The Jota continues to run well as autumn is upon us. I intend to keep riding the Jota until road salt brings the season to an end. I’ve got a Honda to ruin in the road salt – it’s just not worth it to ruin a Laverda in such conditions.
The the end of summer means there’s less to go out and about to see. I regret not going to the traditional season finale in Belgium but building work at the new HQ intervened. I did tho’ get away the same weekend for my first ever visit to Mallory Park (sadly not on the Jota but in a van). Tony Jiminez (Andy Bartlett’s Laverda co-pilot) had to ride his Bimota to secure his solo championship. Mallory is a small but demanding circuit and once again a Monty was in action.
This time the Monty belongs to Dave Fritzpatrick. He’d spent much time searching for power using longer than standard bellmouths and fitted a full fairing to cheat the wind. Looks better than a Formula IMHO.
What I took from the weekend tho’ was how good these ‘classic’ weekends are. Cheap as chips to watch, everyone camps together and walking about the tents revealed many interesting machines and a good sense of cameraderie – I shall check out dates for 2024.
I did get up to the Stafford Classic Bike Show on the Jota. I met Dean Young who was showing his 100 Sport and stowed my camping gear in his car.
The 120 mile ride up was going well with 20 miles to go and then the rain hammered down. Still once the Jota had been leant against a tree and camp set a good weekend followed.
ILOC are celebrating their 50th Anniversary and have produced a splendid book full of members stories and pictures. It’s £30 to non-members. As usual the ILOC stand was rammed full of exceptional bikes – a rare Mk 2 Monty, an immaculate series 2 Jota, drummer and RGS Executive. There were 4 Laverda in the Bonhams auction with only the American Eagle selling (£4,300). It seemed to me that there’s a gap between the sellers and buyers expectations. I think prices are going down so those who bought a Laverda may have caught a cold…
The ride home was dry but temperatures had plummeted by the time I rolled into my drive. The other thing I noticed was signs the sprag clutch may need ‘refreshing’ – not ideal but it’s lasted 16,000 miles so I’m not going to complain.
Graham Rose – RGA Jota sidecar pilot sent news that he’d got to the Sahara on his Guzzi…and I thought going to Spain was a big deal!
Finally I managed to write up watching the Laverda endurance races in Paul Ricard and Brands Hatch. Go to the Trips 2023 section.
Nick 🙂
Bent screwdrivers, big hammers and old Laverdas 