Iconic motorbikes with Henry Cole - the Laverda Jota

[@theglumrant9477]

I was going to comment that one of the best things about the Jota is the sound but it was obscured by silly diddly-diddly-Henry-Cole-incidental music but several of you got there before me

[@davidmacgregor5193]

The Laverda triples were so tall for a good reason, Massimo Laverda was six feet six inches tall, he had the triples built so that he could ride them without being cramped. Massimo could be seen test riding Laverda's around the Dolomite mountains near his factory in Breganze wearing his business suit and Italian shoes, no crash helmet was worn by Massimo. In the early eighties I owned a 1200 Mirage, it had the 180 crank, cable operated clutch which was heavy by the way, mine used to snap the cables top nipple regularly so I had a spare cable tied to the one that I was using. When the nipple came off, I'd just swap the cables, I kept a small tool kit in the tail section as a safety precaution. The throttle cable was also heavy to operate and mine once snapped its top nipple off on the M6 motorway just north of Knutsford services. I was heading south to Telford, I used two jubilee clips to get me to my destination, one held the outer cable to the handlebar and the other held the inner cable to the throttle grip, it worked perfectly. Due to it's crank configuration the Laverda 180 triples have a unique sound, it's like a four that's missing on one of it's cylinders. The Laverda triples really are rewarding machines to ride and mine always put a grin on my face. I sold mine in 1986 and bought a Benelli 900 Sei which I actually still own to this day.

[@killbasa2000]

Loudest motorcycle...plays music over the sound of engine...well done!

[@pbysome]

They never learn.

[@KutWrite]

Some people would rather hear themselves prattle on. ;(

[@AaaaandAction]

The thing is the bike is of less interest to HC than the viewing numbers. The bike is just a …. er …. vehicle for his company HCA

[@janethigginbottom]

Oh shut up

[@cawsticky1322]

I have owned a 180 3C for 20 years (I have also owned a 120), mine predates Jotas and has wire wheels, she also has 10:1 pistons, axtell camshafts, bigger valves and bored out carbs, she is a REAL beast the straight thru exhaust note is heavenly and hellish, at tick over she sounds like a spitfire merlin engine spitting, growling and farting, as the revs rise she vibrates slightly and is reminiscent of a brit twin or an Atco with a rotten exhaust, as she hits the power band she suddenly starts to howl as she rockets up to the 8750 rev limiter and all hell breaks loose, the sound is utterly addictive. She will sit at 110 all day long, she feels like she is cast from granite, extremely stable at high speed and also you can wrestle her about and scratch like a 250 without her complaining or bucking. I have owned many bikes and ridden many more (CBX's SS900's), nothing but nothing comes close to the experience of riding or better owning (I say that because you have to ride them a few times to get the full benefit) a Laverda especially the 180 crank triples. Glorious machines.

[@TaiChiGhost]

I had a 1975 Lav 3C during the 1980's. My favorite bike of all 24 that I've owned. I traded it in for a BMW after only a year and a half ... I just couldn't get the parts for routine riding, and wouldn't go down in quality, so it was a BMW; not nearly as exciting. It was supremely comfortable, and I was only 5'8" and 135 lbs. My only quibble about the handling was that it would NOT change direction in a turn, like my previous bike, a 1978 Triumph Bonnie. Now I'm 73 years old, but I'm very grateful to have had it while I did.

[@stephenbond3421]

There was a dealer in Manchester in the 1970’s. I went to see these bikes and drooled over them. Thanks for showing them again.

[@kathrynmorgan6718]

That would be Steve wynns place- sport motorcycles

[@stephenbond3421]

Was that the dealer on a roundabout. We used to pay them a visit, not to buy but just to drool over the bikes

[@davidharvey4059]

Rode a Laverda 1200 Mirage many years ago and fell in love, but it's a Jota I always really wanted. My dream machine. That or a Ducati 900 SS

[@evilelf5967]

friend of mines brother had 5 of them...3 in the house........beastly machines.

[@andrewlongfield3102]

You have to keep motorbikes in the house. Especially classic Italian ones. Otherwise you might as well be married.

