Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

•. • .- foot and hand massa ge. Yes . Virginia, it docs shake. There's no vert ical twin in the wo rld wi th a 3 6 0 -degree cra n ksha ft that d o esn't sh ake with out a u x iliary bobwcigh ts to co m pe n sa te (a la Yumn ha} . It's a so lid -Iee lin g , sligh lly harsh ride UIa! c an ge t to y ou afte r two o r thr e e h ours with ou t a brea k , Th e 750cc single o verhea d -c am eng ine (ra ted at 65 liP) o n o ur tcs t bike felt very st ro ng a nd responsive off idl e, went int o somcthing o f a nat sp ot a t midrange, th e n go l o n th e pipe and sa ng on up to red-lin e. Little twitches o f th rottl e a t lo w RP~I p roduced gre a t respon sive urges of th rus t. ideal fo r working quickly a nd quietl y through traffic with a min imu m of ruffl ed feathers in y o ur wa ke. Yet the respo nse to great h a n d f ul s was very little respo nse at all. In that re spect, it d id a t times remind us o f an overgrown Super Hawk. It's n eith er a stop ligh t dragon nor a to n -u p streaker (th o ugh it will break 100 in a le isu rel y fashion that again reminded us of o ur old TR6R Triumph) . Inst ead , it 's a eom fo r t ab le engin e to w or k with to co ver lots o f gro und a t quasi-legal sp ee ds , w ith but a mod icum of stress. \Vith a triplex prim a ry chai n , a duple x ca m c hain a nd everything e lse designed on a m atching scale, so mebody figured fo r this engine to live a lo ng time . . The bars are low and wide, si tua ted co m fo rtab ly in rel ation t o foo tpegs an d sea t . Th e c1u tch feel is m ed iu m-h ea vy , th e th ro ttle th ro w longer tha n we lik e (almost two h a ndfuls) , sh if t ing is medi um-st iff a nd p ositive and the brakes - ah , th e b ra kes. Th ey are strong. Th ey 're co ns iderab ly st ro nge r th an th e MT I I Pirelli tir es o u r test bi ke was fitted w ith . Th e rear brake h as a n unusual co up ling linkage between th e two b rake cams o n th e dual-leading-sh oe ba cking plate : a sp ring-loaded ra ther th an a ri gid lin k rod. It makes so me sense in th eory , as a ri gid link on a DLS bra ke is d iffic ult to adjus t for p erfectly synch ro no u s bra ke shoe ac t ua t io n . Ours h ad ex cellent ini tial feel, but h ad a tendency to grab suddenly, at med ium p ressu re, as weigh t tr ansfer s forward, a nd th e spring link might aggrava te th at. It's hard to pin down. The dual fr ont dis c unit will squall the tire w ith tw o fin gers. Enough sa id . TI,e Pirell is don't seem to h a ve the dry -pavement grip of, say, a Du n lop lTIOO, but they are fa r more fo rgi ving tires on wet or d irt y p av ement. With some 2800 miles on the m eter, howe ver, tfiey were ge tting visib ly worn in the cen te r rib a rea - m ay b e 4 0 % tread left. Pa rt of this wear pattern co m cs from having humongous brakes . In the co rn ering departm ent, the Laverda is really fine , with a coup le o f qualifiers . One o f th es e is ti ed t o the overall weight. This exceed ing ly stab le mo t o rc y cl e is a h andful to th ro w down and p ick up quick ly. This limits your speed through extremely tight , twisty stuff, but o nc e se t , roadholding a nd st eering are spo t on . For a bi g b oomer, it's relativel y narrow a nd basic cornering clearan ce is good , bu t yo u will gr o u nd the so mewh at bulbous exhaust crossover p ipe on both sides if you don't hang o ff', Yo u la y it into one o f those 5 0- 6 0 MPH sweepers in about third gea r , fe a therin g the throttle, se ttle your body to the low side, drop a knee and it will ti ghten up if y ou want t o; it just feels so fine. Wat ch it with any a b ru p t braking or acc elera tio n : The fro n t wheel with the dual d iscs is a heft y ro ta ting m ass, h eavy en o ugh that su d den slo wi ng o r sp eeding up o f th a t mass will pull th e steeri ng o ne w ay o r the o the r. h 's notic eabl e enough th at sm o o thness re all y co u n ts. Sometimes this phenomenon (p art of the mech an ics o f gy ros ) ca n b e made 10 wor k fo r yo u, as wh en a d ab of fron t bra ke ,vill ma ke th e b ike set up for a left tum m ore q u ickly . Best to know what yo u're d oing, as the hazard in suc h a move is o bvio us. Whi le a ll this h anky-panky is go ing on, of co urse , th e Lave rda is sha king in tune w ith th e e ngi ne. It 's no t a d o wn and dirt y shake like an o ld rigid-m ounted N ort on - iCs m or e o f a mild h igh to mid-fr equency m assage reminiscen t of a go od taut Triumph . Though not grossl y a n no y ing, it d oes loosen things. For the re cord, in 800 IKII IKII ...:I g ~ g

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