Dodgy Laverda

Ebay item 180234254159

I'm sure this has been on Fleabay before - I recognise the nasty clock
mounting bracket. I'm equally sure it's not a real Jota, as the seller
now seems to suspect.

 

as the seller now seems to suspect.

To suspect what? This is intriguing, is a conspiracy theory about to
develop?

CU2

 

In message

Why does NTL seem to attract all the idiots?

 

Be reasonable: AOL gets its fair share as well.

 

It's got "LAV1200" stamped on the frame. Possibly a Mirage?

 

Yes, I wondered about that. If it's a 1975 bike, it certainly isn't a
Jota as they were first produced in 1976, and then as a UK-only bike.

 

BTW, the panel between the instruments looks like the one on my SF2 with
the (black) paint stripped off and polished, so it may well be original.

 

I doubt it's an SF2 or similar as you'll have a whale of a time trying
to fit the triple into that frame.

That said, another look at the frame number was in order and the fact
that it starts with LAV1200 may well be significant - there is a
connection between the prefix of the frame number and the mode (the one
on my SF2 starts with SF2, oddly enough...)

I thought the Jota was a 1000cc and I also thought it was mainly, if not
exclusively a UK model?

 

An SF2 is a twin, not a triple. Totally different bike.

 

The original Jota was 1000cc and UK only. Slater Bros asked Laverda to
produce a proddy race version of their 3C triple for the road. This
meant a high-compression engine, bumpy cams (stamped 4C) and a *very*
loud exhaust system.

That was the original Jota, and yes, for the UK only. Its right-foot
gearshift meant it was illegal for sale in the US, for a start.

Trouble is, Laverda applied the Jota name to bikes destined for other
markets, even though the bikes were not in the same hairy-arse state of
tune as the original. South African Jotas were not the same animal as UK
Jotas.

This one is as hooky as an angler's tackle box.