| Author | Message | ||
     Gentleman_jon |
Like many Lightning riders, my initial attraction to the CR Azonic bars faded after a while, and so I did some extensive research to try to find a pair of Clubman type bars that would fit on the Buell Lightning. I discovered that Verlicchi, the people who make the Buell XB frame, made a handle bar in the 1970's for the Laverda Jota, a special version of the Laverda 1000cc triple that was the fastest streetbike of its day. The bars are almost infinitely adjustable, and fit nicely on a Lightning. Here is how they look on my bike.  | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
The bars themselves are made of five pieces, this photo will show how they adjust. I have the bars in the "up" position. In the down position, they would give a riding position that was very race like.  Verlicchi has not made these bars for years, but I understand that a replica is being made by Raask in Denmark. I purchased this particular set of bars from Terry Prendergast, an Austrialian Enthusiast who had lovingly restored and rechromed them. (Message edited by gentleman_jon on January 19, 2006) | ||
| Dago |
nice find!!! | ||
| Midknyte |
That first pic is blow up, & stick on the wall, incredible! | ||
| Smoothrod |
Very nice I like it allot. If you dont mind how much did they cost you? | ||
| Bake |
The local Laverda dealership here usually stocks those bars. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Smooth, I went a bit overboard on these bars, the seller was a pretty shrewd cookie, and he knew what he had. However, the replica bars are available for $129 plus shipping. I have not seen them, I have heard that they are not as well made as the originals. I don't believe that they are available from any of our sponsors, but a Google search for Laverda Clubman's Bars should turn them up. Let me know if you need more info. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Midnite - Thank you Bake - Thank you for the information. Here is the original Laverda Jota, c. 1970 with the bars mounted in the down position.  | ||
| Kootenay |
The local Laverda dealership here usually stocks those bars. Like the way you put that, Bake. "The local Laverda dealership."  } | ||
| Nasty73z |
Has anyone ever tried to fit Suburban Machinery bars onto a Buell? They are not adjustable but the SV guiys love 'em. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I just took a look at the Suburban Machinery bars: http://www.suburban-machinery.com/sv650.htm They are very nice looking bars, but I am pretty sure that they would NOT fit on the Buell because the handle bar clamps on the Buell are too low to allow the bars to go over the fork ends. That is a problem that many bars will have. | ||
| Kdan |
I had a 1983 Laverda Jota 1000 back when it was new...Killer bike, no one knew what it was either. *Sigh No contribution to the thread, just reminiscing. | ||
| Cmm213 |
Jon looks great, I have a yellow 9s too . Every time you post your bike has something new on it. The second pic looks like it would be a good riding position. | ||
| Rocketman |
If memory serves, Laverda didn't invent the Jota. London based Slater Brother's did, to go racing on. Laverda listened. We use to call those bars Jota bars (it's true), and we all wanted them for our cafe racers. Rocket | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
You got that right , Rocket. As a matter of fact, these bars were bought in England by an Australian, who sold them to me in New York. So they have been in the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Great bars get around.  | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Final Word, ( I hope) on the Laverda Jota bars. I ordered a pair of the Raask Replica bars for a friend, and I can NOT recommend them for use on a Buell for several reasons: 1. The cross bar is shorter than the originals, so it is impossible to set the bars in the rearward sweeping position I have without hitting the air box on an Buell lightning. 2. The general workmanship and detailing is quite inferior to the originals. Gosh darn it!! | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Several of us have been using the Raask Laverda/Jota bars on our Blasts for years (long before the date of this thread). There are some clearance issues that can be easily resolved (on the Blast), but I can tell you they stand a crash quite well. The bars actually bent and broke, but all the adjustable joints remained solid. I've still got the same bars back on my Blast, rewelded, and with 2" cut out of the middle they fit perfectly in all positions! | ||
| Petebueller |
I had a 750SF, 2 x 1200TS and then a Jota 120 (with a 120 degree crank) which was the fastest (highest top speed) production bike in 1982. Did about 200,000 km on Laverdas. Visted the factory in Italy. These are the bars off my friend's early Jota  And I've just got to pop in a pic of my old 120. Laverdas were incredible bikes  | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Very nice! I wish small displacement European bikes were more popular here (though the 2 pictured were hardly small). When I first saw the Laverda bars (off the bike), I thought they looked like bits of plumbing strung together. Looked much better when actually mounted on the Blast. Looked super sweet and 'stock' when I finally saw them on a Laverda. Thought about mounting a 1" set on my HD, but for all their functionality, I think they'd look real bad  only encouraging the poor opinion many have of Harleys ("he's got plumbing for handlebars, typical"). Can you tell I totally dig the bars?!!! | ||
| Pikeben08 |
Sorry to revive such an old thread but I had a question about the Raask Jota bars. I saw above that they don't work with an XB. What exactly were the fit issues? More importantly, has anyone tried them on an X1? | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
The post says they were too short in the middle. I dont think you'd have any issues. I'd buy a set, make sure they are returnable and before you scratch them up do a mock mounting. Tank clearance is usually the issue and can often be solved by the addition of risers (extra top clamp upside down) or cut and weld a section out of the middle of the bar or some grinding at key areas. Sometimes you just dont have full range, but still very usable. Sorry to revive? Why, they're good bars! (Message edited by Gearheaderiko on July 12, 2012) |
