Laverda SF?

speirmoor · May 14, 2010

The look of them is kinda growing on me.I clicked on a pic of one thinking it was a Commando with a modified frame but it wasnt it was a '74 Laverda SF.Then after looking at its frame its so simple.No isolastics.Was it a smoother motor and didnt vibrate as much? Does anyone remember?

Danno · May 14, 2010

305 Honda on steroids. as I remember, they were buzzier than a hornet's nest.

speirmoor · May 14, 2010

Danno said:
305 Honda on steroids. as I remember, they were buzzier than a hornet's nest.

LoL thats funny.!
actually that frame doesn't look like the one on the bike at all but it does have similarities the way the engine is attached.

grandpaul · May 15, 2010

OHC engines are almost always smoother than pushrod engines...

Danno · May 15, 2010

grandpaul said:
OHC engines are almost always smoother than pushrod engines...

I wonder why that would be true. Do you think the cam(s) act as some sort of counterbalancer? Or would it have more to do with a shorter stroke?

swooshdave · May 15, 2010

The parallel twin cylinder engine featured no less than five main bearings (four crankcase bearings and a needle-roller outrigger bearing in the primary chaincase cover), a duplex cam chain, and a starter motor easily twice as powerful as needed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverda

grandpaul · May 16, 2010

Danno said:
grandpaul said:

OHC engines are almost always smoother than pushrod engines...

Click to expand...

I wonder why that would be true. Do you think the cam(s) act as some sort of counterbalancer? Or would it have more to do with a shorter stroke?

Don't know the intricate technical explanation, but it nearly always seems to be the case.

speirmoor · May 17, 2010

swooshdave said:
The parallel twin cylinder engine featured no less than five main bearings (four crankcase bearings and a needle-roller outrigger bearing in the primary chaincase cover), a duplex cam chain, and a starter motor easily twice as powerful as needed.

Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverda

how does that compare to the commando # of bearings do you know?

grandpaul · May 17, 2010

Standard Commando has two bearings, left and right.

I guess you can count the timing cover plain bearing surface for the oiling nose of the crank...

BillT · May 17, 2010

I always liked the Laverda triples - they had an unusual crank profile. Bikes like the Trident and Rocket 3 had the pistons 120 deg apart, resulting in a cylinder firing every 240 degrees. The Laverda triples had the pistons 180 deg apart, with the center one down when the outer ones were up. This gave an uneven firing sequence, similar to the the 'big bang' Hondas and Yamahas. 180-180-360.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPVqEhQ2b2U&feature=related

BrianK · May 17, 2010

BillT said:
I always liked the Laverda triples - they had an unusual crank profile. Bikes like the Trident and Rocket 3 had the pistons 120 deg apart, resulting in a cylinder firing every 240 degrees. The Laverda triples had the pistons 180 deg apart, with the center one down when the outer ones were up. This gave an uneven firing sequence, similar to the the 'big bang' Hondas and Yamahas. 180-180-360.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPVqEhQ2b2U&feature=related

The early ones did. Laverda went to a 120 degree crank later. Smoother, but less, um "elemental" in power delivery and sound. Gimme a 180 any day.

pelican · May 18, 2010

That's a beautiful bike!

79x100 · May 18, 2010

I've only ridden one of those 750 Laverda twins. It was a dreadful shaker. Not quite 650cc Matchless dreadful but certainly not pleasant and it didn't seem to have a sweet spot.

prmurat · May 19, 2010

i have a SF2 and a RGS Executive...SF2 is smoother that the Commando but with less grunt/torque but morre top speed. brakes are better too as is the handling: you are not just sitting on the top of the bike but more part of it... heavier than the Commando too! bulletproof engine but poor electricity! The RGS (120 crank) is a complete different animal: smooth, civilized and ready to eat miles after miles of large roads, more of a modern bike than the classic macho-Jota.
Philippe

ML · May 20, 2010

The S2 clutch was really heavy to work. All round a damn tough bike, yep the electrics were shite. An Aussie has made an electronics ignition system for the twins and triples. I rode a Jota 1000 once, hells bells that had some grunt but was physically tiring to go anymore than an hour on it. Top of the '70's real muscle bikes, alongside with Ducati SS 900. The Kawasaki 900 was positively gay compared to those two.

mick

Danno · May 21, 2010

By 'gay' you must mean faster, more reliable, more comfortable and a shitload easier to get parts and go-faster upgrades for.

pelican · May 22, 2010

frankdamp · May 22, 2010

Are Italian electrics even worse than those from the Prince of Darkness? My experience with a couple of Renault cars suggests the French ones are, but I've never owned any Italian machinery.

ML · May 22, 2010

Danno said:
By 'gay' you must mean faster, more reliable, more comfortable and a shitload easier to get parts and go-faster upgrades for.

To be politically correct, lets say the Z1 was "civilised". But the Jota was faster...135MPH out of the box, handled better and braked better..ie. it had double brembo disc up front when the Z1 had a pretty basic single. The Jota was noisy , harsh, heavy and physically hard work to drive and did it with hairy chest macho style. No longer fashionable with todays digital space racer plastic missiles.

Mick

Danno · May 23, 2010

ML said:
Danno said:

By 'gay' you must mean faster, more reliable, more comfortable and a shitload easier to get parts and go-faster upgrades for.

Click to expand...

To be politically correct, lets say the Z1 was "civilised". But the Jota was faster...135MPH out of the box, handled better and braked better..ie. it had double brembo disc up front when the Z1 had a pretty basic single. The Jota was noisy , harsh, heavy and physically hard work to drive and did it with hairy chest macho style. No longer fashionable with todays digital space racer plastic missiles.

Mick

You'd think Laverda would've won a superbike Race or two. Kawboy Racing could have been Lavboy Racing. Uh....maybe not. that sounds like he would have been sponsored by a men's room attendant.