Laverda 1000 3C
Laverda 1000 3C
. .Dave Minton has been riding Laverdatriples for over 30 years. Meet his favourite and be surprised: it's no Jota(but it does make all the right sounds)... At between 2500 and 4000 revs in the higher gears, 180-degree Breganze triplesmake wonderful noises -- a sort of basso profundo gargle, not unlike a narrowangle V-twin. Just as it begins to fade, the accompanying parallel twin underlayswells from an inconspicuous moan to a howl of released power. We were on our way back to Britain with the first Laverda triple, the 3C, RogerSlater (who held the British Laverda concession then) and I. Winter arrivedearly in the Alps that September in 1972 and our lightweight summer gear wasinsufficient to deal with unseasonable bitter cold and deep snow over what Irecollect was the St Bernard pass (although it may have been another). So wetook the rail ferry through the tunnel and exited in a Switzerland buriedbeneath a few feet of ice and snow. Roger seemed to think it was all a bit of a giggle at first. Well, he would,because while he was secure on an ordinary 750SF, I, being the privilegedjournalist, had sole responsibility for the precious new press-demo 3C. After afew miles 'tight-rope' riding down the mountain road while I sweated in fear ofdisgracing myself, while simultaneously freezing in the blistering cold, westopped at the first village and booked into the only hotel.
With numbed fingers we failed to release our crash helmet buckles and had to sitin the reception lounge cuddling glasses of mulled red wine until feelingreturned. Roger was displeased because while following me he noticed that I hadbeen 'snatching at it' -- he had seen the 3C's chain shaking under low-speedcombustion pulses. It was no good arguing with him. Eventually we managed to remove our helmets and settled in the snow-besiegedhotel to await snowploughs. I attempted without much success and borderlinehonesty to explain to Roger that the 'snatching' which had so offended him was aconsequence of the dire need to keep revs down over snow and ice. What I did notconfess was my compulsion for the 3C's lusty low rev torque and magnificentlyoff-beat exhaust throb! I simply could not get enough of 3000rpm-ish high gearacceleration whenever possible.
We left the following morning. The steep mountain pass was clear of snow butpolished to a glaze by the plough blade and other vehicles. Thankfully the roadeventually cleared and the rest of the ride passed uneventfully, save for alunch of staggering proportions near Chalons, which Roger beamingly recorded asa; 'real Froggy blowout', taken in celebration of our survival. I was smitten and have remained so ever since. You have to remember that thiswas 30 years ago when the Kawasaki Z1 had only recently arrived. While its 82bhpengine was at least the equal of the 3C, its rolling chassis' weak-kneed andimprecise performance was not. Japan had yet to grasp that unless it was cradledby reliable brakes, disciplined suspension and a torsionally stiff frame, thepower of an engine could never offer much more than notional potency. This was never the way of the 3C. From the word Go it was pure sportster. Alittle harsh by way of stiff suspension and, perhaps, not quite as smooth in itspower delivery as the Z1, but it would scorch to 130mph without much more than amild and harmless rear end squirm. At least, the cast aluminium wheeled modelswould, for I had a few funny moments on the wire-wheeled pre-Jota 3CEs, but that's another story. Two long, hard trips to Italy on the big triples convinced me of their finequalities. They were incomparably fast, tireless and safe under all conditionsat a time when 'trustworthy' was rarely employed to describe sportingattributes. You could brake in the rain on the 3C's big Brembos. Do you rememberhow Italian bike owners, red-eyed and black fingernailed from unscheduledservicing, would with immense pride exemplify their trusty, red oxide dustedbrake discs? And immaculate Japanese bike owners would point out that at leasttheir bikes kept running in wet weather, even though they might not stop runningwhen so ordered! Before the 3C had properly settled, Slater Brothers developed the Jota.Following almost a year's development on the track in the hands of mainly PeterDavies and Roger Winterburn, and on a Heenan and Froud dynamometer (JAP's oldone, oddly) in the hands of Roger and Richard Slater, the awesome Jota bleweverything, including its 3C brother, through the weeds and into the wildernessbeyond. As well as dominating the Avon Production racing Championship throughout thelatter Seventies, the Jota has much greater PR and endurance racing success thanit usually gets credit for: a 1974 third place at Barcelona, fourth at Thruxton;1975 sixth at Barcelona, third at Mugello, second at Spa; 1976 Italian PRChampionship, Austrian PR Championship, as well as the Avon series in Britain.While all this was good for Laverda it was hard on the standard 3C, which by allstandards save that of extreme speed was superior to the Jota. It was also abare 10mph slower, undeniably sweeter and possessed a very useful power plateaubeginning at 2500rpm, a mere 45mph in top gear: the Jota's power crashed in,almost literally, at 6000rpm -- 108mph. Unfortunately the rough, tough legend of the Jota spilled over to stain thestandard 3C which was then, and remains today, far from the coarse and rawanimal it is supposed to be. When I first rode a pre-production drum-brakedexample back in, oh, 1970 was it (?), the big three felt massive. Now, comparedto, say, an initial Hinckley triple, the Breganze bike feels nice, neat andcobby, light and flickable as a modern 600. But rugged, too. Alas, they reallydon't make 'em like this any more. Unlike their 750cc twin cylinder brothers' impregnable reliability, the triples-- while generally good -- were not faultless. But, of course, rumour provedstronger than fact. The first year's production revealed a vulnerability todampness of the Bosch ignition signal amplifiers. Then came the batch of faultycamshaft bearings. Certain models exhibited camshaft pillar crumbling, althoughthis proved to be as much a problem of incorrect assembly as anything else.Others suffered from loosened valve seats. Slater Brothers either dealt withthese under warranty themselves or factory mechanics handled mass rectificationwork. Any 3Cs by this time are either one of the majority without defect or have longsince been corrected. Minor problems displayed by exceptionally hard-riddenmodels are very occasional front mudguard stay fracturing caused by the tele-leg'walking' under high speed duress, and instrument bracket fractures. The only insurmountable difficulty has been the miserably weak Bosch alternator.No others were available from any electrical specialist. The first models had tomake do with an insufficient 100W to maintain a fully charged battery at night.By the second year generator output was just about enough to balance a headlampload at 125W and this lasted through to 1978 when 140W was provided. Owners of125W models are advised to fit a 21W daytime riding lamp bulb in place of theparking lamp, and if planning a winter's night-long ride to ensure they have oneof the original 32ah batteries fitted... The bike seen here was supplied by John Fallon, proprietor of Mdina Italia.Laverda triples, it seems, inspire him with confidence; 'Some older Italians canbe a can of worms,' he says, speaking from experience. 'You open them up andeverything's worn. But if there's trouble with an old Laverda I know that I canreplace the problem part and the rest will be fine. No problem. 'They just go. And they keep on going.' SourceRealclassic.co.uk