Model history – Yamaha XS1100

By the late 70s the big four Japanese manufacturers were locked in a battle for more power. The Z1 had opened the door for big dohc fours and Suzuki jumped in with both feet with the GS750 and 1000, while Honda were well-advanced with plans for their dohc 750 and 900 fours. Yamaha needed a presence at the muscle end of the showrooms, too, and it was a relatively simple engineering job to tack another cylinder on the existing XS750 and come up with a monster 1100cc four. And it worked; with 95bhp on tap the bike could manage a top speed of 136mph and a standing quarter time of 11.9 seconds, despite the weight and shaft drive. But the XS lived up to its moniker and rapidly became known as the ‘excess’, with too much weight and bulk to challenge the lighter bikes in the twisties.

Launched in Morocco in 1978, the bike was never a big seller until it morphed into the FJ1200 six years later, but it did develop something of a cult following and is now sought after by lovers of big, beefy tourers. Fuel consumption of 43mpg gave the big bike a range of 230 miles and, despite occasional tales of gearbox weaknesses, the XS is known as a solid performer. Our test bike is a rebuilt 1980 example, and is in standard trim apart from the Telefix fork brace, which a previous owner has added to sharpen up the handling.

Riding the Jota
Climbing aboard the legendary Laverda triple after a period of so many years is quite revealing, for what once seemed like a huge hulking brute of a bike now seems slim and lithe. Leaning over the elegantly-sculpted tank, the fully adjustable handlebars seemed surprisingly close and spread wide to either side of the top yoke, making the riding position feel short and wide. The bike fired up with a most satisfactory rumble, changing to an angry bark from the silencers when I blipped the throttle. The gear change is on the right on these early bikes, and it took a careful initial few yards before I dialled into habits learned on old British bikes and was shifting with confidence, though the levers almost caught me out once or twice.

The clutch is still quite heavy to use, though much lighter than earlier, cable-operated versions, and bites progressively. But it's out on the open road that the big Laverda really comes into its own. As the revs rise above 3500 the low-speed lumpiness of the engine becomes an aggressive edge that urges you onwards, coupled with a solidity from the cycle parts that inspires confidence. The bike doesn't handle like a modern sports bike, though, and the long, ponderous turning into bends requires a fair degree of rider input to get right. The whole package demands a lot of the rider, and it's this level of demand that makes the Jota such a rewarding bike to ride.

For the more you put in to one of these bikes, the more you get out of it, and it's not hard to discover why the bikes were still selling long after the performance figures had been superseded by oriental products. The Jota is a most satisfying motorcycle to ride, and long distance, high-speed trips will leave the rider both exhilarated and longing for more. In a word, it's fun. And that's something no computer-designed modern bike can offer in quite the same way.