RGA 1000 Jota, one owner, time to move on

OneTwenty

OneTwenty

New member
One owner. Clear title. Runs, drives, occasionally crashes, never stalls. Tires good, brakes fair. Registered in California through January 2022.
Cash or PayPal. Located in San Francisco.

$6750

I've owned this bike since I bought it new in 1988. Yes, it's a 1984 model bike but it was still unsold in '88. Lucky me. I have three or four file folders full of maintenance records. Enough about the past, though, what's it like right now?

Over the decades some wear and tear has occurred. I rode this Jota from Maine to California. I rode it to Burning Man and all around the desert at 75 mph. I left it out in the snow in Massachusetts. I've always kept it in running condition. I ride it every weekend for a little stretch.

The drivetrain is solid, The bodywork is a hot mess... let's say that replacements for originals have been sourced, and originals have been shelved... or just kept on the bike. There are two seats, one with a solo seat cover and one that leaves a big scratch on the tank. It seeps oil. It's a 40 year old motorcycle.

It has 33,800 miles on it... I think; the speedometer cable let go for a spell in the '90s and it took a bit of doing to get a new one. Since the speedo only goes up to 85 mph I didn't pay much attention to it. Might be plus 1500 miles or so.

Recent (mileage-wise) updates:
At 31400 miles (in 2005)
New clutch
New primary drive chains
New final drive chain & sprockets; Converted to 530 O-ring, reduced drive ratio to 41/19
Valve adjustment
Closer to 33000 miles (2013)

Fuel tank welded, there were leaks below the petcocks

Carb Rebuild, done by Wolfgang Haerter

Stainless steel exhaust system (May, 2014) unknown manufacturer, blemished

Front Master Cylinder (October, 2016)

Battery (October, 2016)

Valve clearance (October, 2016)

Fork seals (August 2017)

Tires, F & R, Pirelli Sport Demon (August, 2017)

Ignition switch (January, 2020)

Carb tune, 33560 miles, (April, 2021)

Ignition system, Sachsy, 33560 miles (April, 2021)

So, that’s a lot of stuff. I rode it back to San Francisco (about 150 miles) after the new ignition went in, and have been riding it every week since then. It seems happy, but there’s some things you’ll want to address.

Head work: The gasket leaks, and these bikes have weak valve seats, so you should have that reconditioned / upgraded.

Front Fairing: I bought a replacement fairing (used, fair condition) to go with my new windscreen, but it’s not installed yet. It's not perfect, but better than what's on there.

Air scoops (?): There are two fiberglass bits that attach between the tank and the oil cooler. I have them, but they need fiberglass repair and respray. These are RGA specific bits and hard to find replacements for.

Center stand: After putting the new exhaust on, this hangs very low and should be removed.

Tires: Well, they’re 4 years old, but hardly used.

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Other bits and bobs, some historical pics.

Bits and bobs are not available for individual sale. Unless you're willing to pay $6750 for one of them.

Parts and repair manuals. Owning a Laverda in New England in the 1980s ad '90s was impossible. No support network. It's a testament to the build quality of the RGS/RGA series bikes that I could ride this thing for years and it never needed repairs. When it did it was a chore to bother the two shops that would even look at it. Gotta RTFM.
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Most of the original tool kit. I worked in a car museum and knew the value of keeping this kind of nerd shit around, and the tools were frankly crap. One of them's already missing a tang, even though I never used them. In 1999 I finally lost the under-seat tool bucket. I think my landlady in Jamaica Plain made it into a planter, but I could never prove that.
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The tank badge from the "destro" side of the tank. Started to detach from the tank in the first year of ownership, so I wrapped in a sock and stuffed it into my toolbox. Thirty years later it's still there. Now you can match the paint, since the paint fell off the "sinestro" side badge a couple years later.
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Keys. Ignition switches. Why do I keep this crap around? The seat lock vibrated away in '89, that precipitated a lot of vibration that broke the tail light bracket, which got welded, then broke the other side. Who knew the seat lock was a load bearing element? In '91 the whole solo seat cover flew off in the face of a BMW rider behind me. All that's been replaced, but I still have the damned keys.
20210525_203327.jpg Also that leather tag says "Eastern Cycle Salvage" on it, because it's original equipment.

"Shoulder Pads" is the best I can say for these things; RGA parts. Very 1980s, shoulder pads. Some brake fluid damage.
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The "destro" side "carter" took some damage in 1995 (along with the fairing) and I never polished it again until 2019. Came back okay, left the battle scars in. Sand cast aluminum will always return to a shine that billet cannot ever reach.
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I'm going to say first year of ownership. The big Sprint fairing is already gone, no pics of that, nothing left of it or its lights, brackets or windscreen at all. After this pic the chrome peeled off the exhaust pipes and I painted them black with barbecue paint periodically.Jota2.JPG I still have those side panels, but one is busted up pretty bad.

