1981 jota

maurice turner said:
Gday Steve where were the 1978 black and gold Jota's made.
I know of one genuine one in Aus that I would have assumed was delivered to Stanco.

Don't know, but I would think only Slaters?  I always thought the first ones made and marketed as Jotas by the factory were the '79's.  Bear in mind I was 7 at the time, so my experience is retrospective!  I happen to have two editions of Two Wheels here from the era, both with Laverda ads from Stanco.  The August 1978 one advertises the 3CL, 1200 and SF3, the October 1979 one advertises Jota.  Which would seem to support that it was only an official factory model from 79 on.

This and many other similar threads quite clearly show what a minefield it is.  Unlike the SFC's, it's really only a few minor differences between a 3CL and a Jota - albeit ones which make a big difference to the ride experience.  There clearly is a historical (and hence value) distinction between a 'Slater Jota' and a 3CL which has been kitted by an owner/importer, but the reality is the bikes are mechanically identical.  My understanding is that if it's an upright shock bike and not on Slaters "golden ledger", then it's a 3CL.
 
So when were the Golden Slater bikes made and sold and did they have a Metal Badge saying Jota plus all the internal goodies.
 
I used 'golden ledger' as a reverential term.  But many of the Slater Jotas were indeed gold - most often gold or silver I think.  Those with more direct knowledge will hopefully chime in.  What years they were made I don't know but assume maybe 75 or 76 till 78 or early 79?  Did they continue to turn out more Slater-prepared Jotas once the factory was building the orange and silver jobs in 79?  Don't know.

The Slater bikes only ever had stickers, the metal badges started on the factory built bikes in 79.
 
I first saw an orange and silver Jota in South Africa in early 1980 on a breakfast run.
Four Laverdas, the O & S, two 3CL's, both modified with the performance kit sourced from the factory, and my old 3C.  The O & S wore the 79 dress, i.e. stainless (?) front mudguard and no fairing.
The owner had purchased it in Italy direct from the factory a few months earlier.
Twas a thing to behold, for sure.

Tom
 
Sounds like we could develop a solid timeline on Jotas worldwide. It's interesting how Jotas were raced in England for a long time and not in Oz even with them being for sale.3CL being raced in Oz. That 1979 date for Factory Jotas might explain this fact, Oz missing those years for racing availability, not discounting the oz distributers not so keen on racing.
 
We raced the 1200 in 1978. it would have been very nice to have a Jota - competing against XS1100s, which had no trouble walking away rapidly from the 1200 on the straight at Wanneroo. It's been mentioned previously that Stanco showed very little interest in racing Laverdas.
 
"Gday Steve where were the 1978 black and gold Jota's made.
I know of one genuine one in Aus that I would have assumed was delivered to Stanco."
Black and gold ones were very unusual. One sat at the TTM workshop in Brisbane for almost a year with insurance delays waiting for a crash repair. Hopefully it is still around.
 
I think the first small batch of Slater Jotas were green, next batch red, then silver, then gold and then the factory marketed the orange and silver ones in 79. The first orange and silver ones were very pretty but very troublesome I believe.
 
Piranha Brother 2 said:
It's been mentioned previously that Stanco showed very little interest in racing Laverdas.

Q: Ask Phil Peacock what the deal between he and Stanco had when he raced the Black and gold Stanco 79 Jota, which I later bought off him.
 
First Slater Jotas were based on the green or red 3CL.
All Slater Jotas had vinyl Jota logos on the sidepanels.
The metal Jota badge first appeared with the 79 factory Jota.
As punters could 'fake' an early 3CL into a Jota by sticking Jota logos on the sidepanels and adding Jota silencers only, for 77 Slaters asked the factory for a unique colour and they got silver.
For 78 they got gold.
Similarly for the Slater Mirage the first few were either red or blue until Slater asked again for a unique colour and were given green.
 
breganzane said:
Don't know, but I would think only Slaters?  I always thought the first ones made and marketed as Jotas by the factory were the '79's. 

back in 79/80 my mate Germ had a black/gold 79 Jota that was sent direct from the factory through Stanco I believe, he bought it from TTM in Brisbane, my 79 was a later engine number and is orange/silver
used to share a house with him back then, had both Jota's parked below his house side by side and local Police Sergent came to see him as they were looking for an orange/silver Jota that ran a police patrol and wanted to see Germ's bike to see if he had painted it
Mine was under a cover parked beside Germ's and his had no cover so Sergent said no worries we will catch the prick, did not ask to see what was beside it

my mate had been riding my Jota while I was out drilling for 8 weeks and did a runner from the cops on it


 
redax5 said:
my mate had been riding my Jota while I was out drilling for 8 weeks and did a runner from the cops on it

No way! You don't do that sort of shaez on someone else's bike! Of course these days, if he was caught, there's a chance he would be trying to explain away that the bike went to the crusher!
 
I had this one in the late 1980's if I recall correctly. I am sure that it was advertised as a Jota (it went as well as my first one) but maybe it wasn't. I had no interest in frame/engine numbers back then. It may have had a 1980 reg. Not the best pics but the only ones that I have. Tried to improve on them but the edit has not worked that well.





There is one advertised for auction on car & Classic

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1253288

https://uploads.carandclassic.co.uk/uploads/cars/laverda/13445426.jpg

 
That black and gold 3CL that?s up for auction has been rebuilt and repainted, it was red before the refurbish. It was originally for sale in Spain.
 
The 3CL is pretty but buyer beware if it's Spanish. They have ways of fixing Laverdas no one had ever thought possible.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1253288
 
That black and gold 3CL that?s up for auction has been rebuilt and repainted, it was red before the refurbish. It was originally for sale in Spain.


Hi Cuda
have you got anymore information on the bike as I was the one who brought the bike from the auction it was advertised as

- Matching numbers
- In running order
- Mostly original and unrestored
 
breganzane said:
I used 'golden ledger' as a reverential term.  But many of the Slater Jotas were indeed gold - most often gold or silver I think.  Those with more direct knowledge will hopefully chime in.  What years they were made I don't know but assume maybe 75 or 76 till 78 or early 79?  Did they continue to turn out more Slater-prepared Jotas once the factory was building the orange and silver jobs in 79?  Don't know.

The Slater bikes only ever had stickers, the metal badges started on the factory built bikes in 79.

Brother (Marty) is second owner of original Slater brothers Jota in silver, with stickers for the JOTA logo.
 
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