Genesis of the Jota: Part 2 - The Slater Jota

tom3c75

tom3c75

Hero member
Location
Cape Town South Africa
Here's the second part of the early Jota story, in which Dave describes how the name came about.
Two PDF's (pages 1 & 2, and page 3) containing the images are also attached.

I also have some road tests, again by Dave Minton, of a GTL and an SF. 
I'll post these if anyone is interested.  Please let me know.

Tom
[Admin note - once again I've amended the URL so that the image will go full size when clicked]
WP_LaverdaSlaterJotaPage1.jpg

WP_LaverdaSlaterJotaPage2.jpg

WP_LaverdaSlaterJotaPage3.jpg
 

Attachments

At least he didn't get the trail numbers muddled up this time ..... but he still maintains that it gives more stability now because of increased wheelbase ...... whereas he thought the yokes gave increased trail (5.5") in the 3CE article.

By the way ...... do ALL Jota's have SFC yokes?

Jim
 
helicopterjim said:
At least he didn't get the trail numbers muddled up this time ..... but he still maintains that it gives more stability now because of increased wheelbase ...... whereas he thought the yokes gave increased trail (5.5") in the 3CE article.

By the way ...... do ALL Jota's have SFC yokes?

Jim
Click to expand...

No, none.
 
It seems that they all have parallel triple clamps. I have never checked SFC ones, but SF have 65mm offset, so SFC probably have that. Marzos on later Jota have 45mm offset but the article refers to Ceriani equipped bikes.
 
If I'm correct there are no cerani fork fitted jotas unless they came from Slaters in which case the SFC clamps were fitted to the 3CE. Not sure if they were fitted to the Slater Jotas converted from the mag wheel 3CL. The factory Jotas would have Marzos that had parallel yokes.
All Ceranis had the offset except the SFC. Pretty sure the 750s did as well as well except for the 35mm fork SF2 which I'm not sure about even though I had one.
 
motoddrob said:
If I'm correct there are no Ceriani fork fitted Jotas unless they came from Slaters in which case the SFC clamps were fitted to the 3CE. Not sure if they were fitted to the Slater Jotas converted from the mag wheel 3CL. The factory Jotas would have Marzos that had parallel yokes.
Click to expand...

The 'Jota' was a name coined by Slaters and was applied to 3CLs from the '76 model run, which were manufactured (and, indeed, some registered) from '75.
Laverdas were fitted with Ceriani forks, as standard, until supplies began to dry up and the factory was forced to use Marzocchis, instead, from '78-'79.
Initially, all Jotas were converted by Slater from 3CLs into Jotas. Then the Factory supplied bikes, sans exhaust, with 4cs and hi-comp pistons to which Slaters fitted the large collectors and open resonators and called Jotas.
Subsequent to the Jota's fame, due in no small part to PK Davies, and other racers, exploits, the Jota name appeared on all sorts of Laverda products.
Witness the 1200 Jota America, as an example?

Really it's only a name and not even an original one!

Witness the 1970 Lamborghini P400, developed by Bob Wallace to conform to the FIA's Appendix J racing regulations.
The car was named the Miura Jota (the letter 'J's pronunciation in Spanish).

People get so desperate for a definitive history, forgetting that it's not 'history' while it's happening. It's in the same box as Schr?dinger's cat!

Photo of PK on his Ceriani equipped '78 Jota.
 

Attachments

  • Peter 'PK' Davies.jpg
    Peter 'PK' Davies.jpg
    113.2 KB · Views: 262
Paul Marx said:
I have a 35mm equipped SF2.
Anyway to measure up without dismantling?

Paul
Click to expand...
Have a look under the lower yoke where the spindle pops out and look if it has been bored forward off centre if it has or centre if it hasn't. There is a circular casting I presume is centre so easy to compre against.
 
I very much doubt that any 35mm clamps were angle bored (offset is the distance between the centre of the spindle and the centre of the fork stanchions, Rob), same as the drum brake bikes afaik. The 38mm Cerianis on both triples and twins are angle bored except for the SFC as far as I know, we can thank Capelotto for them, eh Piet  :) I do know that you like them. As I have said, handling preferences are very individual.
According to our latest posting, there is disagreement regarding Dave Minton?s recount of the origin of the name Jota (which is in fact a part of the flamenco piece Bulerias - search Paco de Lucia he is the all time master of Bulerias if you want to hear the fantastic music this motorcycle was named after).
 
I have the off set yokes on the Motodd. I measured them once to work out the angle, long time ago but IIRC is 1.5?. I compared them to the ones on the SFC and you can clearly see the spindle is forward of the c/l. Was thinking of having my spare welded up and having it rebored centre.
 
Don't weld them up. They will be hard to get soon, and they might end up worth as much as your SFC when they are the last set ever. Parallel ones are available often enough, maybe not so often with 65mm offset though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top