Time Warp Vintage Motorcycle Club

Bike of the Month

For the Timewarp Club's first Bike-of-the-month, I am submitting my 1978 Laverda 1200 Jota America. I bought it on Ebay which seems to be the only source for Laverdas here in the USA and even there months can go by without any offered for sale. This one was in Atlanta, close enough to make me jump on it.

This particular 1200 would not appeal to the collector of perfectly stock bikes because it has been modified in many ways- the original bike had standard low Euro bars and mid-set controls while this one has the real Jota adjustable bars and rearsets. The engine originally was aimed at touring and had low compression pistons, mild cams and a quiet exhaust. Mine has been Jotarised with the hot 4C cams, high compression pistons and free-flowing exhaust. Oh boy, what a difference! Cosmetically, the PO had the engine covers powder-coated black (BOO!) and painted the body bits in an SFC orange that looks a little bit off to me.

As is often the case, the bike had some undisclosed problems – the clutch slipped, the primary chain rollers were breaking up, and the engine ran poorly. I put a new chain and clutch in it, sorted the carbs and voila! It is now working as it should. Hudson and I rode to the Gap for its maiden voyage and it was all I hoped it would be- loads of grunty power, a unique rortyexhaust note, and great handling that came standard on Italian bikes. It will never win a concours, but I like it just the way it is.

The Laverda triple came out in 1973 with fanfare since it was big for the time at 1000cc and had an unusual 180 degree crank. It never really caught on in the USA as it was priced at the top end and had no more engine performance than the Kawasaki Z1. What it did have was superior handling and excellent quality. It was never campaigned here as far as I know, but it had considerable success across the sea, winning the Avon Superbike title in 1976, 1978, and 1979 in the UK and several other championships.