Skub wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 11:23 am
Looks and sounds lovely.
There's something very satisfying about older bikes,a level of involvement we had forgotten. We all want our bikes to be reliable,handle well and all the rest,but in doing so there's some fundamental aspect of biking which is lost.
Some of it may be rose tinted goggles and deliberately forgetting the shitty parts of bike ownership back in the day,but perhaps in our striving for perfection,it's also a case of 'be careful what you wish for'.
Nail on the head - exactly my thoughts, and you've put it better than I could
Have now done 300 or so miles on the SF, so time for a bit of an update.
The second time I rode it, the clutch cable snapped, approx 2" in from the handlebar end- thankfully I was only a mile or so from home so it was no biggy.
I guess I wasn’t that surprised that it would happen at some point, as it really does need a strong pull at the lever on these, and the cable didn’t look particularly new- I pinged the bunch who bought up all of Slater’s remaining spares a few years back, unfortunately, they didn’t have any, and suggested Venhill for a custom made one which was going to be my next port of call anyway.
As the Venhill one is custom made to order it’s a 2 week lead time, so I set about sorting it with a generic inner ( not sure what it was originally intended for but it was from of my old Dad’s hoard of Vincent/Sunbeam/BMW spares which would have made him very happy if he’d been around to see it ) that had the lever end nipple on there, so I just had to cut it to length and securely peen over and solder a nipple on the actuating arm end.
All went to plan, but the original outer has definitely seen better days, and as a Venhill one was only ~£30 delivered (£20 less than a genuine one would have been if I could get one so a bargain in that respect ) I ordered one up
And the new cable has now arrived, so although my DIY fix is working absolutely fine and has been for the last 150-200 miles, I’ll replace it with the Venhill one, mainly as I have more confidence in that than my adapted one, which will be a minimum of 40 years old at a guess
The broken clutch cable has been the only issue so far, but I’ve also sorted the front brake.
As I said in my OP, although the brake certainly has plenty of power if you really yank it, but there is no slack or feeling as the lever at all, it’s rock hard, and it’s made much worse by the distance the (non-adjustable) lever is from the bar, as hopefully you can appreciate from this pic
How people tolerate them like this these days when you don't have to is beyond me, but putting it into perspective, it’s still massively better than the shitty old single-piston swinger on the 550K3 was even after a full refurb- at least it stops you!
The OE master cylinder is stated as a 16mm piston, but the forums seem to say when measured it’s bigger than than so I thought a 14mm or 15mm should do it.
I don’t have anything that small in my spares, so I started scanning eBay for a suitable SH one, but in the end bought a “Savage” ( ) Nissin looky-likey with a 14mm piston that’s intended for a CBR
Now, I fully expect to get flamed here for even considering cheap Chinese tat for something so important as a front brake, but my rationale was I’ll inspect it and if it looks really poorly made ( I know from personal experience that some of the Brembo etc copies are atrocious) then it’ll just go back, but it was a fraction of the cost of an (unknown age) SH Nissin or Brembo one at a grand total of £27 delivered , it’ll be brand new, and if looks OK it’ll go on to see how it is- I wouldn't even consider this approach on , for instance, my ZX6, but well this is different, to me anyway
And this is it.
Even comes with a brake light switch in with that price, although that’s not needed on the Laverda as it has a pressure switch fitted in the hose T-piece under the bottom yoke
Whilst Brembo/Nissin quality it ain’t, it really isn’t bad IMO- in all the important areas it measured up true and straight and cosmetically is reasonably finished, so on it went- fitting was painless and after being bled up (two bleed nipples on each of these calipers) the feel was completely transformed with, on first thoughts, if anything, too much lever travel, and of course with the remote reservoir it is a bit out of keeping with the era but I think the lever is a fair match with the other side, and thought I’d reserve judgment until after a road test, and I gave it a go.
And I am pleased to report it’s absolutely spot on in terms of feel, the brake feels so much more powerful and controllable, and it has made a massive difference to the riding experience and confidence that a decent front brake gives- the front brake now whilst not 2020s Brembo Stylema /RCS power is better than I thought it would ever be and as good as say a 98 R1 or Gixxer was when new, which is more than I need on this bike- I am so much more comfortable having proper feel and controllable power on the front brake, so it’s staying on there for the foreseeable.
So what else?
Well, I also thought I’d sort the engine crankcase breather- It comes off what you’d call the rocker box cover at the very top of the motor, and currently just terminates behind the RH side panel next to the battery and air filter .
