it more comfortable than where it is now as it will hit the speedo case - most NC30s seem to have a damaged clock case !

[Laverda Dave]

Thanks for those tips Andut. Rick Oliver definitely sounds like the man to contact. I've been looking at his site and had has a lot of goodies in stock. I did read about the rear wheel upgrade. I'd like to know what the real mileage is but I guess that is out of the question with it being a grey import.

[Laverda Dave]

A bit of good news to report, the bike is a runner 🙂. It's a bit rough carbwise but it started easily and I let it run for 30 minutes and there were no issues, no overheating and the fan kicked in at about 95-98C.
I think the exhaust may be blowing slightly and there is a ticking coming from the front bank when hot although this could be tight valve clearances as I understand these get left as they are so hard to get to.
Anyway that's the good news. I have dropped the oil and it was golden so more good news. Prior to dropping the oil I drained the cooling system and the anti freeze looked fresh as well. Pete Hamber advised me not to use a flushing agent but just to keep refiling with distilled water until it ran clean so that's the action I took and it's all good.
So now I know it runs I've begun the strip down to clean it up and refresh some of it (especially the alloy parts) although the forks need a rebuild but the rear shock looks very clean even the spring is pristine although the remote reservoir isn't!
During the stripping process I noticed there appears to be three finishes of the various nuts and bolts, BZP, yellow passivated and a black (or very dark green). I know Honda used an olive drab finish back in the 80’s but these appear to be something else.
Does anyone have any suggestions of what the finish could be?
Dave

[Johnwebley]

On mine, they all seem to have been a neutral grey,

Be careful with the footrest hanger Allen screws, they can be very tight,



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