Hepco and Becker racks for Laverdas going away?

mcnicol

mcnicol

Hero member
Location
Safety Harbor, Florida, USA
I have been planning on fitting luggage to my Jota for some travelling, and purchased a set of bags a few months ago from Hepco and Becker, planning on getting the racks when the money tree recovered a bit. I just noticed that the Laverda Jota/1000 rack is no longer listed as an available part with Hepco and Becker (650.705 00 01). And a dealer (Motomachines) has an RGS rack listed as a closeout special for 44 Euros. Not a good sign!

Ken
 
I presume you bought the pannier frames with the bags, so it's just the rack you need.

Shouldn't be too hard to make one or get one for a different bike and modify it to fit.
 
Cam, no, didn't get any of the hardware, the bags were expensive enough. Yeah I can still get frames from Hepco & Becker, but I don't have the skills or the equipment for making a rack that'll hold together and won't look like shit. I'm really hoping they'll agree to make one last rack for me, have emailed them pleading piteously (bowdown).
 
Ok, that's a bit more of an issue. If they still have the pattern or jigs for the Laverda, then it shouldn't be an issue for them to make them on demand. With a bit of luck your pleading will get a result.

If they don't wanna make a one-off set, perhaps you could ask them for the bit that fits onto the bags, but without any connecting hardware for a bike. You could then get someone to weld up the brackets to suit your bike.
 
A German Forum member is currently in discussion with them for a re-production. He is giving them his bike ( a 3CL IIRC) to get them to measure everything up. You should see a new offering soon... Maybe send them an inquiry, that might speed up the production if they see more requests coming in...
 
When I enquired a few years ago they said they wanted a minimum order quantity of 10.
In the end 7 orders came in so they made them (for the RGS).
 
mcnicol said:
Well, that's 3. Andy you should drop them a line too.
Ken
Click to expand...

Hi Ken,
What model are you having a rack made for, a late model series 1 jota (or mb a series 2?) a 120 or RGA/RGS Jota? I'm not entirely familiar with the similarities/differences in frame specs. I've been in contact with H&B who seem to think they are making one for you for an '81 model: if so I'm not 100% sure what you're getting or whether the same would fit my '78 Mirage.
AndyW 8)
 
Andy, they only have the one SKU (650705 00 01) that is listed as being for Laverda 1000 Jota / 1200 Jota (whatever that is), nothing about year. I have a '78 Jota (probably a Jotaised 3cl), deffo series 1, that has both upright and angled shock mounts. I can't get the link to the installation instructions to work from the US Hepco & Becker distributor site so I don't know what sort of mounting installation is being used, but I'm sure it uses the grab bar mount, rear footpeg mount and a top shock mount. The installation instructions are available in German from the H&B site, but there's not much there that's at all specific, mostly a list of bits and pieces.
But between '78 Jota, '78 Mirage, and '81 Jota there seem to be only minor differences. We should both have both top shock mounts, while the '81 Jota looks like it's only got the forward mount. So we're probably going to attach to the forward shock mount. Grab bar mounts look the same for all 3 bikes. We both have tubular steel triangles for the rear footpeg mounts, the '81 Jotas seem to mostly have RGS-like alloy plates. Hopefully the same length to the rear foorpeg.
The German business day is over but I'll email their sales manager about just what he is supplying to me. He had emailed me that they have at least one in stock but need to make up a few brackets. I'm pretty sure that they're using a generic rack and supplying custom mounting brackets. I had to place the order through their US distributor, I called them today, they're working from home and the guy I talked to agreed he'd never heard of Laverda and that they ceased to exist quite some time before he was born. So we didn't have a meaningful exchange of information, although he confirmed they had ordered one rack set from Germany.
I wonder if the Germans are actually manufacturing anything?

Ken
 
Hi Ken,


I suspect your Jota frame and my Mirage frame are the same other than the numbers.. Question is what to H&B in Germany think we have: would be good to know whether they are working from Lothar's mate's 3CL as a template as, if it's from 78 or later then it should be fine: if they think we've got RGS frames then it could go pear shaped quite badly..


Have just forwarded my correspondence with them in Germany to your email address..


Rgds
AndyW 8)
 
Does anybody reading this have access to a Series 2 non-RGS triple and can take a measurement along the top of the alloy rear footpeg bracket, like maybe to centre of the footpeg mounting bolt, so we can be sure that Hepco & Becker racks designed for an '81 Jota will also fit '78 Jota & Mirage frames with the tubular steel triangle footpeg bracket? Looking at pictures the '81 does actually look a little longer than the tubular steel '78s. Since Hepco & Becker are making the brackets to adapt a generic rack it would be nice to let them know the different dimensions. They might even be kind enough to fabricate the brackets a bit different for me and Andy, and for Lothar's mate with the '81.

Ken
 
Good luck trying to get them to change there existing drawings  ???
I just purchased a rack for the RG series in Wodonga Vic through MAP! No dramas, they have the junior hard cases that go with it too. Round 1200 bucks all up delivered, nice bit of kit.  8)
 
Yeah, I had already bought a set of Junior 40 litre bags, although I was thinking about the 42 litre Journey bags. Both fit. They also have Gobi bags, adventure rider styled, they fit too. But max 10kg per bag, doesn't matter which bag, function of the rack, so having all the space in the world doesn't help all that much.

Ken
 
"Does anybody reading this have access to a Series 2 non-RGS triple and can take a measurement along the top of the alloy rear footpeg bracket, like maybe to centre of the footpeg mounting bolt, ...."

I could probably do this, if I understood what the request is. Alloy rear footpeg bracket? As far as I know, the pillion pegs are mounted to steel frame tubes.  I think a sketch is in order to better understand what we are talking about here.  Call me lacking in imagination, but I do not understand what measurement is needed.

An aside.  Years ago I decided my Mirage 1200TS would benefit from panniers so I placed an order for the HB bits with the distributor that handled North America in those days.  I waited.  And waited.  I called.  And I called.  After six month the distributor guy said he had given up with HB in the fatherland.  He told me that he'd been lead on and on with excuses for non-shipment, then one fine day he was told the company had lost the gig to make the brackets!

Today I have HB Juniors on the Mirage.  They are secured by HB brackets that started life intended for a Moto Guzzi.  I had them modified for my bike and they have subsequently served well and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

I am not impressed with Hepco Becker's business practices.
 
LAwrence, I don't have access to an "81 triple so looked at pictures on the internet, and in all the ones I looked at the rearset mounting plate looked like a solid alloy casting, like an RGS. But your question got me to spend a bit longer searching for images, and I finally found a few that showed me the '81 frames still used the same tubular triangle. So thanks for encouraging me to look a little harder, and I think our problem is solved.
I remembered the discussion on the forum when you discussed the difficulties with getting sense out of the US distributor, and I was very surprised when I found a Laverda rack still being listed as available. They told me that they actually had one in stock and could easily make more, so I'm pretty sure they're using a generic rack and forming adapters to make it fit. I wonder how long they've had the one that I'm trying to buy?
BTW, what do you think of their bags? I bought a set of 40 litre Junior bags, but obviously haven't had a chance to use them yet. They sure weren't cheap, though.

Ken
 
I think the basic h an b frame for Lavs is same regardless of triple model. It?s just the attaching points (Brkts) that are a little different. Get hold of a frame and make the attachment point brkts yourself.... only some flat bar with some holes drilled in it  ;)
I?m looking at the 30ltr juniors panniers, been told by those in the know that 40ltr jobbies are too wide  :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top