As I am just getting up to speed with owning my 180 Jota the second time around (the first being 25 years ago) I thought I'd create a thread to contain my ramblings as well as the usual posts elsewhere on topic, as in the past I've found this a great way to keep track of everything that I've experienced with the bike, and it means you can easily ignore. Apologies for the repetition here but wanted to make the thread complete. There seem to be few new owners who have no experience of these bikes coming into ownership but for those that there are might find it useful/interesting.
My love affair with Laverda started as a child in Northamptonshire, a small village called Stoke Bruerne, where a pair of Laverdas, one orange, one green, would park up each year by the bridge. That image was clearly seared on my consciousness and surfaced when I pulled back the dust covers on this bike after finding it in a sorry state in an 'under-the-arches' garage in South London in 1991 after being towed there after my Guzzi Le Mans broke down. I managed to secure a part exchange after much haggling and after confirming it was indeed a 180 Jota engine (had them open the thing up and show me the 4C on the cams - can't believe I did that!). I commuted around the UK for a couple of years, riding London to Brighton and Northants to London in all weathers until the bike expired in late 1993 and I was without the cash to revive it (just married, first house etc), so it went into storage until 2001 when we emigrated to the UK. At that point I took it to Slaters who got it back in working order. I rode it for a while here in Australia before selling it to a member of this forum where it stayed for 15 years, the last 10 off the road (the lucky man had two Jotas) being gradually restored with the engine rebuild done by Redax.
I should note that I have no mechanical experience or skills beyond the basics I have picked up over the last couple of years racing in the Moderns class. I have learnt to do more in the last month or so of Laverda ownership than I have in my previous almost years of riding, and I have been graciously assisted by the members of this forum who are generous with their time and experience obviously gathered over many, many years.
The only picture I have off this bike from the first time around. My son is now almost 21.
As it is now
My love affair with Laverda started as a child in Northamptonshire, a small village called Stoke Bruerne, where a pair of Laverdas, one orange, one green, would park up each year by the bridge. That image was clearly seared on my consciousness and surfaced when I pulled back the dust covers on this bike after finding it in a sorry state in an 'under-the-arches' garage in South London in 1991 after being towed there after my Guzzi Le Mans broke down. I managed to secure a part exchange after much haggling and after confirming it was indeed a 180 Jota engine (had them open the thing up and show me the 4C on the cams - can't believe I did that!). I commuted around the UK for a couple of years, riding London to Brighton and Northants to London in all weathers until the bike expired in late 1993 and I was without the cash to revive it (just married, first house etc), so it went into storage until 2001 when we emigrated to the UK. At that point I took it to Slaters who got it back in working order. I rode it for a while here in Australia before selling it to a member of this forum where it stayed for 15 years, the last 10 off the road (the lucky man had two Jotas) being gradually restored with the engine rebuild done by Redax.
I should note that I have no mechanical experience or skills beyond the basics I have picked up over the last couple of years racing in the Moderns class. I have learnt to do more in the last month or so of Laverda ownership than I have in my previous almost years of riding, and I have been graciously assisted by the members of this forum who are generous with their time and experience obviously gathered over many, many years.
The only picture I have off this bike from the first time around. My son is now almost 21.
As it is now
