GregT

I had a set of carbs - 18mm bore from memory. Which probably means 90cc model. Pretty sure I tossed them in one of the boxes i brought to the new place so may still have them. I'll keep my eyes open for them and if I find them they'll be giveaways. I was looking at using them on a bucket twin but they're too small.

Have you got around to the cam bearing wear yet ? Usually it's the inner end which wears worse. Usually fixed by machining the cam end down about 2mm OD. then a bronze bush turned up to fit the head and be about .002in clearance on the reduced cam end. A 5mm roll pin inserted in the head and a matching hole drilled in the bush to peg it in place and the job's done. Did a few of them back in the day.

Frankly, the wif's late Rav4 has a f'n great screen for all the GPS and other shit sitting slightly higher than your example - and it's OE. Have to have the seat jacked up as high as it goes to see adequately.

There's still controversy in Laverda world. What does it say about head stud torques ? Cam blocks have head studs going through them. One side of the alloy block has a 9mm stud - about 30ft/lb - the other side has an 8mm - about 18ft/lb. It's very easy to break a cam block if you fuck it up. Some editions I hear say 30 or so ft/lb both sides.....the 9's are through studs to the top case. The 8's are short head to barrel studs.

I think I've asked before - have you got a copy of the green book ? Manual put together by an intelligent pom. I think I can borrow a copy if you haven't got access to one.

From an unreliable memory the 2 I've done had layshft bearings you could slide off. Mainshaft I think it was only the one on the output side that was pressed on. Check top gear gets full engagement first as if you have to shim it inwards I think everything else comes from that.

Pity I'm too far away. Shimming Italian gearboxes isn't fun. Start with the shift drum. Unless it has around .002- .003in clearance it's not going to select well. Too tight is bad, too loose is worse. Layshaft pretty much the same clearance. Mainshaft, trial and error.

I'd assume that the first current draw would be a spike of quite large amplitude. You could try turning the hot water off tomorrow - just for a few minutes around 4pm. And anything else that comes on then. Should prove it one way or another.

A shop would automatically balance them. Do you have a wheel stand and the experience to balance your own ? Possibility the front rim is out of round from your description.

When the new tyres go on the wheels will be balanced. this should show up any out of round or noisy wheel bearings.

Don't cafe it please. They're sufficiently rare and collectible to make it worth doing the final bits of sorting. Find something less collectible to modify. I had a mint one through the workshop some years back. It had come with a big bore kit fitted and the jetting needed sorting. went well and still had the OE barrel with it. Owner brings it out for the big local runs.

Jag loving mate had an XJ12 for a while. Carbed one. He discovered that the bolt pattern for the puny 1 1/2 in Solexes is the same as 6 cylinder SU's. Bolted on 4 X 2in SU's. Never dyno'd it but the improvement was startling. Fuel comsumption otoh was frightening. Up past Oxford cruising at highly illegal velocity, you could watch the fuel gauge dropping.

Not bollocks. A mata of mine used to do pipe systems like that. I've seen the setup and watched him do it. LPG/oxy gas mix with as you say a ring of jets. From memory 5 jets on the ring. Yes, loads of firebricks around to keep the heat localised. Several sets of pegs set into a big steel benchtop to put tube into and pull it round. Plenty of space needed too. Plenty of practice too before you get good at it. You also need the finishing tools. Set of steel balls on chains. Heat pipe and pull the ball through to remove any crimps. More time and gas. He stopped doing it after a while and got a paying job as he simply wasn't making money. Smallish local market and a limit on what he could charge.

Copy I saw was in English. Pure fiction, kid finds old bike abandoned, gets it running on local fields, goes racing. Quel surprise, he wins. To all intents I remember there being no technical details - which disappointed me, even at that age.

I remember a kids book "Mick and the P105" The said Mick took up motocross on one.....Either a lover of cruel and unusual punishment or way fitter than I was at the same age. Great find though and I hope you can get it back to NZ.

Best one I ever used was a Kawasaki variable speed. I believe it to have been a Desoutter made under licence. When it eventually wore out no-one locally could supply a genuine variable speed model. Finished up with a slightly bigger cheapo on which I've played around with the inlet valve sizing to make it slightly more variable speed. Best way to slow it down is still to reduce the line pressure. 10CFM V twin compressor can keep up with it at least for the bursts of work between looking and measuring I do.

Too late to do this for the weekend ? Future prospect as another use.

For years stainless in odd sizes has not been imported. I needed a chunk of 1 5/8in tube for a customer bike exhaust. Customer was going to Oz on business so I did some ringing around over there and he wound up hand carrying 2m of tube back with him. Autobend ChCh bent it for me and wanted to know where I'd got it from. Their suppliers in NZ wouldn't bring in what they wanted.

I ran a warmed over 1000MB in the mid 70's. Lived in Diamond Harbour opposite Lyttelton. JIm Hughes lived there too and was a Skoda dealer in Lyttelton. J B Hughes Motors. He'd been part of the Skoda dealer team in early Heatway rallies. Light flywheel, mild cam and a set of genuine factory rally alloy rims. A shitload of fun on Banks Peninsula gravel roads. It went to Joe Hanna when he was part of ChCh motorcycles. Lost sight of it shortly after that. Jim had also bought the ex Czech embassy 110 coupe. Pale green and LHD. that's disappeared too. I got asked to crew for the two dealer supported Skodas when they came down for the Canterbury rally. Via jim of course. They were the two cars written up recently in I think NZ Classic driver magazine. About half the rally was on Banks Peninsula roads i knew very well. Able to warn of a couple of traps for the unwary which proved useful.

Back in the day when those were common, a certain shop in ChCh were notorious for doing "5 minute tuneups" on small 2 strokes. Take it out into the back alley and rev the tits off it for a few minutes and it's done. Timing didn't move on them but the exhaust port would carbon up when running around town. Revving would knock the carbon off the port edges - principally the top edge. Once the top edge was clean it ran a shitload better. Part of it was the oils available too. Semi synth now burns a lot cleaner. Do say four or five of those a day, charging 1 hour minimum each and you see how the foreman was regularly charging out 12 hours plus for an 8 hour day. Owner had a posh house in Fendalton too. That shop is long gone thankfully. But the trick lives on.

Don't loctite your 5mm screws in. Either spot weld the heads or grind a notch in the heads and dot punch surrounding material into it. I've done a lot of clutch adaptations and those screws you do not want to come out.....

The worst thing I know about those is the "back torque limiter" clutch. What that means is that effectively you have no engine braking as the torque limiting mechanism lets it freewheel. It's quite possible to get into trouble downhill on bad surfaces. Just when you'd like a bit of engine braking to stabilise things - you don't have any. Otherwise they seem bulletproof.

Or R.R. Fisher ltd. Also ChCh. I used to use John Brooks but find a better range of belts at Fishers

At the moment I can get out of ChCh for a day at a time. Wound dressings, hospital appointments and chemo make it hard. The spirit is willing.

One day i hope to see this thing in person. Amazing.