1982 Laverda Jota

1982 Laverda Jota

I bought this matching numbers Jota from Slaters in 2005.

It was a bike that had been totally restored. I think a customer had done most of the work; Slaters then finished off some of the detailing. and did some mechanical fettling.

When I saw the bike. it was in its original red paint. and was fitted with its bikini fairing.

I had decided that I wanted a 120. as they're both a better. more refined bike than the 180. and rarer too.

Obviously. hairy-chested aficionados often prefer the 180 bike. but I had fillings that I wanted to keep and. anyway. the 120 is plenty hairy in its own right.

But I did prefer the orange paint. and so I asked Richard Slater to source 180 bodywork. and mudguards. and to make the bike look to all intents and purposes. like a traditional 180.

I have all the original 'red' pieces. properly wrapped. and ready to be fitted if you wanted to return the bike to its original colour scheme. The only part that I don't have is the tank. At the time. Richard couldn't get hold of a second tank. and so it was resprayed.

In truth. the bike was a pain in the arse in the first years I owned it; a fault in the wiring for the ECU meant that it almost invariably cut out after 30 miles or so.

It took a long time to sort. Slaters couldn't fix it. but eventually Pietro at Di Marino solved the problem. and it has never let me down since.

But I still probably haven't done more than 500 miles on it in the time that I have owned it.

After a few years. though. I decided that I wasn't happy with the state of the engine; not its performance. but its appearance.

The rest of the bike was in almost "as new" condition. but it was let down by a rather dull looking engine.

And so I had it removed. media blasted. checked over. and re-fitted by Mark Hutton at A&H Performance.

The bike was originally purchased to form part of our small collection of iconic machines from the sixties. seventies and eighties. The bike has spent most of its time with us sat on a pallet high up in our dry and overly heated warehouse.

Whilst the bike is not quite as it appears. (in that is it actually a 120). it presents as a new motorcycle and. of course. with a modicum of effort it could quickly and easily be returned to its original configuration (all the 120 parts are included in the sale).

It's easy to say. but I think it would be difficult to find a better example; which brings me to the price.

We want £15.000 for the bike. This is towards the upper end of the spectrum for Jotas. but I've seen more expensive bikes. and it could well be that our bike is worth more than I'm asking. I'm not an expert on the Jota world. so this is possible.

But. for better or worse. the price is firm.

In saying this. I don't want to sound rude. but I just don't have the time or the desire to play the negotiation game. I have decided what I want for the bike.

Don't come and see it if you're not prepared to pay the asking price. and don't be offended if your reasons for believing the price should be lowered fall on deaf ears. We are currently offering some 20 bikes from our collection. We will probably end up selling about half of them. so no individual bike has to be sold.

This is a lovely bike that needs not a penny spending on it.

It's not a bike that's been titivated by a dealer to make it look better than it is. We have always just spent whatever was necessary to make the bike as good as it could be.

The next owner will benefit from our profligacy!

The odometer reads 24.000 miles. by the way. I can't really verify the mileage. as it came with no history when I bought it from Slaters. but by the same token I have no real reason to believe that it is not genuine.

If you would like to arrange to see our Jota. which is in our warehouse on the outskirts of Guildford. please email.