CROPREDY LIBERATOR 120
An unforgettable pillion ride led Rob Jenkins to buy this Laverda Jota special. We sling a leg over the rare slice of beefcake and hang on... tight
As we all secretly know, it takes decades to become an old bike enthusiast. It invariably starts with some thunderbolt moment in childhood – atrip to a race meeting, an uncle who rode a Brough, a first glimpse of an iconic model. Whatever it is, the impression sinks in, and bides its time like a virus. Bikes come and go, life happens... until one day, another thunderbolt moment arrives. And you suddenly realise you have the opportunity, ability and desire to buy a bike you have wanted for most of your life.
That’s exactly how Rob Jenkins came to own this exceptionally rare Jota 120 special. Only the thunderbolt moment was a bit more intense than usual, because he grew up in one of the biggest Laverda shops in the UK – Cropredy Motorcycles. His Dad Robin was a co-director, and the family home was opposite the workshop. Cropredy is yer classic English village, located near Banbury; think gorgeous countryside, the River Cherwell, a pub called the Brazenose and an annual three-day Fairport Convention festival.
The shop was an old wharf building next to the Oxford Canal, with a big open area behind. “My dad Robin had talked his business partner (and Laverda nut) Gareth Jones into starting a dealership there in the late 1970s,” says Rob. “They had the ethos of using the space to be a social hub. People would come from all over to gather there.”
As well as sponsoring Pete Davies, who won the Avon Production Championship three times on a Jota, the shop offered a tricked-up version of the factory’s famed three-cylinder superbike. They called it the Liberator. It was essentially a glassfibre body kit built by Simonato Pacifico (Cico for short), who had been a lynchpin in the factory and race shop in Breganze. “A customer, Ricky Capanni, who was also a graphic designer, came up with the paint design,” Rob recalls. “There were also options for tuning, a quick action throttle, Goldline brakes and more.”