I'm not sure if that’s as it left the factory, I suspect not, but either way, it’s less than ideal IMO- it’s not belching out smoke or oil but needs extending ideally into some form of vented catch-tank rather than straight to the ground ( and back tyre in event of engine problems), so that is my plan- this is how it currently looks ( with side panel removed)
You also hear it when sitting at tickover, sort of like a sink plunger / big old traction engine or something, makes me smile but it’s going to be silenced- this is the sound
I had some 3/4” silicon hose in the shed, so thought I’d replace it with that, but the reality is it’s just too flexible and folds in on itself where it has to make the 90-degree bend under the tank, so the old one has gone back on, and I’ve ordered a small piece of suitable dia ally pipe to enable me to use at least the top half of the original ( the black pipe in the pic below) and extend it with the clear silicon stuff.
I’ve also had a little play around with footrest positions, as they are on cranked splines- this is what I have now , which is one spline different to how they were- slightly higher and further back
And this is nearer what I’d like- obviously would need to sort another gear lever and brake pedal arrangement for that.
Anyway, I’m getting used to it, so it’s nowhere near top priority, , but if I can sort some sort of rearsets to give me the position I’d like I will
I still need to get some better tyres (ContiClassicAttacks are the best you can get for any of these oldies and that’s what it’s having ) on it, and I’m also going to replace the original mechanical indicator relay with a modern solid-state one;- the OE one, although perfect at tickover, is fecking useless/hilarious at speed, with the lamps greatly affected by engine speed (or more accurately, the vibration that speed on this bike produces) and pretty much stay on full time when you’re giving it full-hole when overtaking, etc.
But unless anything falls off or breaks, that’ll be pretty much it for the moment in terms of the fettling , I’ll just keep chucking Esso Super in it (it’s returning ~50MPG so far ) , keep a check on important fasteners for tightness etc, and enjoy riding it , it's a cool old thing IMO that I can bimble about on, or ride hard if the mood takes me and not worry about breaking down /washing oil off my boots after every ride or having to rebuild the motor every 5 minutes, and gives me pleasure riding it
Then when the weather turns to shit over the winter it’ll get a sympathetic refurb where I’ll get some tarnished original fasteners, wheel spindle spacers, pillion footrests etc re-plated, strip and refurb the rear shocks, or maybe even replace them with something more modern/blingy, paint / tidy up the switchgear and fit new grips and sort anything else that I think needs tidying or blinging up - we shall see!
ChrisW wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 8:13 pm
I reckon the original owner would have been all over the new brake lever/reservoir if they'd been able to.
Yup, I reckon you're right- reading the old road tests of it and the Jota written back then, they really rate the brakes as ferocious, which I guess they were back then- far stronger than most, if not all, of their Japanese competitors at least.
I can only surmise that manufacturers in the 1970s/early 80s were being caught out by the switch from drum to disc brakes and the science of matching m/cyl bores and leverage ratios to brake calipers was still in its infancy. The OE RD350LC m/cyl was also too big to give any kind of feel at the lever. Mind you, the calipers weren't exactly the best thing Nissin ever produced, either.
Just to complete my post above, I got my little bit of ally pipe anf extended the existing breather pipe, and after a bit of thought and hunting around for suitable recepticles to use as a catch tank, decided to ditch that idea and just secure the end of the pipe above the rear chain run, like this
As I mentioned, there is no perceptible oil or smoke etc coming out of the breather, but if over time a bit of mist does dribble down, then this is as good a place as any for it to land- I'm thinking of it as a Scotoiler that you don't have to worry about filling up or adjusting the flow rate , and when the side panel is back on, it's just about invisible
And the variable-flash-rate indicators have now been converted to fixed-rate with the replacement of the old relay with a £4.99 KTM-coloured solid state one from Amazon- it is rectangular rather than cylindrical as the original was, but slotted into the old rubber holder just as well
It had a quick thrash out today , and I'm happy to report that all is well in terms of flash rate even when it's vibrating my fillings out at at full beans , so that's (hopefully ) it for fettling on the old girl for a while until I start pulling a few bits off over winter to get a few bit of plating etc tidied up here and there
cheb wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:19 pm
Didn't one of the Japanese manufacturers route the breather onto the chain? Either Kawasaki or Suzuki in my mind.
The 1988 Madras Enfield Bullet had a breather pointing at the chain.
