Triple down memory lane

[T.W.R]

Well after suffering seriously itchy fingers for ages I've got myself a new project :eek:

Had it's standard spec brother as a boy in my late teens then its 850 sibling so after nearly 30yrs another yammy triple will be testing my patience:doh:

Albeit a SE model it should be a fun wee project & trip down memory lane; did close to 100k between the 750 & 850 I had so should be a bit of a laugh.
The old girls never really set the world on fire in their day but were honest rides sprinkled with a dash of charisma & bit unique.

This ones a 1980 SE , jap imported in 89 with currently 46k on it and been shed stored for a number of years at what looks to be a very basic level, it'll be a fairly substantial undertaking but I'm up for it :niceone:

Will post up some pics when time allows & as things progress.

[swarfie]

A Mate had the 850 version from new. Was a trouble free bike for it's time, quite torquey from memory but a little bland. His old man had an XS11 which I thought was a heavy whiney old pig. Great that Yamaha are going down the triple road again, best of both worlds IMO. Good luck with the project....nothing like nostalgia to play havoc with ya head.:cool:

[Grumph]

I'd serviced a few of them in the day but it wasn't until quite recently I'd had one apart, for a racebike.
They're very "toyota". The forged crank looks like it came off the toyota line as do the rods.
The head is a 3 cylinder version of the 8V early toyota fours. Characteristically, too big in the inlet ports - and a bit miserly in the exhausts.
The primary drive cries out to be a shitload lighter. There's a modern duplex chain setup available for the big Laverda triples I'd have liked to fit...

Generally they're over engineered. As borne out by the XS1100 - which is pretty much the same motor with an extra pot grafted on.
BTW - the aftermarket o/s pistons for the 1100 will fit the triple if you want a big one....

The frames on the other hand are some of the most flexible i've ever struck - the 850 is marginally better due only to the stiffer swingarm mounting.

[T.W.R]

Went and forked over the coin for the old girl today and gave her a thorough once over :wait:
Looks like I'll be burning a bit of elbow grease... she's a dirty old bitch at present but surprisingly all there bar 3 small badges, bits of surface rust & torn l/h foot rest; no dints or dings in the tank or guards etc.
Will get her home on Saturday and then get serious on investigating what I'm in for :rolleyes:

Yeah G there fairly industrial internally, I actually spun the shells on the crank of my old 750 so got well acquainted with the innards, the one thing that concerns me a bit is the shims, haven't seen anything that size aftermarket for years & pretty sure they'd be rocking horse poo OEM.
The 850 was 3/4 of the 11 with identical bore/stroke 71.5x68.6 the 750 is 3.5mm smaller in the bore; if anything does need doing in that department the 1100 aftermarket bits will make life easy.
Funny you say about the frame flex, from the kms I clocked up on my old ones I found the 750 more compliant than the 850 but it did have a more savage torque reaction from the shaft drive; If i'd been cloned and put on both at the same time I would have easily shown the 850 a clean set of heels :nya:

There's a couple of rough piccys anyhow of it :calm:

[neels]

Very nice, even if it is the special with the silly 'custom' seat that yamaha had a strange fascination with back then.

I work with an older chap who still rides a 750 he bought brand new, when he's not riding his R1, he can show most people a clean set of heels through the twisties on a ride to Akaroa so they can obviously be managed well enough to go fast.

Much quality garage time cleaning things coming up.....

[Kickaha]

I was looking at a chain drive conversion for one of those in a workshop a few months back

Flatmate had a 750 which he totalled then he got a 850 which he tossed down the road quite frequently, more of a rider issue than anything with the bike

3-1 sounds mint on them as well

[T.W.R]

Very nice, even if it is the special with the silly 'custom' seat that yamaha had a strange fascination with back then.

I work with an older chap who still rides a 750 he bought brand new, when he's not riding his R1, he can show most people a clean set of heels through the twisties on a ride to Akaroa so they can obviously be managed well enough to go fast.

Much quality garage time cleaning things coming up.....

Back when I had my 1st 750 I used frequent the building where Don (pitlane) started out from and one afternoon he saw the tyres on my bike and was in shock at what I'd done to them; it would've put the majority of radial running sportsbikes to shame :lol:
But this one definitely isn't for that, It'll frequent a few rallies etc and that'll be it

[T.W.R]

I was looking at a chain drive conversion for one of those in a workshop a few months back

3-1 sounds mint on them as well

Had heard of chain conversion s but never seen one, it'd be huge undertaking...complete arse-end swap
Wouldn't think it'd be worth the hassle. Have seen spoked wheel sets for them which would be nice.

I had a cycleworks 3-1 on the 850 and with baffle out it was awesome :msn-wink:

[Grumph]

I've still got a heap of yamaha shims - you know where I am.

That dammed oil filter setup at the front of the motor makes it very hard to do a decent 3 : 1 pipe. The header lengths get compromised

[Rcktfsh]

A Mate had the 850 version from new. Was a trouble free bike for it's time, quite torquey from memory but a little bland. His old man had an XS11 which I thought was a heavy whiney old pig. Great that Yamaha are going down the triple road again, best of both worlds IMO. Good luck with the project....nothing like nostalgia to play havoc with ya head.:cool:

XS1100 was a great old girl with some interesting race versions appearing over the years. My brother used the engine from one for a speedway chair very successfully up to the mid 80's, had to put 750 sleeves and pistons in the outer cylinders to bring it under the max 1050 cc allowed.

[Kickaha]

XS1100 was a great old girl with some interesting race versions appearing over the years.
I always liked the Rodney Gray bike out of SA, fucking awesome bit of kit

[T.W.R]

I've still got a heap of yamaha shims - you know where I am.

That dammed oil filter setup at the front of the motor makes it very hard to do a decent 3 : 1 pipe. The header lengths get compromised


I'll keep that in mind about the shims ;) could be a life saver.

Yeah the filter housing is a huge wart on front of the block :pinch:
Least this has its original pipes and in pretty good nik too, the muffler s might get put aside for something like some harris reverse megs ;)
Have got a cycle world mag from 80-81 with a pipe & accessories review that had a pipe fitted up to a 850 with split centre pipe that looked nice; will have to dig the mag out & see what brand it was.

This time tomorrow it'll be here so I'll aware of what sort of journey it's going to deal out :rolleyes:

[T.W.R]

Rocked up to town mid morning yesterday & grabbed the bike; pretty uneventful exercise but by f@#k there's some idiots drive around chch :facepalm:

Once back home & off the trailer it was time to a good gander at lay before me...... :facepalm::sick::shit::blink: nah was more like :mellow::confused::shifty: but over all the pros outweigh the cons.
It isn't going to be a ground up/bare case rebuild but could get close. All the prime wearing & maintenance items are toast & will be replaced as each area is worked over.
The battery was well dead so has been ditched ready for new when the time comes; did jack the electrics off a jumper battery and surprising all the lights & switches work so that'll just be a case of check through etc ready for when they're needed.
Wheels around OK but brakes are binding so that'll be a complete top to bottom at both ends, wheel/swing-arm/headstock bearings feel OK but will be replaced allround as each spot is got to.
Cosmetically its fine underneath the filth, definitely in desperate need of a thorough clean-up & TLC, there's a paint job on it's way once the more important things are taken care of :msn-wink: thinking a metallic black cherry could be the go.
Ripped the bent handlebar off and have slung a old set of O'neil 2" rise mx bars on just for a different feel & to be honest isn't too far off comfy <_<<_< .

Will sort better pics as bits get done & when I can workout my phone a bit better :shutup:

[Ocean1]

Will sort better pics as bits get done & when I can workout my phone a bit better :shutup:

XL250 back there is it?

[pete376403]

Rocked up to town mid morning yesterday & grabbed the bike; pretty uneventful exercise but by f@#k there's some idiots drive around chch :facepalm:

Will sort better pics as bits get done & when I can workout my phone a bit better :shutup:

Looks like the important and expensive bits are straight. I was looking at some original (or original looking) replacement pipes and mufflers for the GS1100 - would cost more than the rest of the bike is worth.

[T.W.R]

XL250 back there is it?

