W/E 15th October 2017

Work still in progress…note new ‘Cox’ silencer

So back to the garage for the past week to try and cure a misfire…

When I rode the Atlas the 10 miles home following the rear-end shunt it only ran on one. I quickly found a plug cap had been dislodged when it lay on its side. Didn’t think much to the plug caps so a fresh set went on and we were good to go…then Monday saw me taking a deep breath as I got ready to navigate London rush hour traffic on one and a bit cylinders! I’ve done this many times over the 20 years commute and the trick is momentum and anticipation. We spluttered in and then back home. Being as I don’t get home ’til late I was consigned to car for the rest of the week.

The plugs were nearly new and gave a spark so I wondered about the carb’. Soon got that off on the Friday – all looked okay? Saturday was taken so I only had Sunday to fix things and so set to work…

Bare wires can’t be good

I quickly found that the wires up from the ignition triggers had lost their insulation – I’d heard about this on triples but assumed it happened down by the engine not the top end junction box. Anyhow ‘that’s it’ I thought and I spent a rather frustrating couple of hours taping the wires and then finding another set of triggers with insulated wire to try instead. Mrs A wandered down and help position the igniton rotor so I could check the air gaps. The second set of triggers seemed better but the bike wouldn’t run on two at low revs and would cut in on a wider throttle.

I looked over at Atlas #2 which was fitted with the Sachse ignition and decided I had to rob Peter to pay Paul – time and my patience was running out…

Sachse fitted – redundant standard triggers still be removed

It was pretty straightforward to switch over – though I wanted to swap to newer Honda coils at the same time but the horrid brown Motard units were held in place by a set of bolts that seemed too small for an 8mm spanner but too big for a 7 (don’t think Laverda ever ran imperial but you never know…) so the originals stayed in place. Pressed the button and…one cylinder at tickover that burst in to two as the revs increased – Grrrrr!

I decided to try an old plug I had lying around and she’s back on two!

I’d like to say I saw the funny side…

Nick 🙂