Roger and sibling Richard were The Slater Brothers: bringing us both the celebrated Laverda Jota and the not-to-be-forgotten Montjuic
9. ROGER SLATER
With a long life well-led in motorcycling, Laverda legend Roger Slater’s first two-wheel memory dates back to WW2. Or rather a three-wheel memory. The father of the Laverda Jota recalls being six years old in 1942. “My uncle Ernie picked me up with his BSA M20 sidecar outfit to take me from Bromsgrove to Malvern. I found the wind and noise extremely exciting as we wafted along at about 40 mph. I kept looking at the engine with its spark plug, only about a foot away. How on earth could that spark plug do all this?” wondered young Roger.
His voyage of discovery continued shortly after the war, when he and a few mates found an old Triumph single rusting away in a barn. They soon got it running.
Roger’s first road legal bike was a 1936 Francis-Barnett Cruiser, quickly traded in for a Matchless GTL 350. The Matchless was succeeded by a string of Ariels followed by a Vincent 1000 with Swallow Jet 80 sports sidecar. After almost losing his right arm in an accident with the outfit, Roger ran it solo, sensibly considering it to be far safer.
Young Slater was steadily honing his engineering skills. “My practical experience was soon aided by an engineering apprenticeship at Garringtons of Bromsgrove plus two years of National Service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME),” he says.
“I became a member of our motorcycle despatch rider team. We competed in many road and off-road trials, and had to maintain our bikes to the very highest standards.”
Upon demob, Roger got a job with Eric Williams’ dealership in Worcester, eventually rising to shop foreman. Next came a stint with Worcester County Police to look after their two wheelers.
Getting ever more steeped in motorcycling, Roger enjoyed many club race events and learned some serious tuning. “My first road race machine was my much-loved 1955 Velocette MSS. I kept it looking like a standard full touring MSS, but the engine innards were much tweaked, tuned and blue- printed.
Soon Roger was specialising in Velocette and Vincent engine parts and tuning. A self-built Egli Vincent 1000cc competition machine would steer Slater towards Breganze. Building race bikes powered by the celebrated Stevenage V-twins through an arrangement with frame designer, Fritz Egli, Roger found it increasingly hard to find engines and spares.
In 1970, he made a decisi