Think it was a 73-4, looked fairly original too. With what else was there these two may have lived together for a while.


Looks like the important and expensive bits are straight. I was looking at some original (or original looking) replacement pipes and mufflers for the GS1100 - would cost more than the rest of the bike is worth.

Around 90% original but some bits haven't weathered time well; I can see some getting ditched as I get to them. The bones are solid for which ever direction I take it, there wont be any extravagance involved but it should be OK at the end. The monetary aspect doesn't work into it for me, it's part of a different equation.

[T.W.R]

Bit of a read from back in the day, 1-4 Long term report from Cycle World June 1980.

[T.W.R]

Well a week in and tools haven't hit it yet, gave her a good visual & got a list of bits needing attention. Got a box of replacement parts & spares on its way and investigated some other parts for further down the track.
Found some interesting stuff & a few home brews....some appealing & some :confused:
Plenty of cafe'd & scramblerised bikes and a real concoction of pipes that fueled a few ideas but I've got the 12R for head down arse up carry-on, so I'm looking to keep the original lines albeit tweaked to personal taste.
Something along the lines of the bike below with those style of twin pipes :shifty:

[T.W.R]

Well after getting most of the paper work together it seems the old girl hasn't seen much time out of a shed in the last 27yrs.
Looks as if it was brought into NZ & 1st reg'd by Pacific Motorcycles in Dec 89, 1st private owner took purchase Nov 90 and rode it for just over 3yrs then parked up & plates wiped 2yrs later.
So roughly 22yrs in the dark without proper steps being taken for a long-term park up it's survived pretty well.

Had reasonable plans for the wk/end just gone but got nailed by a evil dose of the flu that started Friday pre dawn tossing my breakfast at my car before work & it was all down hill from there; only managed 1 solid meal all wk/end so things haven't been great.
Sunday out of desperation I stripped the bodywork off & wrestled it into it's new abode (or will be for a while anyhow)....bloody 240kgs of dead weight is bloody handful in a tight spot when your crook.

Here a couple of up date pics

1) A bit scary seeing this, inside the carbs could be interesting. Had a nosy down the plug holes & each cylinder looks clean with no scores etc.

2)Some of the parts...was only really after the badges but discretion is the better part of valor so the CDI, coils, solenoid, were clamped down on.

3)A lot of work ahead; dealt to worse in the past so time to roll back the sleeves :shifty:

4) A view from top side, dirty as buggery but least it's easy to get at. Nifty wee gizmos they thought of back then, headlight over-ride relay if 1 filament blows it kicks the other into action automatically; It's also got auto cancelling turn signals :niceone:

[BMWST?]

Well after getting most of the paper work together it seems the old girl hasn't seen much time out of a shed in the last 27yrs.
Looks as if it was brought into NZ & 1st reg'd by Pacific Motorcycles in Dec 89, 1st private owner took purchase Nov 90 and rode it for just over 3yrs then parked up & plates wiped 2yrs later.
So roughly 22yrs in the dark without proper steps being taken for a long-term park up it's survived pretty well.

Had reasonable plans for the wk/end just gone but got nailed by a evil dose of the flu that started Friday pre dawn tossing my breakfast at my car before work & it was all down hill from there; only managed 1 solid meal all wk/end so things haven't been great.
Sunday out of desperation I stripped the bodywork off & wrestled it into it's new abode (or will be for a while anyhow)....bloody 240kgs of dead weight is bloody handful in a tight spot when your crook.

Here a couple of up date pics

1) A bit scary seeing this, inside the carbs could be interesting. Had a nosy down the plug holes & each cylinder looks clean with no scores etc.

2)Some of the parts...was only really after the badges but discretion is the better part of valor so the CDI, coils, solenoid, were clamped down on.

3)A lot of work ahead; dealt to worse in the past so time to roll back the sleeves :shifty:

4) A view from top side, dirty as buggery but least it's easy to get at. Nifty wee gizmos they thought of back then, headlight over-ride relay if 1 filament blows it kicks the other into action automatically; It's also got auto cancelling turn signals :niceone:

the xs 750e and the sr500e prolly had the best headlights of the bikes i had back then

[T.W.R]

the xs 750e and the sr500e prolly had the best headlights of the bikes i had back then

:yes: got a full test on the F and they rate the headlight as one of the best of the era, Koito H4s were the biz but their 8" fitted to the 850, SR500G, & TR1 was a beast.....taken straight of a loco :shit:

[BMWST?]

:yes: got a full test on the F and they rate the headlight as one of the best of the era, Koito H4s were the biz but their 8" fitted to the 850, SR500G, & TR1 was a beast.....taken straight of a loco :shit:
That's right,did the 750e have a 8" too???

[T.W.R]

That's right,did the 750e have a 8" too???

Nah the 8 made it's debut on the 850, think the E had the 1st generation halogen Koito in 6"
Like the 750 below but noticeable in size difference to the 850 ;)
easy retro fit though

[Supertwin Don]

Hi, Guys,
Doing a bit of a cosmetic refurb on my old XS - had it for coming up 30 years! - cleaned and repainted the frame, cleaned and repainted most of the bracketry, and now looking at the seat - urgh! - really could do with a new base! anyone know of one available? even a good one I can borrow to get a fibreglass replica from.
Haven't really started on the motor, but will probably need pistons/rings and valves/guides - as far as I know, still on original pistons (but I did put new rings in 20 odd years ago)
Also looking for the little rubber mounts that go on the frame for the side panels.323364323365323366323367

[T.W.R]

Well best laid plans & all that, things have come to a grinding halt at present due to a bereavement of someone very close to me.
The bike was coming along reasonably well until this unexpected event, hadn't concentrated on one particular area specifically but each piece is complimenting others so in all it's taking shape nicely.

Do need to source a driveshaft cv boot/bellows so if anyone knows where one is ........
Once things settle down & get back to the relms of normality again and the vultures have fucked off to their wee sickly sterile offices I'll be able get back to sorting this old girl out.

[T.W.R]

and now looking at the seat - urgh! - really could do with a new base! anyone know of one available? even a good one I can borrow to get a fibreglass replica from.
]

Hey Don,
Years ago there was a couple of companies in the UK & one in Aus that made fibreglass replacement seat pans so there should be the odd one floating around somewhere, yamahatriples.com may be worth checking through too.
Rubber grommets for the side panels should be easy enough to source aftermarket....there is a UK site still selling a lot of OEM & aftermarket parts for the XS.

On a side note I found a supplier advertising a complete NOS exhaust for a XS750 Spec on ebay :eek: $5k cost with freight landed here yikes!

[Supertwin Don]

Hi, TW, got a complete second hand seat from the States - $175 all up, 6 days Ohio to Auckland, and another 5 Auckland to Orini! The rubber grommets are not a priority at the moment, I'm having a look at the motor, now. Surprisingly little sludge in the sump, even after a significant number of years!
Might have to cobble together an exhaust system from the bits and pieces I have, then get a proper one made up in stainless.
May have a spare driveshaft rubber boot - still on my "spares" XS850 - I'll have a look.

[T.W.R]

Well after a few weeks of times being consumed with other priorities I took a couple of days from work to get things back in balance and decided to get back into the old girl.
I've stripped down the arse end ready for new bearings, paint etc.
Initial check of the electrics showed all worked but I couldn't get spark or juice to the starter motor,so today I focused on chasing that issue down; after a couple of hrs of testing and cutting & re-soldering dodgy connections I got life to the important bits :2thumbsup
Got nice fat healthy spark across all 3 pots but the S/M isn't wanting to play nicely so it's be a pull out strip clean & rebuild for it.
Temptation got the better of me so I threw some fresh fuel in the tank and bled the carbs through and went for the big test :sweatdrop
Bugger me 2 good prods on the kick start and she farted & banged and almost fired into life, couple more boots & she lit up on 2 pots with the 3rd trying hard. A bit of a fiddle and couple more boots and she barked into life, ticking over quite nicely with no horrid noises to be heard...not bad considering its probably somewhere around 20yrs since it ran last :headbang:

I'll get some more pics up shortly

[T.W.R]

May have a spare driveshaft rubber boot - still on my "spares" XS850 - I'll have a look.

