Editing Laverda ota America

{{Infobox Motorcycle
|name             = [[Laverda]] ota America
|image            = [[File:Laverda-1200--2.jpg|frameless|Laverda ota America]]
|aka              = 
|manufacturer     = Laverda
|parent_company   =
|production       = 1978
|model_year       =
|predecessor      =
|successor        =
|class            =
|engine           = Four stroke, transverse three cylinder, DOHC, 2 [[valve]] per cylinder.
|bore_stroke      =
|compression      = 8.0:1
|top_speed        = 133.3 mph 214.5 km/h
|power            =
|torque           =
|fuel_system      =
|ignition         = Bosch CDI
|spark_plug       =
|battery          =
|transmission     = 5 Speed
|frame            =
|suspension       =Front: 38mm Marzocchi forks <br>
Rear: Dual Marzocchi dampers adjustment for preload
|brakes           =Front: 2x 280mm discs 2 [[piston]] [[calipers]] <br>Rear: Single 280mm disc 2 piston caliper
|front_tire       = {{tire|4.10 H18}} 
|rear_tire   	  = {{tire|4.85 H18}} 
|rake_trail       =
|wheelbase        =
|length           =
|width            =
|height           =
|seat_height      =
|dry_weight       =
|wet_weight       = 247 kg / 544.5 lbs
|fuel_capacity    = 19.5 Litres / 5.1 US gal
|oil_capacity     =
|fuel_consumption =
|turning_radius   =
|related          =
|competition      =
}}

It could reach a top speed of 133.3 mph 214.5 km/h.  

==Engine==
The engine was a Air cooled cooled Four stroke, transverse three cylinder, DOHC, 2 valve per cylinder.. The engine featured a 8.0:1 [[compression ratio]].  

==Chassis==
It came with a 4.10 H18 front [[tire]] and a 4.85 H18 rear tire. Stopping was achieved via 2x 280mm discs 2 piston calipers in the front and a Single 280mm disc 2 piston [[caliper]] in the rear. The front suspension was a  38mm Marzocchi forks while the rear was equipped with a Dual Marzocchi dampers adjustment for preload. The ota America was fitted with a 19.5 Litres / 5.1 US gal fuel tank.  
== Photos ==
[[File:Laverda-1200--2.jpg|600px|Laverda ota America]]
[[File:Laverda-1200--3.jpg|600px|Laverda ota America]]