The Kawasaki Z1 had some sort of engine oil feed onto the chain. So did the contemporary Norton Commando. These things don’t deliver oil to the chain at the rate the chain wants it.
mangocrazy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2023 9:01 pm
I can only surmise that manufacturers in the 1970s/early 80s were being caught out by the switch from drum to disc brakes and the science of matching m/cyl bores and leverage ratios to brake calipers was still in its infancy. The OE RD350LC m/cyl was also too big to give any kind of feel at the lever. Mind you, the calipers weren't exactly the best thing Nissin ever produced, either.
There was a belief (right or wrong) that the American market would reject a powerful front brake.
Outstanding sir, some excellent upgrades to a superb classic bike ............... when i first saw a Yamaha XS i had a little shudder as i owned an XS400 and hated the thing apart from it being a half decent courier bike for a few months till it shat a piston...then another 4 weeks later
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 8:55 pm
An interesting choice, I'm assuming it was registered over 40 years ago so it didn't need an MOT or tax
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 8:55 pm
An interesting choice, I'm assuming it was registered over 40 years ago so it didn't need an MOT or tax
I think it’s date of manufacture.
If you can prove date of manufacture (manufacturer's attestation) then the vehicle's age starts from there. Otherwise it's date of first registration. My LC was first registered on 8th August 1980 so I was able to apply for historic vehicle status on 1st April 2021, so first of April of year following vehicle becoming 40 years old.
Have now had my second mechanical failure on the old girl!
In reality, again this one is not really a significant one ( as it's been sorted with some superglue ), but had friends over this weekend, was showing my mate the Laverda, needless to say, I had to start it up so he could fully appreciate it
Iit (of course) started instantly, but I had only given it a couple of twists of the throttle when the rear light fell off, which caused much amusement....
On inspection, I could see that the reason it fell off was as the plastic had cracked through where the lens screws in- my guess is that it had been over-tightened over the years and the vibration has done for it.
Anyway, it made me happy, as I had been out on it only a couple of days before for another 80 miles or so, and I reckon if it had been 81 miles instead of 80, the rear light would be lying smashed to smithereens somewhere on a lane in Buckinghamshire but is now fixed and ( hopefully almost) as good as new
cheb wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:19 pm
Didn't one of the Japanese manufacturers route the breather onto the chain? Either Kawasaki or Suzuki in my mind.
Early Z1s do, Kawasaki dropped it pretty quickly, I doubt if much oil came out the breather
cheb wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:19 pm
Didn't one of the Japanese manufacturers route the breather onto the chain? Either Kawasaki or Suzuki in my mind.
Early Z1s do, Kawasaki dropped it pretty quickly, I doubt if much oil came out the breather
It was housed under the little teardrop cover on the front sprocket casing. Only the original Z1 had the oiler,as you say it was dropped for the Z1a in 74,but the little compartment remained. AFAIR it was fed from an actual oil tank,rather than a breather.
Tricky wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2023 6:00 pm
Have now had my second mechanical failure on the old girl!
In reality, again this one is not really a significant one ( as it's been sorted with some superglue ), but had friends over this weekend, was showing my mate the Laverda, needless to say, I had to start it up so he could fully appreciate it
Iit (of course) started instantly, but I had only given it a couple of twists of the throttle when the rear light fell off, which caused much amusement....
On inspection, I could see that the reason it fell off was as the plastic had cracked through where the lens screws in- my guess is that it had been over-tightened over the years and the vibration has done for it.
Anyway, it made me happy, as I had been out on it only a couple of days before for another 80 miles or so, and I reckon if it had been 81 miles instead of 80, the rear light would be lying smashed to smithereens somewhere on a lane in Buckinghamshire but is now fixed and ( hopefully almost) as good as new
Sounds like the old girls trying to shed a few pounds before Christmas, I had a similar experience yesterday.
Hope you're out on it again before the first snowflakes arrive. 🌨
I bet Screwd could 3D print the bulb holder,if the glue doesn't hold,or they are hard to come by. A lot of the plastic parts on these old bikes are very fragile due to age. I've known folk to get plastic side casings painted up at great expense,only to have them break into pieces.
) that had the lever end nipple on there, so I just had to cut it to length and securely peen over and solder a nipple on the actuating arm end.
) I ordered one up
) Nissin looky-likey with a 14mm piston that’s intended for a CBR 
) it for fettling on the old girl for a while until I start pulling a few bits off over winter to get a few bit of plating etc tidied up here and there