Hey Don thanks for the offer, but after a bit of investigation I'd suggest if it's in good condition keep it :niceone: they're in the class of rocking horse poo!
I managed to locate 2 NOS....the only 2 available in Australasia so have purchased one :niceone:

[T.W.R]

Well one thing & another and time got away on me :facepalm:

Progress has been a bit slow on the bike but there have been a few steps in the right direction.

Got new filters (air & oil), new manifold gaskets, new bearings throughout, & new clutch & throttle cables.
A set of nice new reverse megaphone mufflers are making there way here at present.
After a bit of a glitch with the old exhaust & gaining an idea or two via a couple of pictures Triplenut sent and very tactful use of a cutting disc on the dremel I managed to salvage the header pipes ready for use again.... no major deterioration apart from the original mufflers suffering badly from cancer.

Pretty much everything is almost ready to go back together, just cleaning and refurbishing as I go

[98tls]

Very nice mate,to be fair i knew it would be with your history.Fwiw dragged the old garage queen TL outta the shed the other day and took a ride over to Cromwell which is further than its been for years,loved it thouigh must admit to not xactly being match fit so the old back was protesting by the time i got home:laugh:Be great to catch up for an ale,keep us posted with progress on the Triple.

[T.W.R]

Very nice mate,to be fair i knew it would be with your history.Fwiw dragged the old garage queen TL outta the shed the other day and took a ride over to Cromwell which is further than its been for years,loved it thouigh must admit to not xactly being match fit so the old back was protesting by the time i got home:laugh:Be great to catch up for an ale,keep us posted with progress on the Triple.


Just tinkering away slowly & using up some elbow grease when time allows mate ;) ; the bones are fairly good so it's mostly strip/clean/reassemble of a lot of the parts. Other bits are taking a bit of effort with the amount of rust & corrosion.

Always good to blow the cobwebs out :yes: ...Cromwell huh, did you do the loop up the haka & back down thru the pig root? hear what you're saying about the old back :yes: be glad you aren't my height :pinch:
Was just talking the other day about that mighty effort we put in at the March Hare a few years back :shutup: still remember you guiding Dale into his tent via the use of your boot :facepalm: will have to make a point of catching up for a brew ;)

[98tls]

Just tinkering away slowly & using up some elbow grease when time allows mate ;) ; the bones are fairly good so it's mostly strip/clean/reassemble of a lot of the parts. Other bits are taking a bit of effort with the amount of rust & corrosion.

Always good to blow the cobwebs out :yes: ...Cromwell huh, did you do the loop up the haka & back down thru the pig root? hear what you're saying about the old back :yes: be glad you aren't my height :pinch:
Was just talking the other day about that mighty effort we put in at the March Hare a few years back :shutup: still remember you guiding Dale into his tent via the use of your boot :facepalm: will have to make a point of catching up for a brew ;)

:woohoo: When i think of that night i to still have a chuckle,Dale literally flew off the end of my boot in to/against that tent...seemed hell bent on taking back his man hood after all that shite we filled him up with...fucking funny,still.Went up through Haka and back the same way.Ive no doubt the XS will a credit to ya when done,bit like all your bikes as long as ive known you.Few of us going for a short but awesome jaunt next weekend ie down to Dunners then back home via Middlemarch which is a great ride,last year i went on a Ford run with a few other guys in GT/GTP Falcons over there though not as good a run on 4 wheels as two was a great day out.

[T.W.R]

:woohoo: When i think of that night i to still have a chuckle,Dale literally flew off the end of my boot in to/against that tent...seemed hell bent on taking back his man hood after all that shite we filled him up with...fucking funny,still.

He was trying but I'm sure we'd shattered any chance of him regaining his man hood...was well out classed :clap:
Do you remember this pic below from the following year :msn-wink: see I'm always there to lend a helping hand :niceone:

[98tls]

He was trying but I'm sure we'd shattered any chance of him regaining his man hood...was well out classed :clap:
Do you remember this pic below from the following year :msn-wink: see I'm always there to lend a helping hand :niceone:

:nya: Indeed i do mate,be worse places to put your mug i reckon...was that the year you put the tent up by TL powered light?

[T.W.R]

:nya: Indeed i do mate,be worse places to put your mug i reckon...was that the year you put the tent up by TL powered light?

:laugh: indeed it was the year of the TL lighting assist :niceone: On the GPZ, ol Chancy was grinning like a Cheshire cat most of that weekend..... geez bloody 8yrs ago almost 9 :eek:

[98tls]

:laugh: indeed it was the year of the TL lighting assist :niceone: On the GPZ, ol Chancy was grinning like a Cheshire cat most of that weekend..... geez bloody 8yrs ago almost 9 :eek:

Went quick eh,good times.Had to do a second take on the pic...didnt recognize the head with hair on it:msn-wink:

[old slider]

326509

Off subject but

Besides the Yammy I mentioned in another post, One other bike I went back to look at a couple of times was an awesome looking late 70s early 80s? Laverda Jota 1000cc triple, I have seen this distinctive orange bike a couple of times now and think it possibly resides in Wanganui.

[jasonu]

326509

Off subject but

Besides the Yammy I mentioned in another post, One other bike I went back to look at a couple of times was an awesome looking late 70s early 80s? Laverda Jota 1000cc triple, I have seen this distinctive orange bike a couple of times now and think it possibly resides in Wanganui.

Big price difference between an XS and the Jota.

[husaberg]

Big price difference between an XS and the Jota.

When the XS750 came out I believe it was more targeted at the BMW market, at half the BMW price.

[T.W.R]

Got a bit more done as time has allowed.
The mufflers arrived so fitted them to see how things would go...almost issue free, just the mounting plates
supplied aren't really up for it so will have to knock up something a bit more suitable.
Hooked everything up for a quick run to see/hear what the ears are in for and mmm yeah surprising
Thought it'd be a lot louder than it was...looking through them there's a hell of a lot of daylight

[pritch]

326509


That actually looks like a Jota. Right colour and all.

Every big Laverda I've seen was referred to as a Jota but the Jota was not a standard Laverda model. The Jota was produced specially for the British importer Slater Bros. No Laverda sold new anywhere else was a Jota.

[T.W.R]

That actually looks like a Jota. Right colour and all.

Every big Laverda I've seen was referred to as a Jota but the Jota was not a standard Laverda model. The Jota was produced specially for the British importer Slater Bros. No Laverda sold new anywhere else was a Jota.

Roger Slater started in 73 with a 3cl....that was the 1st in jota spec. In 76 it made production & Slater named it "Jota" ......british noise regs killed it ....and a conversion kit was rarely fitted effectively nuturing the bike & killing its rep.
Laverda factory took the mods done by Slater and applied them making for the 1st factory built jotas. 1981 mod being the purists choice with the 120deg crank....a 180deg crank big block is a animal of an engine

[98tls]

Got a bit more done as time has allowed.
The mufflers arrived so fitted them to see how things would go...almost issue free, just the mounting plates
supplied aren't really up for it so will have to knock up something a bit more suitable.
Hooked everything up for a quick run to see/hear what the ears are in for and mmm yeah surprising
Thought it'd be a lot louder than it was...looking through them there's a hell of a lot of daylight

Very nice mate,coming along good.

[98tls]

Roger Slater started in 73 with a 3cl....that was the 1st in jota spec. In 76 it made production & Slater named it "Jota" ......british noise regs killed it ....and a conversion kit was rarely fitted effectively nuturing the bike & killing its rep.
Laverda factory took the mods done by Slater and applied them making for the 1st factory built jotas. 1981 mod being the purists choice with the 120deg crank....a 180deg crank big block is a animal of an engine

Dunno about the Orange colour thing,cant remember the exact year but do remember at the time my old man was riding a 78 900SS which wasnt that old and a bloke from Christchurch that worked for him turned up on a brand new Jota that was bought off a dealer in Christchurch and was Blue...kind of a dark blue.The SS was a great story in itself,he bought the thing over the ditch put it (crated) on a boat then picked it up at wharf in Wellington finished putting it together and rode it home to just North of Parnassus.