== Overview ==

Laverda 1200 America















Scratch any street rider in Italy and you'll find
a Giacomo Agostini seething beneath the surface. Scratch his Italian street bike
and you'll find a spirited roadracer lurking inside.
It's no wonder then, that despite not being
technological front-runners, Italian motorcycles are able to arouse one's
passions while going around corners. An Italobike may have a high-density seat,
brutal suspension, numbing vibration and a price debilitating to all but the
fattest of wallets, but you can bet your bottom Lira that it will dart over the
twisty sections of blacktop like a slot car and make the raciest noises this
side of a Grand Prix track.
The Laverda Jota America 1200 is a perfect
example. It is an exciting, highly emotional motorcycle that is thrilling to
ride, fun to corner and stimulating just to be near, even though making it work
is a high-effort proposition. On a Jota, you are a 100-percent participant, not
a lifeless body just along for the ride. All the controls, whether worked by
hand or by foot, require deliberate, forceful manipulation. Low-speed steering
borders on the strenuous, yet at high speeds, handlebar movements must be
delicate to prevent rider-induced twitches. And the rudeness of the seat and
suspension will test the perseverence of even the most butt-calloused riders on
trips of 100 miles or more.
But creature comforts are not the stock and trade
of the Laverda; emotion and excitement are, beginning with the 1116cc, DOHC
three-cylinder engine. When the cold-start mixture enricheners on the trio of
32mm Dell'Orto accelerator-pump carbs are engaged, the big triple roars to life
at the touch of the electric-start button. The Jota then settles into a staccato
idlea hammering, fast-paced booming of exhaust racket that, in cadence if not
in volume, is something you'd expect to hear coming from the loud end of a
AA/Fuel dragster, not from a mere three-cylinder street motorcycle. In that
warm-up idling mode, the 1200 sounds as if it's able to consume the quarter-mile
in about five seconds, which is about seven and a half seconds faster than the
bike can really manage.
Once up to operating temperature, the Laverda
still sounds radical. Although the machine-gun idle goes away once the
enricheners are turned off, a sundry selection of mechanical tickings and
whirrings continues to at least imply raciness. But it is the raspy, high-strung
exhaust note, playing in harmony with an uncommonly deep, resonating intake
roar, that endows the 1200 with a symphony of sound unmatched by any other
superbike.
The unique sound of the Jota's engine is a
by-product of its odd crankshaft design. While developing the original 1000cc
triple several years ago, Laverda's engineers experimented with conventional
120-degree three-cylinder crankshafts. But they finally settled on an unusual
(for a triple) 180-degree "flat" crank, where the two outside pistons move up
and down in unison, firing on alternate revolutions. The center cylinder's crank
pin is offset 180 degrees from the other two, producing a firing sequence like
that of an inline four with the No. 3 spark plug disconnected. The sequence is
therefore uneven, with two firings occurring at 180-degree intervals and the
third after a 360-degree interval.
The flat crank helps eliminate a
rocking-couple-induced vibration present in engines having 120-degree cranks,
but secondary vibrations, which just about cancel out one another in a
120-degree layout, are intensified with the 180 crank. Laverda claims to have
extracted more usable power from the triple with the 180, but we'd guess that
the full-race exhaust note furnished by the flat crank greatly influenced its
selection for the triple.
The Jota America is a lower-compression,
5mm-overbored version of the 1000cc Laverda Threes. And while the added 135cc
haven't markedly boosted acceleration, the extra displacement helps the 1200
meet current EPA emissions regulations while maintaining the same level of high
performance established by the 1000.
The America's quarter-mile times, respectable as
they might be (12.54 seconds 105.0 mph), clearly reveal that the world's
biggest-engined superbike is indeed neither the quickest nor the fastest. Which
brings us right back to the Italian mystique once again: Drag racing is not
all-important in Italy; roadracing is. Translation: A Laverda 1200 won't
out-drag the likes of a Honda Six or a Yamaha 1100 on a dragstrip, but if you
lure those same bikes onto a choice piece of winding mountain two-lane you'll
teach them a lesson they won't soon forget. When the going gets twisted, the
Jota America mirrors the pavement-scratching priorities of its creators in both
power and handling.
The 1200 feeds a massive dose of midrange torque
through five well-staged gear ratios, providing usable power and snappy response
in every normal cornering situation. The engine/gearbox match-up is so
compatible that the selection of gears while briskly unwinding a crooked road
isn't critical. Only when you're trying to make record time on that stretch of
corner-laden blacktop is the right gear at precisely the right rpm of any
import.
When one of those mad asphalt dashes is in
progress and you've put on your Sunday-best race face, it pays to have a
chassis' that measures up to the engine. And the Laverda's does, at least within
the limits of the cornering speeds you can attain on the road. The America just
loves to be laid over into turns of all types, so it feels reassuringly stable
and completely at home when the horizon begins to look more like the vertical.
In addition, the Dunlop TT100 tires (they're called K81s on this side of The
Pond) earn their keep when the lean angles get really racy by keeping both ends
of the 1200 from stepping out of line.
The Jota America may be the largest-displacement
superbike of all, but with a comparatively low center of gravity for its 518
pounds, the 1200 triple physically feelsand isno bulkier than the best 750
fours. The most conspicuous asset of such compactness is the ease with which the
Laverda will bank over into a turn or flip from side to side in fast esses. Even
during reasonably hard braking, the bike exhibits little tendency to sit up or
otherwise resist being leaned over. Conversely, tapping the brake or closing the
throttle while rushing through a turn doesn't cause the big Jota to drop inward
and tighten up its line.
The 1200 has an extremely narrow basic engine
configuration, even for a triple, which helps account for the bike's low center
of gravity. The engine's slenderness permits it to sit fairly low in the chassis
compared to the location of the average four-cylinder engine. When you're seated
on the bike, no part of the cylinder or head can be seen protruding from under
the 5.1-gallon gas tank, which in itself is unusually slim by current big-bike
standards. Only the thin cover for the triplex-chain primary drive is visible on
the left, but it's a different story on the right, where a massive housing
enclosing the 140-watt Bosch AC generator hangs out from the main case.
Were it not for that generator-case appendage
which pokes out into the wind just as far as the right footpeg, the engine could
easily have been set even lower in the frame, further dropping the Jota's center
of gravity. As it is, cornering clearance is still quite acceptable, with the
sidestand and centerstand being the first things to graunch on the left and the
generator cover obviously the first to touch down on the right.
The Laverda's suspension pieces are crafted by
Ceriani, a name once synonymous with impeccable wheel control. But if the
unyielding behavior of the Jota America's fork and laid-down shocks is an
accurate barometer that famous Italian firm has fallen behind the technology of
the times. Motorcycles such as the Suzuki GS1000 and the Honda CX500 have proven
that comfort and handling need not be mutually exclusive, but the Laverda
reflects none of that philosophy.
