ANGLO-ITALIAN MASTERPIECE

Few bikes leave their mark in motorcycling history like the Jota did. And it remains a legend!

- Roland Brown

Naked Italian superbikes are big news these days, judging by the response to Ducati’s Streetfighter V4 and MV Agusta’s similarly spectacular Brutale 1000 at Milan’s recent EICMA show. But those modern multi-cylinder musclebikes will have to go a long way to approach the impact of the first of their breed: the Laverda Jota that ruled the superbike world in the late Seventies.

Back in the final months of 1979, the Jota was slightly past its peak, but still very much among the world’s fastest and most glamorous motorcycles. Racer Peter ‘PK’ Davies had just won a third British production racing championship aboard a Jota prepared by Slater Brothers, the UK Laverda importer. And the Laverda factory at Breganze in northern Italy was producing the handsome 981cc dohc triple, featuring that year’s updates including orange paintwork and silver frame, that would become regarded as arguably the finest version of the mighty Seventies triple.

In this age of 200bhp naked bikes it seems almost bizarre to recall that on the Jota’s arrival in 1976 its hotted-up dohc, air-cooled engine’s output of 90bhp and the bike’s 140mph top speed were enough to crush all opposition and earn it cult status. The big triple’s blend of performance, cleancut styling and that racetrack success would make it extremely popular despite its high price and some hot competition from machines including Ducati’s 900SS and Moto Guzzi’s 850 Le Mans.