[T.W.R]

Dunno about the Orange colour thing,cant remember the exact year but do remember at the time my old man was riding a 78 900SS which wasnt that old and a bloke from Christchurch that worked for him turned up on a brand new Jota that was bought off a dealer in Christchurch and was Blue...kind of a dark blue.The SS was a great story in itself,he bought the thing over the ditch put it (crated) on a boat then picked it up at wharf in Wellington finished putting it together and rode it home to just North of Parnassus.

There's a few colours but the orange is the quintessential like silver/blue of the SS people 1st think of :msn-wink:
Those bikes of that era were in a different league

[Grumph]

Dunno about the Orange colour thing,cant remember the exact year but do remember at the time my old man was riding a 78 900SS which wasnt that old and a bloke from Christchurch that worked for him turned up on a brand new Jota that was bought off a dealer in Christchurch and was Blue...kind of a dark blue.The SS was a great story in itself,he bought the thing over the ditch put it (crated) on a boat then picked it up at wharf in Wellington finished putting it together and rode it home to just North of Parnassus.

Eric Wood in ChCh brought in I think two shipments of Laverda triples. First lot were thousands and may have been badged Jotas.
Pretty sure this lot were assorted colours.
Second lot were 1200's. I remember seeing a line up of orange bikes.I know where two of the 1200's live, one of them is the race bike I built a few years back.
All of them were the 180 crank versions. The race bike now has a light crank and Carillos fitted and yes, it's a beast....

[T.W.R]

Eric Wood in ChCh brought in I think two shipments of Laverda triples. First lot were thousands and may have been badged Jotas.
Pretty sure this lot were assorted colours.
Second lot were 1200's. I remember seeing a line up of orange bikes.I know where two of the 1200's live, one of them is the race bike I built a few years back.
All of them were the 180 crank versions. The race bike now has a light crank and Carillos fitted and yes, it's a beast....

Think Eric the Hood was the one & only Laverda agent in ChCh...least through till the last handful of SFC1000s were sold...probably held it till the early 90s

The 1200 below came from Woods...79 Mirage...had a lot of money spent on it and went really well...was in the stable of bikes that Phil Payne used to look after. Was informed when I last saw it a few years ago at a rally it was the last 1200 Mirage registered on the NZ Laverda Owners Club register

Back then the XS was an easier bike to live with in all aspects, these days the Laverda could easily be the easier of the two....just as long as there's a copy of the "Green Book" handy & there's a good line of communication with the outfit in Canada.

[Grumph]

I've had both the XS and laverda triples apart and both have their plus and minus points.

I was talking to Redax Engineering in Queensland who are currently one of the best Laverda specialists in the world about the differences and said I'd like to convert the XS to the modern high capacity duplex primary chain nearly everyone uses in the Laverdas now...
They came back and said they were looking at converting a Lav triple to a Morse type primary like the XS.
After I'd told them just why I didn't like the Morse chain that project seems to have gone quiet...

Dave didn't have the budget for the conversion on his - but it would have taken about 2Kg off the primary drive. And given the possibilty of different ratios too.

[98tls]

Eric Wood in ChCh brought in I think two shipments of Laverda triples. First lot were thousands and may have been badged Jotas.
Pretty sure this lot were assorted colours.
Second lot were 1200's. I remember seeing a line up of orange bikes.I know where two of the 1200's live, one of them is the race bike I built a few years back.
All of them were the 180 crank versions. The race bike now has a light crank and Carillos fitted and yes, it's a beast....

Blue one was a 1200,long time ago but can still remember him turning up on it...he took a day off work and left home on his waterbottle and returned that evening on the Laverda, i remember eveyone drooling all over it.Dont remember the blokes name but do remember he was bloody slow through the Hundalees on the waterbottle.

[old slider]

Fascinating thread, so much history and knowledge being shared.

My first sidecar passenger used a very reliable Yammy 750 triple in his hack #44 back in 1980s, a pic of me passing on the inside on #11 at Oceanview


326753

[Grumph]

Fascinating thread, so much history and knowledge being shared.

My first sidecar passenger used a very reliable Yammy 750 triple in his hack #44 back in 1980s, a pic of me passing on the inside on #11 at Oce

I bet it was great on a wet track - the heavy crank would have seen to that, LOL.....

[old slider]

I bet it was great on a wet track - the heavy crank would have seen to that, LOL.....



From memory it may have had a regular sledging problem and was always behind me at the finish line, lol

[Supertwin Don]

Been doing a bit more on my "cosmetic" refurb of the old 750 (a.k.a. 2 tins of black engine enamel) - these are "before" and "after" pictures
Made a bit of a difference - considering skimming off the edges of the fins, always liked that look on the old brit bikes
326972326971326970
326973326974326975
Now looking for a full exhaust system...........

P.S. my dream bike was a Laverda Jota (back in the mid 70's!)

[T.W.R]

Been doing a bit more on my "cosmetic" refurb of the old 750 (a.k.a. 2 tins of black engine enamel) - these are "before" and "after" pictures
Made a bit of a difference - considering skimming off the edges of the fins, always liked that look on the old brit bikes

Now looking for a full exhaust system...........

P.S. my dream bike was a Laverda Jota (back in the mid 70's!)

Looks as if its cleaning up pretty well...keen man hauling the engine out...heavy sods of things
Interesting spying the small differences between the early & later model casings.
Cosmetic refurb.....better known as a "dulux overhaul"
Good luck searching for a full exhaust system.......rocking horse poo/hens teeth/unobtainium spring to mind. MAC exhausts can still be sourced ex-overseas....next to nothing available locally, even cycleworks haven't got jigs anymore.

[old slider]

Looking good, I agree the aluminum edges look sharp, even my HD engine has the fins like that.

327063

[Supertwin Don]

I know that they are heavy - getting it out not too much of a problem, stripped everything off the bike, then lay it on it's side and lifted the frame away!

(getting it back in again WITHOUT chipping the paintwork - now that's another story!)

[T.W.R]

I know that they are heavy - getting it out not too much of a problem, stripped everything off the bike, then lay it on it's side and lifted the frame away!

(getting it back in again WITHOUT chipping the paintwork - now that's another story!)

the old lay it on it's left and extract from there...had that experience with my 1st 750, though had to lift the replacement motor from a car boot and carry 20 odd meters to the workshop then go through the joys of refitting.

The original 750 had brushed fins

[roogazza]

pah , young whipper snappers !
Here's the Triples we rode in Sydney in 1968/69 .327610

No handling , no brakes and these first ones had Points Ignition.

[T.W.R]

pah , young whipper snappers !
Here's the Triples we rode in Sydney in 1968/69 .327610

No handling , no brakes and these first ones had Points Ignition.

Ha, yeah but we can still see straight without that kamikaze glint in our eyes ...bit like comparing a highly strung race horse to a draught horse.

Geesh in 69 I went to a party with the old man and came home with me mum :doh:

[roogazza]

Ha,
Geesh in 69 I went to a party with the old man and came home with me mum :doh:

Many,many moons ago huh ? ;)

[old slider]

pah , young whipper snappers !
Here's the Triples we rode in Sydney in 1968/69 .327610

No handling , no brakes and these first ones had Points Ignition.


Bewwtyful, I don't think we got the first ones in NZ until late 69 or early 1970, they were leathel in the hands of young fellas dumb and full of cum.

[Grumph]

Bewwtyful, I don't think we got the first ones in NZ until late 69 or early 1970, they were leathel in the hands of young fellas dumb and full of cum.

That timeline is about right. VERY few of the first gen white ones ever came here. The red second year were about in small numbers but it wasn't till the third year blue version - CDI but still drums - that any sort of numbers appeared.
No idea why this was so except that the few kawasaki dealers around could sell all the rotary valve twins they could get and people were a bit wary of the triple.
My blue one was fine once the handling was sorted. I eventually found a brake lining that worked too.

