Strada Camshaft Oil Ways

[Ventodue]

I wonder why nobody imported Forzas and Stradas when they were new? As far as I remember the exchange rate with the Peseta was favourable.

Pure speculation, and Jon will have a better view, I'm sure. But ...

Coburn and Hughes is probably your answer, Colin. If Mick Walker is to be believed, C&H didn't even want to import the last Bologna singles. So there'd have been little chance that in 1976, which is when the Forza arrived, they'd start bringing in Mototrans singles ...

I guess someone else could have stepped in. But why? This was the "Super Bike" era. I'm not sure small capacity models from an unknown supplier would have had much pull.

[themoudie]

After purchasing my '74 MKIII 450 in 1976 from a dealer in London, who had 3 other secondhand 450 MKIII, 2 x 350 MKIII and 3 x 250 MKIII, as well as scrambler 450 and 250's, I visited Coburn & Hughes in Luton for spares and to pick the brains of the mechanics, before I emigrated to the IoM! At that time, in August 1976, C&H showroom was full of MKIII, Scrambler and Desmo machines that they were finding difficult to shift and the warranty work they were receiving on chrome, paintwork, electrics and engines was problematic. Many people weren't changing the oil frequently enough, or were 'lugging' the engine in too high a gear, as you could with a long stroke single. Why would you buy an Italian single, with a catalogue of faults, when for less money you could buy a reliable Japanese 4 cylinder, albeit with chromed disc brakes and nylon tyres!

My electronic ignition packed up, as I suspect many others did and with no workshop manual and no readily available spares I had to resort to building the EI box described in the 'Bike' magazine of the day that Bill Haylock and 'Another' devised and fitted to a 450MKIII. Mine worked well, as long as the lights weren't switched on, as that caused the fuse to blow! At the time, my electrickery skills were few and I had a boat booked from Liverpool to Douglas to catch. So, when I went to start my journey and after the repairs that I had made, the lights were turned 'ON' and the fuse blew again; I had to resort to the British Railways guards van. But, that is a whole different story!

C&H were "burnt" badly by the MKIII widecase singles. Why would C&H wish to compound their problems, with Spanish built machines, potentially harbouring more of the same problems, even though the Vento looks the part?

Have a Merry Xmas and Good Health for 2022 and beyond, Bill

[Duccout]

I suppose that Vic Camp's experience with the 24 Horrors burnt a lot of fingers too, plus the era was wrong, nobody wanted a road-going Single, especially one that was not Japanese! I actually mentioned why nobody was importing Mototrans Singles to Steve Wynne, around the end of the Seventies, and his reply was that he had considered it several times, but the build quality was not good enough, so Bill and Craig, you are probably spot-on.

Your average Ducati rider in the early days was prepared to do a lot of messing to keep their bikes running, but the average motorcyclist was not! Does anyone remember the various attempts to import Sanglas 500 Singles into Britain? I think there were about three separate importers over time, but nobody wanted to buy the bikes. Enfield were the same in the beginning, going through several importers, but at least Enfields had the attraction of being very cheap.

BTW, does anyone remember a press release from Ducati (Bologna) in 1978 saying that they were going to start producing the Singles again in 250, 350 and 450 capacities with 12v electrics? They showed a picture of three bikes, painted white, but that was all there ever was.

Merry Christmas to everyone, maybe we will all find a new big-end in our stocking!

Colin

[blethermaskite]

When I bought my 350mk3 from a dealer in Belfast he was having quite a lot of trouble getting his small collection of new widecase singles sold (which I believe all came via Coburn and Hughs) I didn't have the ready cash to buy the bike so he said he would keep it for me until I had the money and also discounted the bike £100 explaining he just wanted the Ducati's away....it took me 4 months of near starvation to scrape the money together and finally get my one and only ever new Ducati.........imagine a large dealer doing that now!
Happy Christmas to all
Cheers,
George

[Duccout]

Here is a funny story: I thought I would get out for a quick ride this morning, and went along the lanes, having the time of my life, the little bike running tremendously, really working well. I stopped for petrol and set off on the route back home, gradually giving the bike more welly, until when opening up along a straight, it cut out, dead. I coasted to a stop, took off my helmet and pondered, as it seemed terminal. The obvious thing was that the throttle cable had a lot of slack in it, so my first thought was that the needle clip had come off and been sucked into the engine, and I now had a full tank of petrol to get off, so with a few expletives, I lifted the seat to get to the tool kit, to take off the carb; can anyone guess what I found? The rag that the tools were wrapped in had been sucked into the open bellmouth.

At least it did not take long to fix!

BTW, if anyone here knows Laurie Richardson, he is suffering from a bad back and I am sure that he would appreciate some get well messages.




Colin

[George]

Good to hear you have finally sorted out your Strada Colin. Time to enjoy the summer.

[Duccout]

Here is something I'd appreciate opinions on...... As previously told, my 250 has a Mikuni 28mm carb on it, and after much head scratching about the engine not wanting to run just off idle, I thought that I had solved it, but not quite....

On every start up, no matter how long I warm the engine before riding off, as soon as I put the bike in gear and pull away for the first time, the engine dies. It feels like the fuel is turned off, but it isn't. But the weirdest thing is, one kick without choke will start it again and then it runs perfectly, with no more problems. Reading items on the 'net it appears Mikunis are prone to cold-start problems, so maybe it is just a case of heat getting through to warm the carb body?

Does anyone think that it could be carb icing due to the carb body being cold?

Colin

[veloduke]

Hi Colin
I too have a 28mm Mikuni, fitted to a 24 Horrors.
When stone cold, it doesn't really want to pull away at low(-ish) revs, but get 100m down the road and all is well.
I have no explanation for that .
Apart from that the bike runs great with the Mikuni, and usually needs just one kick to start it.
I am running it with a 1.5 slide, it didn't like the 2.0 that came with the carb.

[Duccout]

Hi Max,

My Mikuni came with a 2.0, which was obviously too weak, so I turned it down a bit to make it a 1.5, but I may buy a proper 1.5 sometime, as you experienced the same problem. It seems to be fine now, so I feel that the engine dying when pulling away cold is a Mikuni 'thing'.

Colin

[themoudie]

Aye Colin,

Reads as though the carb is just a wee bit lean on the pick-up from the pilot jet and E fuel doesn't help, IMHO.

I have something similar with the AMAL 2932 MKII 32mm on my 450 MKIII, but not on start up.

Use the choke, prime and then swing, with ignition "ON" and it fires up, return the choke lever, so that I have a fast idle (~1,500rpm) and then seat the choke after about a minute, the engine sits and idles at ~1,100rpm. Then rides away no problem, but after 5 miles and a fill up with E5 (I have used E10 on occassion, when nothing else is available) and a dose of Miller's Petrol Power Ecomax at 1ml to 1litre of fuel; sometimes the engine will not start unless full choke is applied? I suspect evaporation, as the vapours can be seen issuing from under the slide, after stopping to refuel.

However, in spite of hours tweaking the pilot jet (25, 27.5, 30, 35 and 40 cc's per minute sizes), air adjuster screw and both No.3 and No.3.5 slides there is still a stumble as the slide is opened and the transition from pilot jet to slide occurs. At present I am running a 25 pilot jet, pilot airscrew out from seated by 1½ turns and a No.3 slide and getting a very light tan ring below the ceramic nose of the plug, when held on a steady pulling throttle on the slide. I suspect that the homemade exhaust might be affecting things, or else the lack of metal in the base of the inlet port, so that the mixture tends to pass straight through the head, rather than being lifted and dropped into the combustion chamber.

I hope that you find a simple and cheap cure.

Good health, Bill