Springtime! Get the bike out! In Massachusetts in the '80s all motorcycles and all pickup trucks had to re-register by December 31st. It was an annual tradition for the (procrastinating champion) bikers to show up at the DMV on New Years Eve and freeze our asses off waiting in line. The canteen truck drivers would also have to re-register, so they'd show up fully loaded with coffee and sammiches. Grand old time; probably what 19 year old OneTwenty is gearing up to go do here. (In chaps!)
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Mission Street, San Francisco... maybe 1996. I've ridden the bike across the USA, for which I regretfully swapped in the RGA seat that wore through the tank paint, but whatever the RGS seat saw a lot less use for a decade or two. This is after the wipeout on Mt Tamalpais that scraped up the fairing and side case.
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Considerably diminished old bird outside Bello Moto in 2017-ish. These cats opened up an Italian scooter shop around the corner from my house, so I went over and asked the mechanic if he knew anyone who could rebuild the carbs on my Laverda. "What's a Laverda?" asked the man surrounded by Lambrettas and Vespas and even some Fiat 500s. Two years later they were importing Laverdas from Italy. Mine showed up at a little cocktail party they were throwing... under its own power.
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So, yeah; I've had it for a while, and I let it get a bit rough, but in recent years I've tried to undo some of the egregious insults.

I'm just not a "classic bike guy". I only have a classic bike because I never get rid of things. I just bought a brand new Honda. Time for this bike to move on.
 
Yes agree totally, a great story to go with a great bike.
Good luck with the sale but suspect you won’t need it
👍
Tom
 
+1

If the price is reasonable and reflects the state it is in, it will for sure find a good home soon. Vibrations on RGx type bikes are mostly due to carbs out of sync/out of service and/or screws of the engine mounts are not tightened as they should. Else it should not develop such massive vibrations that make things fall off or kill bulbs. Thats the domain of 750's and 180° normally...

everyone should check this regularly. Typically, the carbs are out of sync by default when you put them back on the bike (no matter how gentle you push them, you twist them due to the very flexible carb brackets...). If not by that, it is by vibrations...
 
Laverdalothar said:
everyone should check this regularly. Typically, the carbs are out of sync by default when you put them back on the bike (no matter how gentle you push them, you twist them due to the very flexible carb brackets...). If not by that, it is by vibrations...
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Or you could just stick to 180's :unsure: :ROFLMAO:
 
Thanks, everybody!

This bike seems to attract interesting stories to itself, I'm just along for the ride.

I couldn't find any references to price the thing at. They're much more popular in Europe and Australia, where I've seen worse examples go for more money, so I just went with what I paid for it in 1988 dollars. Seemed about right. I've had it on my local CL but no solid bites, so I'm listing it here. Hopefully I won't have to resort to Ebay. I think I'd just keep it at that point.
 
Great Breganzie story OneTwenty - Similar to mine - That's a fair price for a great ride for an Enthusiasts to own - Well worth the price and experience - Wish I was younger with a shed to maintain her - Good Luck with your sale.

Buy her Jim ;o)
 
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Jeez, everybody tells me what a great deal my bike is but nobody's bought it yet!

Don't make me go on Bring A Trailer, or worse, eBay.
 
I can’t understand why your bike, and a few others that have been very fairly priced, haven’t sold. Perhaps it’s in the wrong price bracket and you need to increase the price to appeal to potential buyers with stacks of cash looking for an ‘investment’.
However, don’t let Paul Marx know, as he’s sure to say it’s not worth more than scrap value. 😜
 
Andy J said:
I can’t understand why your bike, and a few others that have been very fairly priced, haven’t sold. Perhaps it’s in the wrong price bracket and you need to increase the price to appeal to potential buyers with stacks of cash looking for an ‘investment’.
However, don’t let Paul Marx know, as he’s sure to say it’s not worth more than scrap value. 😜
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imagine what Zanes you could snap up over there Andy ! import onto the Island ;)
 
Andy J said:
I can’t understand why your bike, and a few others that have been very fairly priced, haven’t sold. Perhaps it’s in the wrong price bracket and you need to increase the price to appeal to potential buyers with stacks of cash looking for an ‘investment’.
However, don’t let Paul Marx know, as he’s sure to say it’s not worth more than scrap value. 😜
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Quite right.
The market has collapsed for these types of machines and it'll never recover. People interested in riding them don't ride any more and are dying off.
I have friends who work on classic British bikes, same phenomenon. Just look at the price of Vincents at auction over the last 2 or 3 years.

What is costing ever more is restoring and running these machines.

It was the pioneer run this weekend. Pioneer eligible machines, pre 1914, no doubt keep thier value for the few hundred people worldwide interested.

What is selling is cheap Japanese stuff for Boberising with wide tyres and painful saddles, no mudguards because they don't go out in the rain.
You won't hold on to a wrecked 70s Honda for long. You won't sell it for much either.

Paul
 
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