[roogazza]

That timeline is about right. VERY few of the first gen white ones ever came here. The red second year were about in small numbers but it wasn't till the third year blue version - CDI but still drums - that any sort of numbers appeared.
No idea why this was so except that the few kawasaki dealers around could sell all the rotary valve twins they could get and people were a bit wary of the triple.
My blue one was fine once the handling was sorted. I eventually found a brake lining that worked too.

AM4 ???? Green stuff ? I used to use that in T 350s. Front and rear hubs would turn gold with the coating on the alloy,heheh.
When I returned to Wgton there were quite a few 1970 red ones around,but yeah the Blue of 71 were popular.

[Grumph]

AM4 ???? Green stuff ? I used to use that in T 350s. Front and rear hubs would turn gold with the coating on the alloy,heheh.
When I returned to Wgton there were quite a few 1970 red ones around,but yeah the Blue of 71 were popular.

I think most of the red ones were sold through Boyles. I only know of one red one sold in the SI, certainly a lot less down here.

NOT AM4 - I went through I think 5 different linings for the front in a short period....Incl AM4. The problem which still is not appreciated is that the drum liner is not the familiar cast iron - it's steel. You find the same in the small early Ducatis which is why the right lining for them is/was AM2.
AM2 wouldn't take the extra weight/speed/heat of the triple.
Talking between races at a car/bike meeting at Levels -as you did then - I was doing a moan about it when one of the Ingram brothers said, "send me a set of shoes, there's a lining at work I'd like to try" He worked at Don Agencies in Dunedin. Duly done. Bright red lining which I machined to finished OD as we did...
Cold it grabbed like hell - hot it was the best drum I've ever used. AND I still had a brake at the end of a half hour proddy race.
It was an American Raybestos lining which Don Agencies were using to reline the brake shoes of the passenger trolley at Deep Cove. Never got the number.
Apparently the party trick at Deep Cove was to take visitors to the workface down the tunnel by letting the trolley reach terminal velocity and slam on the anchors just short of the end...They were relining a set of shoes every week apparently.

[roogazza]

I think most of the red ones were sold through Boyles. I only know of one red one sold in the SI, certainly a lot less down here.

NOT AM4 - I went through I think 5 different linings for the front in a short period....Incl AM4. The problem which still is not appreciated is that the drum liner is not the familiar cast iron - it's steel. You find the same in the small early Ducatis which is why the right lining for them is/was AM2.
AM2 wouldn't take the extra weight/speed/heat of the triple.
Talking between races at a car/bike meeting at Levels -as you did then - I was doing a moan about it when one of the Ingram brothers said, "send me a set of shoes, there's a lining at work I'd like to try" He worked at Don Agencies in Dunedin. Duly done. Bright red lining which I machined to finished OD as we did...
Cold it grabbed like hell - hot it was the best drum I've ever used. AND I still had a brake at the end of a half hour proddy race.
It was an American Raybestos lining which Don Agencies were using to reline the brake shoes of the passenger trolley at Deep Cove. Never got the number.
Apparently the party trick at Deep Cove was to take visitors to the workface down the tunnel by letting the trolley reach terminal velocity and slam on the anchors just short of the end...They were relining a set of shoes every week apparently.

you nearly bought a tear to my eye there Grumph,Don Agencies !!!!! Remember them and Lucas (prince of darkness ! hahaha. I was a mechanic starting in 1966 I can remember re lining brake shoes (riveting )(cars that is). I seem to remember the AM4 stuff needed a bigger leading edge to take the vicious grab out of them ? Am I right ?
But true I had no trouble matching RDs on the brakes with the drum T350.:lol:327624

[Supertwin Don]

A bit more progress on my "cosmetic refurb" - motor painted and back in the frame - now need to find a decent exhaust system.327932327933327934327935

[Murray]

Looking good Don

May be down Hams way night before Paeroa races - go to races on Sunday back home Sunday night
Will let you know

Cheers
Murray

[T.W.R]

:doh: Well best laid plans and all that....a mate who's an avid GSX750 fan got me to purchase a couple that were being advertised locally
so duly did so and over the last couple of weekends have been digging into both so the XS is a shed ornament at present :crazy:
And got another bike coming this weekend for a top to bottom check over and full service.

GSXs have been an entertaining change though....two fully complete bikes for bugger all
the red/grey wasn't healthy but after a bit of tinkering fires into life 1st hit of the button & purrs like a kitten at idle, its a wonder it ran at all considering the mess the carbs were in. Just a bit of cosmetic work to be done and it'll be racking a few kms again. The blue/white one has been totally broken down ready for some work and I've got another engine to rebuild but I'll be putting that on hold & getting the XS somewhere near finished so I can start riding the ol bugger

[husaberg]

I have a few more as well, including one vs the Trident. Not sure where that one is.
But i have narrowed it down to 250M3.
328202328197328198328199328200

[T.W.R]

Well the last few months have been wrapped up doing far more important things so not too much has happened

Though got caught with the yamaha parts data based screw-up.....waited 7wks for a oil seal to arrive ex aussie. So in desperation looked for alternatives to fix the issue (tacho drive housing inner seal) tried aftermarket suppliers with no joy and even tried sizing against seals used in fishing reels, but using a bit of ingenuity found that 3/8 fuel house had the same inner & outer measurements so with a bit of precise cutting made a seal to the right thickness and fitted for a test run and worked perfectly...same compound rubber (nitrile) and a far better sealing surface on the drive shaft.
Has to be good quality hose not the cheaper go to motion pro stuff either

The OEM oil filter is 2/3 price of aftermarket (worthwhile noting that for V-max & XVS roadstars etc as they use the same filter)
Current spec SR400 kickstart lever boss is the same item and a fraction of the price of sourcing from overseas.
Starter relay is as simple as piss to strip, refurbish, & rebuild
The late model rear wheel drive hub bearings are rocking horse poo.....managed to source 1 of 2 aftermarket bearings remaining in NZ through old work contacts.
OEM air filter are near impossible to get but sourced one of the last ones available ex aussie (can't stand the void behind carbs with velocity stacks or pods).
Had almost forgotten how easy these old girls are to tune up, balancing the carbs is simple...just got to remember to set up off number 2 cylinder <_< , getting it dialed in with the way the pipes are now took a bit of fiddling but got there in the end...idled nicely @1100rpm and was crisp on throttle with a real good sound to it :devil2:
All was going good till I found an errant air leak in an intake manifold that would only show itself at certain revs....vibration just letting things move enough for it to manifest itself.


And my mates GSX is all done and going well and was surprisingly in good nic so the lad is happy and has now attacked the 2nd bike giving himself a project to fiddle with idea being a some sort of rat/cafe style thing...

[Grumph]

Yamaha and their odd size bearings....I had a good little earner going for a while making up adaptors for standard size bearings in the back axle of the horrible Yamaha 3 wheelers for Pacific.
Honda started it but yamaha refined it to the point of absurdity in the 80's.

Struck the same sort of seal problems on GS Suzuki tacho drives. They're available now but I'd been machining up an alloy cup to hold a seal smaller on the OD than original.

[T.W.R]

Yamaha and their odd size bearings....I had a good little earner going for a while making up adaptors for standard size bearings in the back axle of the horrible Yamaha 3 wheelers for Pacific.
Honda started it but yamaha refined it to the point of absurdity in the 80's.

Struck the same sort of seal problems on GS Suzuki tacho drives. They're available now but I'd been machining up an alloy cup to hold a seal smaller on the OD than original.


