Loving LEV!
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics|March 2017

Our Pip rescues and restores a famous Ducati Daytona. Here’s the tale in his inimitable words.

Pip Higham
Loving LEV!

When I was a lad,I bought a crashed Ariel Leader from one-legged, briar-pipe smoking Billy Briggs (Motorcycles) in Salford for 40 quid.

I straightened out the forks and fiddled around with it, but as my 16th birthday approached I could see my dad getting a bit edgy. He thought I was going to go and run into the first solid object I encountered on two wheels. On the first Saturday after my birthday (and still with a full complement of working limbs) he dragged me to King’s on Stretford Road to look at NEW bikes! There were Hondas, Yams and rather a long line of Ducatis. I was quite taken with the little Dukes and at just over £200 they were very appealing but I eventually succumbed to the meticulous Honda-ness of the CB160.

Its little blue tool roll and sweet controls were hard to resist: it was so damn cute. I can also remember at the end of the row of shiny bronze and chrome (thin chrome, mind) Ducati Elites were a couple of Daytonas, with sit-up bars, looking undeniably smart, but all I wanted to do was fiddle with the switches on the 160 and weigh up how long it would take me to whip out the baffles.

Moving on a few years and I happened across a black Daytona bearing the registration LEV 80C. The history with it said it had been thrashed by several bike journos who’d tested it for Motor Cycle and Motorcycle Mechanics, back in the day. I had to buy it and it’s now back to exactly as it was intended to be, but how did I make it so?

Rejuvenating LEV 80C

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2017 من Classic Motorcycle Mechanics.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2017 من Classic Motorcycle Mechanics.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS مشاهدة الكل
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Honda VFR750R - RC30

If there’s a more worshipped V4 out there, we’ve yet to see it: welcome to our reboot of the awesome VFR750R RC30…

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2021
Mountain tension!
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Mountain tension!

Award-winning motorcycle engineer!

time-read
5 mins  |
September 2021
Fazer set to STUN!
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Fazer set to STUN!

What do you get when you mix CRK’s lovely café racer kit to Yamaha’s budget middleweight and the recently-retired Martin Fox? Well, one helluva foxy Fazer!

time-read
6 mins  |
September 2021
Project Suzuki 1984 RG250 part 4 BRUNO BARES ALL!
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Project Suzuki 1984 RG250 part 4 BRUNO BARES ALL!

This month, while we wait for backorder engine parts, we strip the chassis back to the bare frame, assess what is needed and plan the reassembly…

time-read
6 mins  |
September 2021
Project Kawasaki Z900 Stocker part 2 Ralph has a blast!
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Project Kawasaki Z900 Stocker part 2 Ralph has a blast!

For the best finish on his Z900’s motor Ralph wants the best, so he visits Stephen Smethurst Casting Renovation to find out how it’s done properly.

time-read
10 mins  |
September 2021
Project Suzuki TS400 Part 8 Loom with a view!
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Project Suzuki TS400 Part 8 Loom with a view!

We’re getting down into the nitty-gritty this time with component testing and loom building. What could go wrong?

time-read
6 mins  |
September 2021
Project Yamaha TX750 Part 12 A question of balance…
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Project Yamaha TX750 Part 12 A question of balance…

Only The Beach Boys had good vibrations… so what’s Mark been up to, to sort out the bad ones coming from his TX750?

time-read
6 mins  |
September 2021
Splitting links
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Splitting links

Ralph Ferrand works with tools all day long – he sells them too at bikerstoolbox.co.uk so he knows what works.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 2021
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

STAVROS: PRINCE OF PRANKSTERS!

It’s probably fair to say that Stephen JamesParrish’s persona and overall levity throughout his life have muddied the waters as to just how good a bike racer he was back in the day.

time-read
1 min  |
September 2021
Metal magic!
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Metal magic!

Ralph Ferrand works with tools all day long – he sells them too at bikerstoolbox co uk so he knows what works.. .

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2021