Dart valve seats

[sheddweller]

My 400 Dart is an early one, (165 frame No). Does anyone know if Cagiva went all modern and fitted hardened valve seats (i.e. unleaded compatible) to the Darts??
It's probaly been done before, but when I saw the oil level sensor on the sump plug, and the steady stream of oil leaking from it, I binned it and fitted a standard plug from a Hatz air cooled diesel. I then had a nut brazed onto the end of the banjo bolt carrying oil to the cooler and fitted an oil pressure switch and ran the wire from the dash light to the pressure switch. So my oil light on the dash now registers oil pressure. On the bench all seems to be working fine, but I should have it on the road for the ultimate test shortly.

[morini_tom]

I don't know that there was anything different about the dart valve seats, but in any case you'll find that the collective morini wisdom says that morinis are pretty kind to their valve seats and using unleaded on the standard seats just isn't an issue.

It's certainly never been a problem in my many 10's of thousands of km aboard my dart.

Splash some fuel in the tank and take her for a spin. On that note, over the course of the first couple of tankfulls do keep an eye on the tank for leaks- weeping from the bobbins where the airbox and the fuel tap are mounted is not uncommon due to damage caused by overtightening and using too long bolts

[sheddweller]

Thanks for that, I am a bit concerned that a bike that has done less than 4,000klms will not have much lead residue hammered into the seats. There is a small firm just up the road who make their own inline, tin laden cannister that they say will last 1.5 million klms, and improve the performance of modern fuels, for about 100 Euros.
I'll keep an eye on the fuel tank, thamnks for the tip.
Garry.

[EVguru]

There is a small firm just up the road who make their own inline, tin laden cannister that they say will last 1.5 million klms, and improve the performance of modern fuels, for about 100 Euros.

It will do nothing more than improve their income by 100 Euro and add weight to your bike, they simply don't work.

"As tested by the Road Transport Laboratory" is a typical claim.

Yes, tested and found to be of no value, but tested none the less, so the statement is true!

Modern fuels don't need their performance improving, they are already much better. You no longer need to do a decoke at regular intervals for example.

Almost any seat fitted to an alloy head is going to be good enough for use with unleaded, whether it's been work hardened on not. Any residual lead goes away after a 1000 miles or so, so that's no help. At worst you've got valves and seats that will only last 20,000 miles, rather than a potential 100,000, so just ride it! If you ever actually manage to wear out the seats, then worry about how to fix it.

[Brubru]

Yes, marketing has a lot to do with playing with words and letting people believe more than what you effectively said. In this case, it will do nothing, but at least during 1.5 milions klms. I am wondering what it starts doing after that.

For the quietness of your mind, you might have a regular check (every 1000 miles or so) at the valve clearance and after 10000 miles buy something nice with the 100 Euro you would have saved.

Bruno