[@brianperry]

Back in the late seventies myself on a Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans, friends on Jota and Ducati 900SS would sometime meet in a riverside pub in Essex..Hell! it was great

[@Sorarse]

I paid £3000 for my Jota. Mind you, that was 40+ years ago, but it was brand new from the dealer.

[@dirtywetdogboatsandsailing6805]

First one in the UK was silver.....I remember Bill Haylock of Bike magazine riding that one.

[@theart8039]

Last night I dreamed that I was getting a Jota..this morning when I woke up I realized it was just a dream and could have cried

[@jochenwagner5170]

WHAT A BEAUTIFULL LANDSCAPE!!!!!!!

[@allanblackesq]

What a classic ride, thanks for sharing.

[@donaldwainwright]

Awsome machine I had the privilege of riding 1 in 1982 my closest friend bought 1 wow the speed and agility was amazing

[@andrewlongfield3102]

I've owned a Laverda RGS for nearly thirty years, and I can tell you the difference between the 120 engine, like this one tested here, and the earlier 180 engine is quite pronounced. The 180 engine vibrates a LOT more, and the whole bike generally feels rougher and more of a beast purely from the engine characteristics. I actually prefer the 120 motor, it vibrates less, and is a lot happier to rev higher. Vibration is a big thing with a 3 cylinder because of the coupling forces in the crankshaft as the pistons fire. All 3 cylinder bikes are capable of numbing your hands and feet from the vibes, but with the 180's it's quite pronounced on some bikes. Plus some bikes really suffer from nuts and bolts working loose quite quickly. It's all worth it for the sound of course, and the crazy top end torque that this type of engine produces.

[@kathrynmorgan6718]

Yes, the bike featured was “120 jota” , a fair bit more civilised than a actual jota!

[@andrewlongfield3102]

@@kathrynmorgan6718 120 Jotas are still 'real' Jotas, built by the factory, just not as rough and vibration prone as the early bikes. The reason the factory changed to a 120 crank was for the extra revs and performance you can extract from them. I've been in the Victorian (Australia) Lav club as long as I've had my RGS.We have an annual 2 day club run along the Great Ocean Road (G.O.R. It's famous, look it up). One run I was riding with a mate on his 180 Jota, and up to about 160kmh he stayed ahead of me, but after that my 120 RGS pulled away from him. I have had it up to 265kmh, and it had 1000rpm to go till the redline, and it was still pulling hard, apparently the race SFC 1000's would do 285. I'm told mine is an exceptionally healthy specimen. The only thing I've done is to replace the Slater bros race pipes that it came with (too loud, club members wouldn't ride behind me, said it was earsplitting even through their helmets), with a custom built Staintune system. Still 3 into a collector, then a muffler either side, but the header pipes were quite a bit larger than stock. This really woke it up, deepened the exhaust note, and it showed a very healthy 129 hp at the rear wheel on the exhaust manufacturers dyno. I suspect a previous owner did some internal work, as it has a lot more hp than a standard bike should have.I seem to find fast bikes, I have a Benelli Tre K (3 cyl in Italian) Amazonas with the 1130 3 cyl engine. I bought it one owner with about 3,000km from new, but the PO had opened up the exhaust and put in the cam and chip from the TNT cafe racer version. It has 145hp at the back wheel, wire wheels and I run it on Conti TKC's which look like off road knobbie tyres. It scares most of the local sports bikes, not just because it looks like a dirt bike, but it can smoke the back tyre coming out of corners. 3 Cylinder bikes have enough character to be endlessly entertaining, however you ride them. If you ride you should consider one.

[@touchingthecloth]

ahh Henry, that's the 120- the 180 was the true brute!

[@SteveT__001]

Very true, I test rode a couple of 180's and sadly didn't buy it. They were the only real Jota.

[@touchingthecloth]

@@SteveT__001 i had one for a few years- great handling and performance, with a clunch that really needed 2 hands to operate! great suzuki switch gear powered by rubbish italian wiring!

[@SteveT__001]

@@touchingthecloth I remember being stuck in traffic on one of the road tests and the clutch was so heavy it made my hand ache, that was probably a contribution to why I didn't buy it,

[@h4marine]

It's also got a hydraulic clutch, that's why he thought the clutch wasn't too heavy. My 76 silver Jota has an original heavy clutch!

