Lands End Trial
Lands End Trial 2015 – order out of chaos
One of the problems with using an old 2-stroke for long-distance trials is that you need so much stuff. Higher fuel consumption and the need for pre-mix oil means you have to find room for three litres of various petrochemical fluids before you start stashing the tools, tyre levers and spare inner tubes that everyone … Continue reading
Lands End Trial 2015 – Chott suspension improvements
An oil leak from the right-hand fork slider near the pinch bolt has proved impossible to cure by simply making/remaking/improving the seal at the damper-rod retaining bolt. I am beginning to think that the problem might be a hairline crack somewhere impossible to see – perhaps as a result of previous over-tightening of the pinch … Continue reading
Laverda Chott clutch clean-up – part 3
The switch to 20w/50 engine oil in the gearbox (as per the 1976 handbook) did indeed prove a great success, but not a long-lived one. The clutch worked well for about 80% of the trial but started to drag towards the end, making the Blue Hills 1 & 2 restarts tricky enough for me to … Continue reading
Lands End Trial 2014 – Report: must try harder
Well, we did it. Third time lucky. In 2012 (my first year on the Chott) multiple punctures brought things to an early close and I spent the night – the whole night! – at Barbrook, on the edge of Exmoor, trying to mend them. Last year electrical gremlins took up residence in the 90-minute van … Continue reading
Laverda Chott clutch clean-up – part 2
Clutch all clean and plates oil-free once more. That still leaves the question of how the oil got in there in the first place. The O-ring in the clutch basket ‘lid’ and the oil seal on the shaft are both good. Even though the handbook says use 20w/50 engine oil in the gearbox, I have … Continue reading
Lands End Trial 2012 – glory postponed, again
Or … ‘In praise of the good people of Barbrook, Devon.’ What are these? They are the end of my Lands End Trial, that’s what they are. At some hard-to-determine time between 3am and 6am on Saturday multiple punctures brought my LET 2012 to a complete halt with just two sections and two tests under … Continue reading
Laverda 2TR – preparing for the Lands End Trial – Part 3
As a first time competitor in a long distance trial and a complete off-road novice, the one thing that baffled me beyond anything else (beyond single digit tyre pressures even!) was how the hell I was going to read (and manipulate) a route card that runs to 20 pages of A4 whilst nipping around the … Continue reading
Of brake light switches and MOTs
With the Laverda mechanicals all sorted out I turned to the electrics, anticipating what would surely be an easy MOT. The horn had by-now given up the ghost, but that was no big deal. Simple pattern replacement sourced for a tenner; beautiful original stored for future diagnostics. New old stock CEV headlamp with lovely fresh … Continue reading
Lands End to Edinburgh without turning a wheel
Well the Lands End Trial came and went without me finishing the Laverda prep, but she’s done now and looking and riding great. Eyes now fixed on the Edinburgh in October (dates still tbc by MCC). Repairing and refinishing the badly corroded aluminium part of the enclosed rear chain was a tricky job. Cleaning off … Continue reading
Moto Simpatico at Influx Magazine
Had a visit from Mike Fordham, maestro at Influx Magazine. Cool guy and very ‘simpatico’. This was the result. www.influx.co.uk He’s done a great job of the photos. The Sport 15 looks peachy. Can’t see how the others could be bettered without a time machine or a bit of plastic surgery. (Now, where’s my Dremel?)
