Laverda Montjuic MKII

The Montjuic name ranks alongside other legendary bikes in the story of Laverda twin and triples, such as 750SFC and Jota. With its Café racer looks and bright orange paint job, the Montjuic looked like a scaled-down 750SFC, and an enlarged version of the final Ducati Desmo single. Both were bikes with a special place in the hearts and minds of sportsbike enthusiasts.

As with the Jota, it was Roger Slater who was instrumental in the creation of the Montjuic. Heavily involved in production racing at the time, Slater had a natural ability to sniff out a marketable product. He had imported a Formula 500 and, realizing that it would not be a viable competitive racer in British events, he decided to use it as the basis for a middleweight Laverda twin that he (correctly) believed British enthusiasts would want to own. He must also have realized by then that the Alpino was never going to make the grade, hampered by a combination of lacklustre styling and a high price tag.

The Montjuic was named after the famous parkland road circuit in the heart of Barcelona, where Laverda had often enjoyed success. It was essentially a Formula 500 for the street, refined just enough to be legal under the British Road Traffic Act. Its styling was gorgeous, as was the bark from its two-into-one matt-black exhaust system — note that there is no mention of the word 'silencer'! The Montjuic looked as though it was speeding even when it was standing still, and it was impossible to ignore. It grabbed sales in a way that the less adventurous and far more sober Alpino had never been able.

Using the standard Alpino tank, Slater commissioned Birmingham-based Screen and Plastics to manufacture a batch of suitable handlebar fairings and hump-back single saddles, together with more sporting mudguards, Jota-type bars posed as clip-ons and rear set foot controls; the latter were mounted on triangular alloy plates.

One of the major problems that beset the first-series Montjuic machines was that the fairing was fork-mounted and caused weaving at high speed. This was largely rectified on later machines (series 2), which employed a frame-mounted fairing designed by the Italian Motoplast concern, but manufactured in Britain.

Of course, a really critical rider could find much that was wrong with the Montjuic in comparison with other five-hundred twins of the same era - Moto Guzzi V50, Ducati Pantah, Yamaha XS500, Honda CX500 or even the Morini 500. All of these were relatively civilized, quieter and, in most cases, faster too. However none of them had the same sort of character, none were so compact and none enjoyed quite the same sort of relationship with its rider. The Laverda was far from ideal for any form of commuting or touring, but for pure enjoyment, fast road work or even a touch of club racing, or 'track days', in 1980 no half-litre machine could compare with the Montjuic. Its nearest rival was probably the 350 LC Yamaha water-cooled two-stroke twin, which was very slightly larger and heavier than the Montjuic. Both gave the feel of a 250cc, and, as I found out one day at Snetterton in summer 1984, virtually identical on lap times. The Yamaha twin was a shade quicker, but the Laverda made up lost ground on the corners and braking areas.

The 'Monty', as it became known, soon had me hooked. By the time I got to ride one, production had long since ceased; otherwise I might well have gone out and bought one!

Source Mick Walker