[@skatedd2451]

When I was a kid one of the guy that used to work with had one of those in Australia

[@kencreten7308]

Was it just me or was the SOUND OF THE BIKE never included?....

[@endurojimmy3109]

For a start the 180 is the beast, the 120 was quite well mannered in comparison. The 120 he rode has a much lighter hydraulic clutch, yes the cable clutch on the 180s is heavy, but I seem to remember a mod which made it slightly less heavy. One of the owners said the front brake is cable operated? Is it bollocks, it's hydraulic.

[@brianperry]

He obviously meant the clutch...being Italian they would be fitted with hydraulic Brembo, just like all Italian bikes of the period....my Moto Guzzi Le Mans 850 was fitted with a Brembo duel brake system

[@endurojimmy3109]

@@brianperry My 850 Le mans also had a linked brake system, but I didn't get on with it and ended up disconnecting it. I know that there were mixed feelings about the system. I currently have a V7, pre ABS, I'm not a big fan of ABS either.

[@brianperry]

@@endurojimmy3109 I didn't mind the linked brake system, in fact I still use the brakes together ( Triumph Street Triple) mostly at moderate speed, through slow moving traffic etc! I believe ABS is a great idea for road use...I remember when it was easy to lock up the brakes, especially the rear. Of course brakes, suspension and chassis geometry has improved no end since 1978 and a world away from1962 when I start my motorcycling journey...

[@davidmacgregor5193]

@@brianperry My 1980 Benelli 900 Sei also has the integral linked braking system, it is something that owners either love or hate, I love it as I can bring the machine to a halt safely by just using my right foot. If I want to stop in a harry I use both the front right disc and the linked discs.

[@Scrumpys]

First time I ever saw flames in coming out of an exhaust was a Jota

[@chrisbraid2907]

Get you to the church on time? Forget that, once you are married you can forget the Jota, ride past the church and keep on going .... or forget about owning one ....

[@0n0fforlov60]

Por qué será que todas las Laverdas evocan a algún dulce y tierno amor de juventud.

[@loddude5706]

For Klug & 'Pooh Corner' . . . gone, but not forgotten. (Henry, go try a well sorted '180', a different league of beast : )

[@specialized500]

600s were pushing 100hp by the end of the 80s .

[@talbot8907]

drop the background music. otherwise it might have been watchable.

[@KutWrite]

I agree. All that talk about the loud motor and not one decibel of engine sound. :(

[@barryporteous4904]

C'mon let's hear it!! not the added backing track.

[@chrisbraid2907]

Not just for the British market, Nz and Aus had some too.... Suzuki switches and Honda dials .... maybe even Suzuki Electrics, the great Italian failing bypassed ....

[@davidmacgregor5193]

All the main electrical components and wiring on my 1980 Laverda 1200 were of Bosch manufacture, quality German wiring is far better than the spaghetti that some Italian manufacturers used.

[@davidmacgregor5193]

The electrics on my 1980 Laverda 1200 were of German Bosch manufacture, it did have Suzuki switchgear and Nippon Denso dials. As a premium brand Laverda shopped around the globe for the best quality components available at that time.

[@h4marine]

He should try the original...180 crank, cable clutch, right hand change. Like mine

[@Free_Ranger_CT110]

As Henry said the bike was named after a Spanish dance. But why? The Jota is a dance in triple time.... Clever people those Slater Bros.

[@jochenwagner5170]

Do you know the film I bought a vampire motorcycle?

[@graemesydney38]

Talk about gilding the lily.............

[@jeffallinson8089]

10-20K for a Jota? No, a BIG no.

[@jamiejmasters4818]

Lots of character, too bad my 99 CBR 600 F4 would blow it off the road, time marches on in the world of sport bikes.

[@stevecoppin6396]

not a real one ! should be a 180

[@theglumrant9477]

...and without a hydraulic clutch conversion

[@andrewlongfield3102]

@@theglumrant9477 Never sit at an intersection with one in gear and the clutch held in. If the cable breaks (which is common), the bike will just launch into the intersection. It's an interesting ownership experience. My RGS has a hydraulic clutch of course, they only fail if they leak.

