Orange Jota, 1979-81

Vince said:
Some probably were fixed years ago if they are actually ridden much. Makes sense. My advice that I wish I had heard first would be to buy a bike owned and well ridden by a Laverda Club member, any Laverda Club around the world, they usually want the best result for the bike. Typically, bikes move around through clubs and become well-known as reliable runners. There are exceptions, but it's rare.
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The Jota I owned back in the mid '80s had valve seat recession issues at the time. Took it to Slaters and they repaired it. They rebuilt the top end and it ran great afterwards. Hasn't been taxed since '99, but its' last V5 was issued in 2013, so it (or parts of it) may still be around.
Don't know frame/engine number but its' reg. number is my username on this forum. I did that hoping someone in the club would recognise it,
but no luck yet.. Point is, if someone should happen across the engine, it had the required head work done, albeit 40 years ago! ;)
 
SRK189W said:
The Jota I owned back in the mid '80s had valve seat recession issues at the time. Took it to Slaters and they repaired it. They rebuilt the top end and it ran great afterwards. Hasn't been taxed since '99, but its' last V5 was issued in 2013, so it (or parts of it) may still be around.
Don't know frame/engine number but its' reg. number is my username on this forum. I did that hoping someone in the club would recognise it,
but no luck yet.. Point is, if someone should happen across the engine, it had the required head work done, albeit 40 years ago! ;)
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What model year was that bike?
Paul
 
Paul Marx said:
What model year was that bike?
Paul
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Hi Paul. It was a Series One Jota, registered in March 1981 as SRK 189W. I believe it was a 1980 built machine but am unsure of exactly when.
I seem to remember being told at the time, that my bike was one likely to be affected by this issue. It certainly went a lot better when fixed!
If it helps, here's a (admittedly) not great photo of it at the time. Regards, Steve.20250815_193856.jpg
 
from your photo your bike was a Series 1 1980 model due to the having the long grab rail
1979 model had the short grab rail which looks better
1981 was the release of the Series 2 engine which has the Ignition on the left side of the engine

1980 model suffered from a change to the length of the Valve springs which resulted in near zero valve closing pressure after bike was only 10,000 klms old or more
that allowed the Valves to bounce on the seats when closing and rapidly wore the valve seats and valve faces
I still find 80 models with the short valve springs, when I rebuild them I change the set up to use standard valve springs and change out the collet top plate which is different as well, we machine our own collet plates

or, if you had a very early 80 model it may still have had a 79 cylinder head which did indeed suffer soft valve seat issues
 
Some great info there Red, very informative thank you. I bought that bike from its' first owner, and apart from a 3-1 exhaust and possible re-jetting it was bog-standard as far as I know. As I recall, its' total mileage at the time was 15,000ish, so that and the grab rail info would make it a 1980 build for sure. I guess the factory figured that shortening the valve springs would give the seat modifications an easier time. Longevity bench testing would have highlighted any issues, but presumably was not carried out. Time & resources maybe? What I do recall is how well my bike pulled after repair, it was one rapid bit of kit! Regards, Steve.
 
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