Subscribe and save:www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs AUGUST 2019 I87LAVERDA 500
Unexpectedfind:abunch ofpoprivets in the fueltank.Andthetank repairedagain
madecontactwith the small screwsholding
the cush drivetogether.All the screwswere
sheared offandthe bosses on the clutch cush
driveweremainly gone.Whatamess.
Howonearthcould this selectorshaft
possiblycome out of the cases?It is held in
placebyasmall pin thatgoes throughadrill
holein the lowercasetolocatewithahole in
the shaft. Thepin is secured in placebythe
layshaft main bearing.
It seemed thatafairly straightforwardcure
would betoLoctitethewalkabout spindle
intothe case behind the clutch.Alldamaged
partswere replaced,and all againwasrosy.
Forawhile.
Some months laterIreceivedatentative
call fromGalen andMary.Thegearchange
wasnot quiterightagain.Maybe it needed
adjustment? Back on the bench: the same-old
same-old,but this time the damagewasfar
worse.Itwas timetoget the engine outto
find whaton earth is going on.
Youdon’t necessarily needtostrip the
entireenginetoget intothe transmission
of anyLaverdas.The 50 0offerstwoways
of doing it.The factorymethod istobuild
from the bottom up.Thismeans placing
everything intothe lowercase half,thenthe
cylinder block and head.The shortcut when
working on an already fully assembled engine
is totip the whole thing upside down and
go from there. Theenginecomes out of the
frame from either direction. Hump the thing
ontothe bench and invert it,sunnyside up.It
is adistinctadvantagetohaveaveryfit, burly
policeman asaneighbour!
Offwith both sidecovers.Therightside
magnetorequiresapuller and the crank
side thrustretainer isacastellatedthreaded
ring.Itisleft-hand thread and needs the
propertooltoundo it.Asyou maysee from
the photos,MrBodger Supreme had no
suchtool,sosimplythumpedatit withabig
hammer and drift.
On the leftside,the clutchcentrenut
is also left-hand thread.Withboth sides
showing only shafts sticking out,itistimeto
take offthe lowercase halftoreveal the gory
details.Onceall thenuts areremoved,tap
lightlyround the case withyour rubberfive-
pounder,and do thesame on the protruding
shafts.Liftedoff,wesee theexposed
crankshaftand allofthetransmission gears
and theirrespectiveshafts.
The‘gowalkabout’selectorspindle is
supposedtobe held securely in placeby
alittle 8mmx4mm pin thatsits inasmall
drilling beneath the layshaft bearing and thus
entering intoahole in the spindle.Therewas
no pintobe seen, hencethe spindlewasfree
to come out far enoughtocause GBHtothe
clutch cush driveassembly.
While rummaging around,you can actually
see theexcellentinternalengineeringwhich
earned the 500 engine its‘J ewel of Breganze’
moniker.Observethateverymoving part
runs onroller,ball or needle-type caged
bearings.Eventheright-side clutch operatingshaft, which only movesafew degrees each
time the handlebar lever is operated,hastwo
needleracestolocateit.Thegear selector
drum thatneverrotatesafullturnhas caged
ball bearings each end.Thecrankshafthas
twoball bearings,one each end withtwo
massiveneedle bearings in thecentre.Even
the starterone-wayclutch is mountedona
pair of caged ball bearings.Thetwooverhead
camshafts run on no less than six needle
races, oneoneach end of the shafts andtwo
largecentralones. Icould go on butyouget
mydrift!
Looking intothe lowercase half,therewas
enough dirtand debristosuccessfullygrow
spuds.Thecase jointingcompoundwasnot
the factorystuff.Asisoften thecase with
amateurs,itwas applied fromabricklayer’s
hodand trowel; fartoothick.