LAVERDA JOTA BUYING GUIDE The don

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE SUMMER OF 1980. I was at an agricultural show in Devon, because that’s what teenagers did in Devon for weekend entertainment in 1980. You went to an agricultural show, looked at tractors, and then retired to the bar where the licensing regulations were purely advisory.

Inexplicably there was a motorcycle dealership with a stand. Not just any dealership either, as the bikes they brought along were a bit special. There was a Benelli 750 Sei, a Ducati Pantah and a bright orange Laverda Jota. And the dealer did not mind people sitting on them, which was another surprise as at most of the dealers I knew of, just looking at a bike closely was tantamount to jumping on board and riding off.

I tried the Benelli for size and I decided it was just, well, silly. The Pantah, on the other hand, fitted me perfectly. And then I sat on the Laverda, for a very long time indeed. It was mesmerising. It was huge, too. It felt amazing but also a bit terrifying. Even teenage enthusiasm wasn’t enough to convince me that this motorcycle wasn’t an angry and uncontrollable animal, and that if I actually rode it, it would try to kill me.

Fast forward 40 years and I’m up close and personal with another Laverda Jota at Somerset Classic Motorcycles, and this time I’ve got the keys. Originally from Italy, then shipped to Herefordshire for Jota-ising, and then Belgium, and back to the UK, this Mk.II Jota was as impressive as ever.

There is something very special about the way it’s been put together. There are sturdy in-house made cycle parts and top-quality components. Electrics from Bosch, twin front discs from Brembo, Marzocchi shocks and Nippon Denso instruments. The engine is huge, with big fins and sandcast