Rider comfort pays the dearest price for the
Jota's taut suspension rates, since handling seems largely unbothered by the
harshness. Rough corners can be rounded at virtually the same speed as smooth
ones without incident, and the firm spring rates at least let the 1200 maintain
good cornering clearance in hard bends.
The America seemed to have no built-in, sure-fire
wobbles, even though we occasionally experienced a few wiggles. But these were
caused directly by the rider and indirectly by the suspension. If the rider was
sitting bolt-upright and stiff-armed, and if a bump jarred the chassis in a
roughly surfaced corner, the rider was jostled enough to move the handlebars
ever so slightly. The front end has such hair-trigger sensitivity at moderate
and high speeds that those small handlebar movements would often generate a
mild, short-lived twitch. We found the best solution to forestall such behavior
was for the rider to bend his arms and lean forward slightly when cornering,
rather than sitting upright and stiff-armed.
There's no such simple solution for the ride.
Either Ceriani or Laverda has assumed that a Jota owner has no desire to be
pampered like a dozen eggs, that he wants to "feel" the road. Well, not only do
you feel it, your body gets a topographical readout of everything the wheels
roll over, big or small. And the seat itself is so painfully short of easy-chair
luxuriousness that the word "pamper" will never even enter your mind. The only
comfort-saving grace is that the low-rise handle-bars and mildly rearset
footpegs encourage a leaned-forward, quasi-café riding position which alleviates
some of the abuse directed to the buttocks and lower spine. Only when in that
comfortable position can you endure more than 75 to 100 miles a day on the 1200.
The Jota, in this age of turbine-smooth multis,
dynamic counterbalancers and rubber-mounted engines, can prove to be a bit of a
vibrator. Fortunately, the worst of the shuddering, which is felt through the
footpegs and handlebars, comes in above 4000 rpm (approximately 70 mph in high
gear), permitting pleasantly smooth cruising at or near legal speeds. Above 4000
rpm the frequency of the vibes is not as annoyingly high as that felt on some
four-cylinder motorcycles, but the intensity is greater. Thus, long stints above
4000 rpm will result in some tingling in the hands of the rider and in the feet
of both the rider and his passenger.
If you still harbor serious doubts as to whether
comfort is a low-priority item at Laverda's factory in Breganze, Italy, consider
the half-turn throttle that must pull against inordinately stiff return springs
or the rear brake that requires a Paul Bunyonesque romp on the pedal to generate
any perceptible stoppage. If that's not enough evidence, toss in a clutch lever
that resists your pull like a hand exerciser and a long-throw shift lever that
is so close to the footpeg that it only feels comfortable to a size-six shoe.
On the other hand, reliability is a major concern
at Laverda, which is why the 1200 is outfitted with a number of features to
improve longevity. Prominent are the No. 630 chain superseding the smaller No.
530 used on the 1000, replaceable camshaft bushings, a solid-state ignition and
voltage regulator, and Japanese-made instruments and switches. Needle bearings
can be found at the swingarm pivot and tapered rollers at the steering head. And
Laverda, like most European firms, prefers cast iron rather than stainless steel
in its brake rotors for less fade and more consistent wet-weather stopping.
The sole reliability concern our 1200 provoked
involved the flip-up gas cap, which leaked like a coarse-pitch sieve. The Jota
1000 we tested in June of 1977 had the same problem, signaling that it's high
time Laverda remedied this potentially dangerous design. We finally vented the
cap on our Jota like on a dirt bike to solve this problem.
At the time of our Laverda Jota test a year and a
half ago, spending $4495 for a 1000cc Jota required some serious soul-searching.
The same number of dollars could buy you the status of a BMW R100RS and 40
percent fewer dollars would slip you into a Japanese superbike.
But now the big BeeEm has escalated to more
than$6000 and the new Honda Six is pegged at four grand. The 1000cc Yamahas,
Suzukis and Kawasakis are temporarily hovering near the $3500 mark while
threatening to go even higher if the Dollar keeps getting kayoed by the Yen. But
in the middle of this skyrocketing inflation is the Jota America, at $4250 a
whole $245 cheaper than the Jota 1000. The big triple is no longer a
breathtakingly overpriced exotibike. It's still exotic, but now it's practically
as affordable as the Japanese monsterbikes.
But don't let the Jota's suddenly reasonable
price confuse the issue. The Jota America is still not ever man's motorcycle. It
is not a pinnacle of sophistication, smoothness, effortless operation or
infatuating gadgetry. You could easily get faster, better-suspended motorcycles
for less money. But we're not talking bargains or economics here. We're talking
excitement and passion; fast cornering, blood-curdling engine sounds and serious
rider involvement. We're talking the language of Italian motorcycles.
If your personal demographics match up with the
Jota's profile, you'll like the bike a lot. And if you're unsure about it all,
finding the answer is easy. Just scratch your throttle hand and see if anyone
named Kenny or Giacomo is hiding in there.
RIDE REVIEW
A ride on the Jota convinced me that Laverda must
specialize in the construction of farm equipment. The suspension hammered me on
rough roads, the brakes demanded a mighty yank and a stomp, and the clutch
required a peasant farmer's strength. Even the bellow from the engine sounded
like it belonged to a tractor. The Jota is about as frivolous as a turnip.
But as the spare, British-like lines of the Jota
suggest, the best thing about this motorcycle is its lack of frivolity.
Everything here works for a living. The gearing permits the 1200cc torquer to
work at a sensible rpm. The stiff suspension swallows seed without hesitation.
There's probably a reason that the Jota, unlike a
Ducati Darmah or Honda CBX, turns heads wherever it goes. It's because even the
man in the street admires a totally serious machine. And in the face of foolish
styling and engineering exercises, the Jota's seriousness makes it pretty
appealing to me, even though eight hours on this bike makes me feel like I've
been plowing a field all day. Michael Jordan
The Laverda 1200 America is a brutish
motorcycle. The enormous triple is surly in general. It makes low-rpm, throbbing
torque, while also making a good deal of noise and vibration. The levers are
sized for enormous hands, and require an equally enormous squeeze to make
anything happen. The rear brake is pretty much nonfunctional unless you stand on
the pedal with both feet. A downward blow on the shift lever with a sledge
hammer may result in a downshift. Riding the Laverda is a real workout. Too much
of a workout as far as I am concerned. It's like riding some kind of unruly
animal; you have to make it do what you want it to do. Personally, I'd rather
ride a horse.Jeff Karr
It doesn't take a master's from Moto-U to know
this Laverda is something special. Not only does it act like a hewn-from-marble
motorcycle, it looks like itas the endless streams of wide-eyed onlookers
proved. One guy in a commuter-brown Chevy wagon even slid up to me at a
stoplight, gave it the once-over and asked if it was American-made. It has
exactly that square-jawed look.
Unfortunately, the payoff for me in the way it
handled, rode, accelerated and shifted just didn't measure up to the looks. I
found myself liking the idea of the bike 1200cc overstatementbetter than the
stuff it delivered. A balky shifter, too-long throttle pull and ungainly
ergonomics just plain made it uncomfortable.
But the sound it makes tips the scales. Any
motorcycle that makes noises like an angry ack-ack gun can't be all bad. Steve
Thompson

