Mirage v 1200

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bedford Uk
Hi all,
        First off please forgive my ignorance. Could some one tell me the difference between a 1200 and a mirage? Thank you in advance.
 
Well, perhaps short and sweet, but not the whole story. Mirages vary according to the year and apparently the market they were sold in.  The Mirage 1200TS is a mildly tuned touring bike with bodywork that many fault. 
Being that I'm something of a contrarian... I love my Mirage 1200TS!
 
as the Jota was an aftermarket concept from Slater's in the U.K., so was the original Mirage 1200 an aftermarket concept from Slater's.

Slater's took a standard 1200 (roughly 78/79), replaced the mild cams with lumpy 4C's, added a large bore exhaust collector and a pair of Jota silencers, then stuck a yellow 'Mirage" sticker on the side panels. So a Slaters Mirage is a performance modified 1200 from around 78/79 but otherwise looking pretty much like a standard 1200 except for the Jota silencers and the yellow Mirage stickers.

then, Laverda adopted the "Mirage" name for the later 1200's, roughly 80/81, added a handle bar mounted fairing, different bodywork, but tame cams, quiet exhaust, and more mechanically developed. Those have a cast "Mirage" badge, are easily identifiable from the later bodywork, even when the handlebar fairing is removed and tossed as many were, and every one I have ever seen came stock from Laverda in silver, with red pinstriping, and shitty clear coat that turns yellow with age.

as far as I know there are two Slater's 78/79 1200 Mirage's that made it to Canada. I have one, my 79 1200, and the other is in Quebec. I have a copy of the Slater's documentation for the two Canadian imports. There may be a few more here if they have been brought in by private importers from the U.K. over the years.

over the years the lines have gotten blurred, lots of base 78/79 1200's have been fitted with Jota exhaust systems and lumpy cams, so are in "Slater's 1200 Mirage spec".. Same with later TS 1200 Mirage factory models, some are still mild stock, some have been modified, but the later extensive bodywork is very distinctive. Very nice long distance relatively civilzed sport touring bikes, probably the most refined of the 180's.....

Paul LeClair

 
Paul, my 1200TS series1 motor came in Red, flat top pistons, A11 cams. In that state was a great European mile eater but being my first triple and having ridden SFs for 10 years the handling was slightly daunting at times.

Mirage1985-1.jpg


Loved the motor so solved the handling issues with this mod. For me it is now the almost perfect triple.
Perfection is not that far away :D

Motoddframe2.jpg
 
In the UK the 1200 originally came in blue or red, each with the orange flashes on tank and tailpiece. I had a blue one, it was a '77 and must have been an early one as it had Cerianis both ends and Laverda stickers on the tank, not the later badges. It was called the 1200T.

With the advent of the Marzocchi suspension on the 1200 came the first Mirage (maybe there was a crossover period , not sure). This was a very distinctive green colour, not sure if factory applied or by Slaters, most likely Slaters. As was said it came with (originally) Jota sliencers and collector box and BLACK downpipes. 4C cams and jetting changes in the carbs were about the only other changes. It also came with flat, slightly raised bars, not Jota bars.

The TS came along later and played out in series I and series II versions (mainly engine differences).
The TS had a different tailpiece, plastic rear mudguard, triagular sidepanels and little bolt on sections between tailpiece and sidepanels. Then it had the handlebar mounted fairing and sort of leg guard extensions. Rob's red one is the first I have seen, as otherwise silver with red striping was standard.
 
Then there  is 30th Anniversary model 1979 in black and gold,poor paintwork with a crude 30th on the tank limited production not known exactly but thought to be around 100 according to Ian Falloons book.It was however the first production bike to have a hydraulic clutch.

Shaun
 
Then there was the formula mirage....
 

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AND..... there are even variations in the individual themes themselves, as witness the 1200TS, from new the first ones had the "big valve" Jota head, and indicators in the handlebar fairing (actually the same item as a Fiat 126), and differring ones with the indicators on stalks under the fairing, makeing it a different moulding and as Grant says there is the series 1 (Bosch alternator) and also the series II (ND alternator), and what about the 1200TS with "Mirage" side panel badges and the 1200TS without "Mirage" side panel badges and differring red coach lines because of that, I could go on and this is just 1200TS

very interested in non silver/red lined 1200TS's I always understood that to be the only factory option (as paul LC) but it seems that a red one exists, did you own it from new Rob? sorry, but it looks like a repaint to me, can you confirm?, also is that a 420G ?,I bet its not a manual transmission, tell us about it
CLEM
 
Hi all
      Thankyou very much for the info. so if i'm correct the one to go for with a view to making a very non standard quick as i can make it laverda would be the 1200TS with big valve head and 4c cams. were any ever fitted with high comp pistons? Are there any differences in frame geometry between the jota and said 1200? cheers.
      Mark
 
Hi Mark,

 Go for the nicest 1200 you can find, don't be too hung up on engine spec, you are going to change it all anyway if you are after building a quick one. Small valve head is fine as it leaves your options open regarding headwork. If faced with any sort of choice a series 2 motor is probably the best starting place. Frame geometry is the "same"


   Keith.
 
Hi all,
        Thank you very much for all the info, i at least now have a much better informed view of what to buy. At the moment i have ?4500 so hopefully i'll find something in the next few months(if i can find more work)
      Keith, I have a funny feeling that you will be the recipient of quite a lot of my beer money.
          Cheers
          Mark
 
as keith says, the series II is the best one to start with
and is the most developed engine of the 180 machines

a lot of the series 1 1200's had the dodgy crank bearings and not all have been fixed

and there were exactly 200 examples of the anniversary model 1200
a figure supported by factory documentation
perhaps one of the more glaring examples of falloon's discrepancies

fwiw the usa market Mirage TS is a badged 1200 similar to the late Jota
both had standard engines and exhaust as homologated for america

cheers,
scott
 
and how many of the triangle side panel silver 1200TS series 2 motor examples were made (81/82 just, is it?), does anyone approx know?

cheers
 
Clem,
I brought it from the original owner with IIRC about 15000kays on it. If it was a respray then he was lying as he told me it was original. Looked pretty original to me and it was in excellent condition until, not long after I brought it I wiped the L/H side off after I dropped it and it went sliding across a concrete curb. The left side of the tank got dinged/scratched and never noticed any sign of silver underneath.

As for the Jag, it had the 4.2 motor with triple SUs and was manual trans. Started it's life in Singapore before being shipped back to the UK and later underwent a complete resto. Original owners. They also had a 192? Silver Ghost RR that they also brought new and came back with them when they returned to the UK not long after I bailed back to Oz. The old man was into his cars, after returning to the UK he went on a spending spree buying at Sotheby's auctions, Ferraris, old mercs and the likes. Seriously rich!! He was well into his 80s back then so my mate was looking at a nice inheritance. In their days they owned half of Singapore, rubber barons. Probably hung out at the Raffles drinking G&Ts or having afternoon tea.
 
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