1976 Laverda 1000 Jota
Miles: 30,000
Does not run
Bid at post: $4,000
Auction ends today at 4pm
BIN: $10,000
1976 Laverda 1000 cc triple , all original project needs restoration. Was told it was a Jota. Stored many years in a heated hangar. We at buyers expense can ship world wide , questions 503-999-0790. This a very rare motorcycle and excellent opportunity. This bike ran excellent before disassembly for restoration. Some extras. Reasonable reserve theses bike are the Lamborghini or motorcycles. Bid to win.!!!!!
RSBFS
We have seen Laverdas garner a lot of attention and money. Since we were not familiar with this model, it seemed worth investigating and it proved to be worthy of a post even when this example is a project. Donn reviewed a ’79 Laverda in 2022 saying, “Laverda had been making motorbikes since 1949, and their 750 twin was a great success, especially in endurance racing. As new competition from Japan was arriving, the company created a 980cc triple, with double overhead cams and 32mm Dell’Orto carburetors. English importer Slater Bros. saw more potential and commissioned higher lift cams and 10-to-1 pistons resulting in a whopping 90 hp. A strong steel backbone accompanied the light-looking downtubes, making for a solid foundation for the usual Ceriani suspension units. Handlebars are adjustable but not too much higher, due to the 140 mph speeds expected.”
Cycleworld tested and reviewed the Laverda 1000 Jota in 1977 with a refreshingly honest and colorful review.
“We’re certain that in some only half-forgotten life the Laverda Jota 1000 was a pterodactyl. Or perhaps an Assyrian winged bull. Or a Baldwin locomotive. Or some giant from Middle Earth. Better yet, all of the above.
It’s as elemental as a rock slide and as direct as the charge of a rhinoceros. In a world of rip-snorting two-wheeled quarter horses, here is this great, gaunt brute dredged up from somewhere in the Pleistocene. Its rugged structural members put one in mind of the Bronze Age. Its power seems to deliver itself to somewhere in the region of your small intestine, as well as at the rear wheel.
Viewed as a two-wheeled appliance, this machine fails. Consider the big appliances marketed by Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, BMW et al. Like Laverda, they produce machines that will in varying degrees pull the skin of the earth a trifle tighter. But they can also be comfortably employed for much less glamorous work; riding to work, picking up the Sunday paper, giving your pre-teen daughter a ride to school, and so on. The Laverda, on the other hand, is only useful for those carefree moments when you have the concentration and self-confidence to relive the good old days, when you were a torpedo rider or Stukka pilot.
It’s a rocketship, for certain, but with little of the snakey air-to-air missile quickness of something like the Kawasaki KZ1000. The acceleration is more in the Saturn lunar booster class, starting deliberately and leaving off . . . where? Next week is a good guess. Sometime after the rider begins thinking in terms of selfpreservation is an even better guess….
…We come at last to the reckoning. The Laverda Jota 1000 lists for $4495. By the time you get through with various taxes, prep and destination numbers, you’re eyeball-to-eyeball with five Gs for a machine whose sole function, if we’re going to be honest, is escape. No matter what they do to you out there in the day-to-day jungle, you know at the end of the day you can wrap yourself around the Jota and fly away into another realm. Who can put a price on that kind of therapy?”
Considering the rarity and the cool factor, perhaps one of you might be looking for this exact project? If you have restored or owned a Laverda, feel free to share your thoughts.
Good luck to the buyer and seller!
CycleWorld and Cycle wrote such interesting articles back then. When either magazine showed up in my mailbox, I usually read it cover to cover for the rest of the day.
If I were interested in buying this, I would arrange some way to check the wheels for cracks in them.
@Jess – It really was a great article. Made me want to write more and read more. Thanks for tip – less than an hour left in the auction. Wondering if someone is willing and able to take on this project.
Doesn’t look like it.
I am not a Laverda expert but based on the *3600* serial number on the frame this is more likely to be a 1976 3C rather than a Jota. A 3C triple with this serial number should still have the cast iron skull caps in the cylinder head. My understanding is that all Jota’s had interference fit valve seats in all aluminum heads, the 3C’s did the same in 1976 somewhere in the neighbourhood of the *3850* serial number.
The only way to truly tell would be during an engine teardown, and there is nothing to say that over the years someone hasn’t fitted and Jota or later 3C head to this machine along with higher compression pistons and 4C cams to bring it to “Jota Specs”.
Also all 1976 Jota’s were for sale in England only so this machine should have an English export somewhere in its title history.
My opinion is that an original 1976 3C is not of significantly lesser value than an original Jota from the same year.
I think that $4600 was a fair offer given the amount work required to restore it. There will at least $10k worth of parts and paint to bring this close to factory original. Factor in the unknown condition of this engine with the known issues that may need to be corrected and the buyer is rolling the dice.
I recently looked at an ’82 RGS that was in need of a total restoration and correction and didn’t even put in an offer because the seller had over paid for this particular bike and was asking at least double what it was worth in my estimation (this gentleman was a great guy and an experienced Laverda twin restorer).
I’m still looking for a Laverda triple (I prefer the 120* crank over the 180* crank) but it may be a while before I can find a seller who has realistic expectations or I win the lottery.
Cheers