Source Cycle Guide
{|  class="wikitable"
|- 
!Make Model
|Laverda 1200 America
|- 
!Year
|1978
|- 
!Engine Type
|Four stroke, transverse three cylinder, DOHC, 2 valve per cylinder.
|- 
!Displacement
|1115.8 cc / 68 cu-in
|- 
!Bore X Stroke
|80 X 74 mm
|- 
!Cooling System
|Air cooled
|- 
!Compression
|8.0:1
|- 
!Induction
|3x 32mm Side throttle Dell'Orto carburetors
|- 
!Ignition
|Bosch CDI
|- 
!Starting
|Electric
|- 
!Max Power
|73 hp / 54.4 kW @ 7500 rpm
|- 
!Max Torque
|54.2 Nm / 40 lb-ft @ 6000 rpm
|- 
!Transmission
|5 Speed
|- 
!Final Drive
|Chain
|- 
!Front Suspension
|38mm Marzocchi forks
|- 
!Front Wheel Travel
|140 mm / 5.5 in
|- 
!Rear Suspension
|Dual Marzocchi dampers adjustment for preload
|- 
!Rear Wheel Travel
|100 mm / 3.9 in
|- 
!Front Brakes
|2x 280mm discs 2 piston calipers
|- 
!Rear Brakes
|Single 280mm disc 2 piston caliper
|- 
!Front Tire
|4.10 H18
|- 
!Rear Tire
|4.85 H18
|- 
!Wet Weight
|247 kg / 544.5 lbs
|- 
!Fuel Capacity
|19.5 Litres / 5.1 US gal
|- 
!Consumption Average
|38 mpg
|- 
!Braking 60 - 0 / 100 - 0
|- / 37.4 m
|- 
!Standing ¼ Mile
|12.8 sec / 168.3 km/h
|- 
!Top Speed
|133.3 mph 214.5 km/h

|}

[[Category:Laverda motorcycles]]