rocketonarail
Hero member
- Location
- Gloucestershire,England
Not advice aimed at prospective Laverda owners in particular , but generally relevant advice to anyone thinking of buying a 50 year old bike ..........
There are two Jotas on UK eBay at the moment , both at £15,000 .
One was rebuilt " by Richard Slater " , and has 3500 miles on the clock it seems ........ whether this three and a half thousand miles is all that has been covered since 1978 , or is the mileage since the rebuild isn`t made clear .........
The obvious question is , if this is the total mileage since new , then why on earth would it need an engine rebuild before it has barely been run in ? ........... ....... Unless it had been killed by being sat unused in someones " collection " for god knows how long , and needed this rebuild to bring it back to life again ......... or alternatively , if this is just the mileage covered since the Slater rebuild , then how long ago was this rebuild done ?
Either way , I would want to see some proof of recent mileage covered ....... otherwise you run the risk of buying someone else`s unused ornament , with all the problems and reliability issues which would come with that ....
The other Jota has just 9500 miles on the clock apparently ........ and has had a " complete engine rebuild " ...... ( Jesus , here we go again ) ................ this time by a " respected marque specialist " ....... yeah ok , right ...........
Why all this " rebuild " business on bikes with such miniscule mileages ? ......
I would say it`s because they`ve been stood doing nothing for so long , it was deemed necessary , probably going hand in hand with a cosmetic makeover .......... which is fair enough I suppose .........
For all the reasons above , I think I would avoid purchasing either of them .......... or at least be prepared for the possibility of spending another few thousand on top of the fifteen grand asking price , to address any possible problems .
Of course they might be fine , reliable bikes which you could jump on and ride to the south of France and back tomorrow , and at fifteen grand that`s what you would expect .......... if you`re the sort of person who puts all your trust in the Sale Of Goods Act .........
It all depends what you want or expect from your Jota ...... and how much cash you are prepared to part with , and how much more you may possibly have to spend on top of that ..........
Whatever you end up with , be prepared for the possibility of extra expense and time spent on problem solving ............ and once you`ve got it running properly , coming to terms with what is really a two wheel version of a hard old bastard ... ( 1976/7 black framed 180 degree Jotas only ) ........
PS ......... Whichever bike you buy , and in whatever condition ......... you really do need to be prepared to do as much of any remedial work you can yourself ............ present as little as you can to any expert or specialist for sorting out ........... for example , if any engine or gearbox work needs to be done , then strip the bike down to the minimum engine / rolling chassis .......... removing tank , seat , carbs , lights , exhausts , electrics etc will save you being charged labour for removal ( and replacement ) of all this stuff , which you can easily do yourself .
If however , it transpires that you need something like a new ignition set up , or carbs sorting , and you`re unable to do it yourself , then you`re going to be a bit stuffed , as that option won`t really be available ..........
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- in your quest for a Jota in UK I would join ILOC - bikes from members have generally got more history - the other thing is don’t rush - there are bikes that are being sold because owners are getting old and heavier bikes are more difficult to move around - I would want to see receipts for any work claimed to have been done as the people who can work