[@theglumrant9477]

@@andrewlongfield3102 I’m not strong enough these days to hold the (cable) clutch in for more than a few seconds, so I’m safe. In fact when I am no longer able to operate the clutch safely, that’s my marker to pass it onto the next owner/keeper

[@Sorarse]

@@theglumrant9477 Mine came standard with a hydraulic clutch. Still made your hand ache on a long journey though.

[@h4marine]

Darren says his one has a cable front break, I don't think so. Somebody should've researched the history....Silver,gold,green from 75/76 are the originals. Cable clutch and 180 crank Henry.

[@animalian01]

I had a mate who owned a early Jota from New,everyone admired it until some low life scum set it on fire outside his house

[@animalian01]

@@waynepantry7023 because the part of London he lived in was in a terraced house,with no back garden and only a very small paved front area behind a low wall just big enough for the bike

[@TaxingIsThieving]

@@waynepantry7023 Why wouldn't he?

[@tagomago2178]

Surely he could have got a 180 to test

[@georgejanssen6467]

this is not the beast of Breganze but the tamed 120 degree version. The real beast is the 180 degree Laverda Jota 🤔

[@TaxingIsThieving]

00:30

[@johnnyboy1586]

250 kg a bit on the porky side.lovely bike tho🙂

[@andrewlongfield3102]

These bikes have a frame literally made from water pipe. it's advantage was that the super thick walls made them really hard to bend in a get off, which made them super reliable for endurance racing, plus they never crack from vibrations like some thin wall tube can do. The down side is that it makes the bikes heavy, plus the engine is already a heavy lump, but again super durable and just absorbs abuse like no other engine or bike. But yes they are definitely heavy, you need to muscle them about.

[@HeidiLandRover]

??? I have always pronounced it "Hotter"

[@kasperkjrsgaard1447]

HeidiLandRover I believe that the correct pronouncation are “chotta”.

[@davidmacgregor5193]

I've always pronounced it "Hota", it's name after a Spanish dance in triple quick time, appropriate for a fast three cylinder motorcycle. In the mid-1980's I owned a 1980 1200 "Mirage", it had the 180 degree crank and the heavy to operate cable clutch which snapped the top nipple off regularly. The throttle cable was also heavy in operation and the nipple snapped off it too. I always had a new clutch and throttle cable cable tied to the ones that were in use, when one snapped I'd just swap them over with minimum tools required. I learnt about the throttle cable snapping the hard way when I was travelling down the M6 to Telford, the cable snapped a couple of miles north of Knutsford services. I removed the outer cable above the adjuster, I had two jubilee clips, so I fastened the lower cable outer to the handlebar with one clip, I fastened the inner cable to the throttle grip using the clip. I managed to travel to Telford using that setup. Another time the throttle cable snapped near my home, a mate stopped his Kawasaki KH250 to ask what was wrong, as luck would have it he had a spare KH250 throttle cable onboard his bike, luckily the cable fitted my Laverda. That's why I always carried spare cables on the Laverda, better safe than sorry.

[@peroduanippa]

Laverda with the stress on the first syllable and Jota pronounce with a Y as in Yota.

[@KutWrite]

@@peroduanippa: In Spanish? Wouldn't it be "HO-tah?"

[@peroduanippa]

@@KutWrite It's an Italian bike so I guess in any other language they'll pronounce it as they see it, the mistake that the English make is with pronouncing Laverda, they always seem to stress the 2nd syllable.

[@michaelrynne5254]

Wrong Jota Henry.

[@AlfUckhamHall]

The hairiest of hairy chested bikes with less than 100bhp.

[@paulemile4933]

It is very hard to understand you. It would have been better to leave the background music off..

[@markbroadheaf1593]

Pronounced Yota !

[@neilfurby555]

Horrible music ?

[@MrGranovski]

It's junk. From a weird 180 crank to a 120, and a beefed-up frame from a bamboo one, still junk.

[@loddude5706]

Sad man . . .

[@MrGranovski]

@@loddude5706 Why? The Jota was much better with a beefed-up frame and an engine with a 120 degree crank.