Ha it's just an odd bearing as the early models had two plain roller bearings running together so as an upgrade they decided to replace the 2 with one needle roller bearing. It's a 5904 bearing and at the time when I got the one for the bike Saecowilson only had two in stock in the auckland warehouse.
Ha lovely tri-moto huh....we used to get the odd one come in when I was at Chapmans bloody fisherman with the old shit-heaps wanting us to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Yeah I took the drive housing out and the outer seals were shot but some one had tried the old silcone gasket trick on the whole lot and hadn't realised there was a seal in the guts of the thing so it'd been merrily pumping oil up the tacho cable and out over the whole front of the motor.
The OEM seal (13mm x 7mm x 4mm) and is only a $5.00 single lip seal but they only had 4 available in Australasia and all sitting over the ditch but all the data base upgrade caused chaos.
I stupidly was out in the shed one night and decided to fire the bike up and once going thought crap tacho isn't going, peered around the front to see a nice solid stream of oil pouring out the housing hole :whistle: least I know now there's nothing wrong with the oil pump or circulation :lol:
So now the fuel hose seal is still in place and I've got a OEM seal sitting in the draw as a back-up

[husaberg]

Ha it's just an odd bearing as the early models had two plain roller bearings running together so as an upgrade they decided to replace the 2 with one needle roller bearing. It's a 5904 bearing and at the time when I got the one for the bike Saecowilson only had two in stock in the auckland warehouse.
Ha lovely tri-moto huh....we used to get the odd one come in when I was at Chapmans bloody fisherman with the old shit-heaps wanting us to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Yeah I took the drive housing out and the outer seals were shot but some one had tried the old silcone gasket trick on the whole lot and hadn't realised there was a seal in the guts of the thing so it'd been merrily pumping oil up the tacho cable and out over the whole front of the motor.
The OEM seal (13mm x 7mm x 4mm) and is only a $5.00 single lip seal but they only had 4 available in Australasia and all sitting over the ditch but all the data base upgrade caused chaos.
I stupidly was out in the shed one night and decided to fire the bike up and once going thought crap tacho isn't going, peered around the front to see a nice solid stream of oil pouring out the housing hole :whistle: least I know now there's nothing wrong with the oil pump or circulation :lol:
So now the fuel hose seal is still in place and I've got a OEM seal sitting in the draw as a back-up

The old Whitebaiters Special i was asked to look at one that had a wee knock
The wee knock was a totally shagged big end.
So i whipped the head off, then I asked him if he had recently brought it? he said yes, i told him i suspected the guy you brought it off must have known it was a bit buggered.
Then pointed to the 4 head gaskets it had on it......
I had a CRF50 for my son brought brand new, it spat out a countershaft oil seal, being a honda it was an odd one in the parts Fiche, i ordered one and it never fitted, then the same thing happened again
I double checked all the parts fiches arround the world they were all the same. So pissed off i measured the casing.
the oil seal was bloody imperial. so i went to the old school enginerers and got the correct one.
I supect Honda has outsourced the manufacturing of a few parts to China.

[T.W.R]

The old Whitebaiters Special i was asked to look at one that had a wee knock
The wee knock was a totally shagged big end.
So i whipped the head off, then I asked him if he had recently brought it? he said yes, i told him i suspected the guy you brought it off must have known it was a bit buggered.
Then pointed to the 4 head gaskets it had on it......
I had a CRF50 for my son brought brand new, it spat out a countershaft oil seal, being a honda it was an odd one in the parts Fiche, i ordered one and it never fitted, then the same thing happened again
I double checked all the parts fiches arround the world they were all the same. So pissed off i measured the casing.
the oil seal was bloody imperial. so i went to the old school enginerers and got the correct one.
I supect Honda has outsourced the manufacturing of a few parts to China.

Check this out ;)
I posted this about 8yrs or so back
it's the front cylinder camshaft out of a KVF650, the bike came in because it was running a bit rough according to the owner :pinch: the rear cylinder wasn't any better :lol:

[husaberg]

Check this out ;)
I posted this about 8yrs or so back
it's the front cylinder camshaft out of a KVF650, the bike came in because it was running a bit rough according to the owner :pinch: the rear cylinder wasn't any better :lol:
That pics shows some real abuse of common sense, It also looks like the rocker never contacts the whole width of the face either, what were they like? (Clearly harder than the cam anyway)
I once seen a small yamaha four wheeler (Timberwolf or suchlike)with so low compression the owner rigged up with a rope and pulley system so the owner could tow start it with the gear lever semi engaged (centrifical clutch)

The time and effort he put into the daily starting routine and set up would have paid for numerous rebores and rings for the 200.

[T.W.R]

I once seen a yamaha four heeler with so low compression the owner rigged up with a rope and pulley system so the owner could tow start it with the gear leversemi engaged (centrifical clutch)
the time and effort he put into the daily starting routine and set up would have paid for numerous rebores and rings for the 200.

the pics shows some real long term suffering

We used to supply a lot of quads, mules etc to dairy farms and some of the shit we saw and had to deal with would make your eyes roll.
One outfit had three farms local to us and wouldn't use anything apart from KL250 stockmans and one farm they were for ever doing clutches in and their cheap import workers would ride the bikes ok but once they got where they needed to be would just ingage the clutch lock and leave the bikes running :pinch: we did about 6 clutch packs inside a year :lol:

Had a Quad come in once that had the rear end held in with binder twine once.....that unbelievable to see..... it was so out of line it crabbed along a full wheel width out of line :pinch:

[husaberg]

We used to supply a lot of quads, mules etc to dairy farms and some of the shit we saw and had to deal with would make your eyes roll.
One outfit had three farms local to us and wouldn't use anything apart from KL250 stockmans and one farm they were for ever doing clutches in and their cheap import workers would ride the bikes ok but once they got where they needed to be would just ingage the clutch lock and leave the bikes running :pinch: we did about 6 clutch packs inside a year :lol:

Had a Quad come in once that had the rear end held in with binder twine once.....that unbelievable to see..... it was so out of line it crabbed along a full wheel width out of line :pinch:
Thats funny.
That Rakaia island farm of the (turners?) had like 20 2 wheelers or something didn't it, can't remember what flavour they were.
I used to enjoy the farmer who did the full ring weld option inside and outside on the Honda TRX300 hubs.
Why the heck they never just used a tack is beyond me.
Everyone of those TRX300 that came into NZ had f- all grease on the splines. those early yams were the same only it was the rear disc that used to slog out.

[T.W.R]

Thats funny.
That Rakaia island farm of the (turners?) had like 20 2 wheelers or something didn't it, can't remember what flavour they were.
I used to enjoy the farmer who did the full ring weld option inside and outside on the Honda TRX300 hubs.
Why the heck they never just used a tack is beyond me.
Everyone of those TRX300 that came into NZ had f- all grease on the splines. those early yams were the same only it was the rear disc that used to slog out.

Yeah Rakaia island are Turners....got a massive amount of farms and staff.......You should've seen what one of their staff did to a Maxxum, brand new Pottinger mower, & pivot a couple of years :lol: turned the tractor into a convertible, wrecked the mower and took out a whole section of the irrigator
:oi-grr:

TRXs with disappearing oil :lol: they get worn and start filling the airbox up :killingme we had about four come in over a couple of years with the owners saying they couldn't workout where the oil was going :pinch:

[husaberg]

Yeah Rakaia island are Turners....got a massive amount of farms and staff.......You should've seen what one of their staff did to a Maxxum, brand new Pottinger mower, & pivot a couple of years :lol: turned the tractor into a convertible, wrecked the mower and took out a whole section of the irrigator
:oi-grr:

TRXs with disappearing oil :lol: they get worn and start filling the airbox up :killingme we had about four come in over a couple of years with the owners saying they couldn't workout where the oil was going :pinch:

I have never seen the inside of one (300)i guess they were pretty much an overgrown xr200?
i met the bothers once real hard case old school characters they were advising their Neice on buying my old farm.
The third brother had one of the Coasts smallest farms sbout 120 cows.
A cockie here fell asleep and drove his tractor and feed waggon into a 110kv transmission tower, he actually hid the tractor so we never seen that, but by heck the tower was a mess he actually twisted it.
I was working for TP at the time and had to try and get out of him what actually happened, he smartly feined ignorance and said he had no idea, i just went along making sympthetic noises, and then asked the neighbours what really happened. It was bloody hard to keep a straight face

[T.W.R]

I have never seen the inside of one (300)i guess they were pretty much an overgrown xr200?
i met the bothers once real hard case old school characters they were advising their Neice on buying my old farm.
The third brother had one of the Coasts smallest farms sbout 120 cows.
A cockie here fell asleep and drove his tractor and feed waggon into a 110kv transmission tower, he actually hid the tractor so we never seen that, but by heck the tower was a mess he actually twisted it.
I was working for TP at the time and had to try and get out of him what actually happened, he smartly feined ignorance and said he had no idea, i just went along making sympthetic noises, and then asked the neighbours what really happened. It was bloody hard to keep a straight face

