I saw somewhere a link to http://www.crossbreedcycles.co.uk which didn't open, however a search found http://www.crossbreedcycles.net/index.html which includes lots of good info on a Maserati V6 bike, and other goodies, e.g. Ducati desmo head on Harley!
http://www.crossbreedcycles.net/desmohog.html
The first thing he says is Not sure what I was thinking when I came up with this idea. and I agree. But he follows it up with the best reason - I built it because I could.
Zen wisdom: No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously. - obviously had KB in mind when he came up with that gem
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity
A more common reason was told to me by Ray Mulqueen when we discussed Lucky Keizer's V twin...."it seemed like a good idea after a couple of beers"...Originally Posted by Mental Trousers;1130990730
The first thing he says is [i
The Laverda foundry was obviously a busy place and did work for a lot of the Italian manufacturers.
The first laverda triple i had apart was a restoration and i wanted to restore the OE finish on the engine castings - a very pale green colour.
With the aid of the previously mentioned Ray Mulqueen whose area of expertise it is, we ID'd it as an obsolete NATO protective coating...which is no longer available as the chromates have gone green (yes, a pun...)
Ray reckoned that foundry had done the work for MV's Bell choppers sold to NATO forces and they'd probably used what they had in stock for their own work.
I read an interesting story the other day about Taglioni (ie mr Ducati desmo designer)
They were having a bit of trouble getting some race parts made, as the government was running Ducati (this seems to happen periodically with Italian firms esp Ducati)
He remembered what Enzo Ferrari had said to him, about the doors to Ferrari always being open for him (he was of course meaning a job offer)
So they rocked up to Modena on a Friday, asked to see Enzo and true to his words Enzo had the factory run around make up whatever Taglioni wanted, all at no cost.
Lot's of good things here. That Laverda had a really long swing arm. In line with the countershaft so no centre distance change between sprockets? Might be a nice engineering feature, but maybe other factors (eg squat) override this as no-one currently seems to be striving to do it.
I don't think it could have been a success as far as being a race winner was concerned but it is definitely engineered well as far as compactness and looks are concerned and it's got to be just about the best sounding bike I have ever heard!
That's my opinion anyway - some people like the looks and sound of a Harley Davidson too, some the sound of a Manx Norton and some a V4 two stroke in full flight - every man to his own I guess!
I like them all!
Strokers Galore!
The trend has been toward longer swingarms for some time Ken. A lot of the late sports bikes have gone to stacked gearbox shafts to shorten the power unit and get the pivot further forward. I'm unsure of the geometrical advantages - but it does give more room for suspension linkages.
The once trendy pivot in line with the countershaft does seem to have been dropped as it doesn't have advantages in the real world.
Last summer I was looking at a gorgeous Spondon Suzuki someone rode out to the track. Magnificent workmanship - but a hell of a lot of trouble to go to just to get the pivot in line with the output shaft. Probably added about a thousand pounds to the price...
I think it was the clearly the fastest fowl stroke bike on the track from memory, even though it was almost completely undeveloped.
It needs to be considered it was being used in Endurance racing rather than sprints.
There was a lot to be said especially at that time with regards to reliability.
A heck of a lot of the developments at that time also came from the endurance racing fraternity.
All those bike have great sounds, Myself I would love to hear the sound of the Moto Guzzi V8 being used in anger and in person.
I believe the stacked gearbox's and long swingarms are more about getting better weight distribution
I believe theses changes are predominantly driven by tire and suspension developments.
Ps grumph next time you are working on Kevin Orrs MB100, tip the engine up so the cylinder is upright you will then notice it actually has a stacked gearbox not bad for a 1982 design aye
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