Nah think over-sized 250 and you'll be on the money.
Turners have ultra deep pockets...last years down turn for dairy they came into work and placed a order for 14 new maxxum tractors & 6 Pottinger mowers in one hit :eek: our sales boys were all over them like a rash:laugh: I liked dealing with them as every time they came in store I'd send them out with at least $1k worth of parts always good to add to the monthly take (I usually turn over between $80-$130k per month)
One of of the contractors we supply got nailed by a stock truck up by sheffield last year....the truck hit the tractor & baler from behind so hard it punched the whole lot off the road. That was a beauty of a job to price up for insurance :no: and a few years back just out of ashburton a bloke in a car hit a cockie on an old ford 5000 so hard the tractor snapped in two :laugh:

[jasonu]

Well the last few months have been wrapped up doing far more important things so not too much has happened

Though got caught with the yamaha parts data based screw-up.....waited 7wks for a oil seal to arrive ex aussie. So in desperation looked for alternatives to fix the issue (tacho drive housing inner seal) tried aftermarket suppliers with no joy and even tried sizing against seals used in fishing reels, but using a bit of ingenuity found that 3/8 fuel house had the same inner & outer measurements so with a bit of precise cutting made a seal to the right thickness and fitted for a test run and worked perfectly...same compound rubber (nitrile) and a far better sealing surface on the drive shaft.
Has to be good quality hose not the cheaper go to motion pro stuff either

The OEM oil filter is 2/3 price of aftermarket (worthwhile noting that for V-max & XVS roadstars etc as they use the same filter)
Current spec SR400 kickstart lever boss is the same item and a fraction of the price of sourcing from overseas.
Starter relay is as simple as piss to strip, refurbish, & rebuild
The late model rear wheel drive hub bearings are rocking horse poo.....managed to source 1 of 2 aftermarket bearings remaining in NZ through old work contacts.
OEM air filter are near impossible to get but sourced one of the last ones available ex aussie (can't stand the void behind carbs with velocity stacks or pods).
Had almost forgotten how easy these old girls are to tune up, balancing the carbs is simple...just got to remember to set up off number 2 cylinder <_< , getting it dialed in with the way the pipes are now took a bit of fiddling but got there in the end...idled nicely @1100rpm and was crisp on throttle with a real good sound to it :devil2:
All was going good till I found an errant air leak in an intake manifold that would only show itself at certain revs....vibration just letting things move enough for it to manifest itself.


And my mates GSX is all done and going well and was surprisingly in good nic so the lad is happy and has now attacked the 2nd bike giving himself a project to fiddle with idea being a some sort of rat/cafe style thing...

7 weeks for a part from Aussie???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXp96Um-TAs

[T.W.R]

7 weeks for a part from Aussie???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXp96Um-TAs

Well 7wks from the time I ordered it till I took possession of it...half the problem I'm sure was the dimwit sales guy who took the initial order & the shops geriatric ordering system and lack of communication within the store. The bloke in charge of the parts dept wasn't onsite at the time so the order for the seal probably got lost within the stupid little book they use.
They were all apologies when it did finally arrive but I'm sure the salesman shit bricks a few times when I'd ventured in looking for it & especially when he realised who I was.....I used quite a few words & statements stronger than that youtube clip

[Kickaha]

7 weeks for a part from Aussie???
Yamaha put in a new parts computer system and went from the best most efficient supplier to being way slower than a very very slow thing

[Grumph]

Yamaha put in a new parts computer system and went from the best most efficient supplier to being way slower than a very very slow thing

It's gone full cycle then - to revive a trade joke old enough to qualify as a classic....

"They found a cure for AIDS - but gave it a yamaha part number - no-ones been able to get it since...."

[T.W.R]

It's gone full cycle then - to revive a trade joke old enough to qualify as a classic....

"They found a cure for AIDS - but gave it a yamaha part number - no-ones been able to get it since...."

Having seen their ordering system it's no wonder they have issues :lol: bloody antiquated set-up. And it's scary when you do go in with the part number and get a blank face expression and then have to drive them around their own parts schematics to ID the part for them :weird:
I thought the snap-on solutions system CaseIH use was primitive but the Yamaha system is antique by comparison.

One thing that really made laugh was the guy said when I started putting the pressure on was that they were dealing with over 100 items at the time :killingme FFS I look after 12 technicians doing multiple jobs and one job could require a lot more than that in one hit so 100 individual items is peanuts

[Supertwin Don]

after a frustrating few hours resetting carburation and ignition, and testing reg/rectifiers, it works again!331337331336331335331334

[T.W.R]

after a frustrating few hours resetting carburation and ignition, and testing reg/rectifiers, it works again!

Looks pretty good Don :msn-wink:
What issues were you having with the carbs & ign?...the ign rotor has a locator pin that has a tendency to sheer off sometimes that can cause some fun & games

[T.W.R]

That's where my one is at present :pinch:
Got to take the arse end apart and do the swingarm pivot pins & bearings, which is proving to be a fun filled exercise, the bloody bolts on the driveshaft knuckle are proving to be tough little bastards resisting all efforts so far to free them :brick: the air has turned blue on a couple of attempts.
Once they're done it's a front end strip & rebuild and a new set of tires and she'll be close to done :yes:

[Supertwin Don]

the issues I was having were things like - dodgy connections/connectors - resetting points (I had retro-fitted points ignition some years ago) - finding a reg/rec that actually worked - getting it all together, then having the clutch cable snap - finding that I need to overhaul the starter motor (and wondering if I can get it out without having to take the carbs out - memory is failing me just now)
one other niggle - the left hand indicator repeater has decided not to work!
the UJ bolts at the front of the driveshaft - I found that a bar through the wheel spokes locked things up OK
ended up using the header pipes from my "spares" bike, a home built "H" pipe and a pair of those shorty megaphones - stainless system one day (maybe)

[T.W.R]

the issues I was having were things like - dodgy connections/connectors - resetting points (I had retro-fitted points ignition some years ago) - finding a reg/rec that actually worked - getting it all together, then having the clutch cable snap - finding that I need to overhaul the starter motor (and wondering if I can get it out without having to take the carbs out - memory is failing me just now)
one other niggle - the left hand indicator repeater has decided not to work!
the UJ bolts at the front of the driveshaft - I found that a bar through the wheel spokes locked things up OK
ended up using the header pipes from my "spares" bike, a home built "H" pipe and a pair of those shorty megaphones - stainless system one day (maybe)

Fuse box is notorious for creating problems with the electrics due to easy contamination....best to fit a new one with blade fuses.
Alan Mobley (bikebitz) could have a reg/rec or Tin1212 & Waltrip (TM traders) could be worth trying.
Carbs have to come out to get the starter motor out plus everything on the Left side of the block too unfortunately....the idler wheel drops out of location once the starter motor is removed.
Been there with the bar through the wheel trick to almost the point of munting the heads on the bolts....getting a loan of a nifty wee tool that hopefully should work with a bit of heat for added measure. Would love to a get a rattle gun on the buggers but as you'd know they're on the wrong side of the knuckle :pinch:
Those megs are rather free flowing sods...I think I burnt & blew half their packing out the 1st couple of times I had mine running with them :rolleyes:

[husaberg]

when i seen it i though wow how often do you see a decent looking cafe racer on trademe
then i seen it was an XS 3

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/classic-vintage/auction-1346883979.htm

[T.W.R]

when i seen it i though wow how often do you see a decent looking cafe racer on trademe
then i seen it was an XS 3

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/classic-vintage/auction-1346883979.htm

He was in the twilight zone with the asking price.
This 850 is a better looking conversion....tighter, more together package

[husaberg]

He was in the twilight zone with the asking price.
This 850 is a better looking conversion....tighter, more together package

Horses for courses.
i still like the kiwi one better.:bleh:

[T.W.R]

Well one has conquered that bloody knuckle :banana: though the wee tool I had a borrow of was too short in the stem to get anything attached to it for leverage; I had to do a bit of head scratching and some rangi ingenuity, but lucky had success.
So upon inspecting the bearings & pivot pins have found the bearings basically naffed (worn outer races to the point of indents where the rollers of the inner had been running) and the hardened surface of the pins starting to show signs of pitting :(
Have cleaned most of the swingarm up ready for reassembly, changed the diff oil (was actually surprised how clean the old stuff was), fitted new bearings (had to do a bit of spot welding to shrink the outer races to enable removal), and a bit of a dulux overhaul to get it all nice looking again.

The 1st pic are the pivot pins one has had a bath & clean the top one is how they came out :rolleyes:

I'll get that all back together shortly but have a couple of jobs to do whilst she's apart but at least it's a bit closer to venturing out the door ;)

[T.W.R]

Well the arse end is back together with new bearings & boot; torqued up & aligned properly. Now it's showing up how weathered the front end looks :pinch:
so as planned that's next on the agenda: fork oil, fork seals and general clean-up.
The air scoop arrived from ST Don so that's had a clean-up ready for fitting, cheers fella :niceone:

So once the front is done & a couple of minor jobs taken care of and detailing is done she'll be getting damn close to a maiden voyage :woohoo: bloody nearly 25yrs since a triple has barked it's way around the township :innocent:

[admenk]

Looking good :2thumbsup, well done!

[T.W.R]

Looking good :2thumbsup, well done!

Every little bit of progress is a step in the right direction ;)
Still got a bit to get through but it's close to making it's way out of the shed for some runs around the township to make sure everything is behaving how it should :scooter:
Done a few in the past so getting this old girl up & running again hasn't been too troubling. Apart from a couple of bereavements and dealing with sorting out a messy estate situation during it all, it's taken a bit more time than initially expected but it's been a good escape being able to tinker away and forget about the other bullshit for a while :yes:

[T.W.R]

Well just been out in the shed having a bit of a tinker and thought I'd fire the bike up seeing it hadn't run for a while and it wouldn't kick into life, it'd fart & bang on one pot but not enough to catch so started to scratch the head thinking of what could be going on.
Checked a couple of things which all seemed fine & doing what they should so whipped the plugs out to check them and #1 & #3 absolutely nothing and a nice big fat spark off #2; swapped that plug amongst the other two leads and same nice big fat spark so OK something going on with the plugs from 1 & 3.

Gave both plugs a clean and tried both again earthing them out against the block and was getting spark but everywhere but between the point of the inner electrode & the outer, there was a fine spark dancing all around the outer electrode and up towards the ceramic insulator and even between the outer electrode and where the plug was earthed out on the motor :scratch:

Fitted some new plugs and put everything back together and the bike fired up straight away without issue so I dunno possibly two dud plugs maybe but as I had basically only fitted a fresh set and they've done at the most a total of 15-20mins running since fitted it seems a bit odd that two die and display the same symptoms. They definitely aren't anything special just basic NGK BP7ES and never had issues with NGKs before but suppose there's always a first for everything.
Hopefully all going to plan will manhandle the ol bitch out the shed next weekend and see how she's goes on a run around the block but will be checking the electrickery out during the week to see if anythings playing up.

[Grumph]

Check the resistance in the caps. When they're on the way out those are the symptoms.

Dave's race triple gave a lot of trouble till the leads were sorted out properly.

[T.W.R]

Check the resistance in the caps. When they're on the way out those are the symptoms.

Dave's race triple gave a lot of trouble till the leads were sorted out properly.

yeah Greg I was thinking along those lines but a bit further back, possibly the coils breaking down a bit so was hoping to see if anything manifested itself with a ride around the block with engine operating under proper load instead of just spinning over stationary. I have replaced the HT leads because they were stiff as buggery and one (#3) someone had taken a hunk of the insulating sleeve off then just taped it up again:crazy:
I haven't replaced the caps yet but that was on the to do list and do have a spare set of coils if need be.
Going to have to wait till next weekend as it's a 2 man job to muscle the bike out of the shed....used to do it by myself but I'm not that silly these days and don't fancy wrestling 230kg+ in a confined space if it gets away from me :lol:

Only time I've had issue with caps was on a Suzuki twin many moons ago and wasn't a pleasant experience and had one shop totally confused on what the problem was.... the bike would run sweet as a nut 90% of the time then on the odd occasion would drop a cylinder for no reason (Once was interesting as it did it as I was passing a car with others following and dropped a pot and with no power just had to drift over to the opposite side of the road out of harms way and try and get the damn thing running on all cylinders again :mad:) turned out after a bit of a desperate search that the ceramic resistor in the guts of the cap was snapped in two...funny how a small rod of ceramic maybe 15mm long & 3-4mm in diameter could cause so much trouble.

[flashg]

In 2005 I bought a brand new Yamaha FZ1, still the carbed model. I had a similar problem (one plug gave up) Rang the dealer in desperation, he asked what fuel I was running, told him 95, he said that was the problem. Sorted the plug and switched to 91, never had a problem after that. He said 95 was hard on plugs on bikes not designed for it.
Don't know what you're using, but it may help others of this potential problem.

[Grumph]

Fuel is a possibility - I've found that if you do foul a plug on 91 or 95, it doesn't matter what you do - sandblast, solvent soak, whatever - it will never come right.
Alternative coils to suit that mount and space don't seem to exist. One of the things we looked at for Dave's bike. Finished up with his best 3 coils.
I'm assuming that NOS is available somewhere...

[T.W.R]

In 2005 I bought a brand new Yamaha FZ1, still the carbed model. I had a similar problem (one plug gave up) Rang the dealer in desperation, he asked what fuel I was running, told him 95, he said that was the problem. Sorted the plug and switched to 91, never had a problem after that. He said 95 was hard on plugs on bikes not designed for it.
Don't know what you're using, but it may help others of this potential problem.


Fuel is a possibility - I've found that if you do foul a plug on 91 or 95, it doesn't matter what you do - sandblast, solvent soak, whatever - it will never come right.
Alternative coils to suit that mount and space don't seem to exist. One of the things we looked at for Dave's bike. Finished up with his best 3 coils.
I'm assuming that NOS is available somewhere...

Just running her on 91 :yes: old school low comp motor didn't see the necessity for 95, did soot the plugs up a bit when I was dialing in the carbs but nothing to the extreme though but wouldn't have thought that'd have been enough to knacker them and have seen a lot worse dealing with some the shit I dealt with at the shop.

Yep Greg NOS coils are readily available ex MikesXS.com $30US each 4ohm Hitachi same fit as XS650 & XS1100

https://www.mikesxs.net/yamaha-xs650-oem-type-signal-output-ignition-coil-oem-254-82310-60-00.html

[flashg]

Fuel is a possibility - I've found that if you do foul a plug on 91 or 95, it doesn't matter what you do - sandblast, solvent soak, whatever - it will never come right.


It was Bob McCleary that I bought the bike from. He told me he'd come across the problem on a few occasions and also said the plug would be stuffed. I replaced it.

[T.W.R]

Struck a bit of an issue with the XS so it's still sitting in the shed playing garage queen but have sorted some smaller items on it so there has been a bit of progress.
But of recent have made some progress with my mates two GSXs....the red/grey is all sorted and the blue/white one is 2/3 ready (he's still planning some sort of 80s period proddy racer type of styling so should look pretty good once done).

[jasonu]

A butt load of spares (or 2 piles of useless shit) for not much money.
https://bend.craigslist.org/mcy/d/77-and-78-yamahas/6411119098.html

[T.W.R]

A butt load of spares (or 2 piles of useless shit) for not much money.
https://bend.craigslist.org/mcy/d/77-and-78-yamahas/6411119098.html

Not much there that would be any use for my bike apart from engine casings and a few auxiliary items, but a gold mine for someone as some bits are hens teeth to get hold of & stupid expensive OEM if available.
Mine has different frame, forks, body work,carbs, diff head etc
The Kerker pipe is worth a few bucks by itself.

Bit far away too ;)