A Piece Of Motorcycle History

A Memory of Collington.

It may seem strange, but this little hamlet of less than 200 people was the birthplace of a motorcycling legend, famed worldwide. The now empty Collington Works, Collington, Bromyard HR7 4NB was the home of Slater Laverda Ltd.
In the 1970's the Slater brothers, Richard & Roger, became the main importers of Italian motorcycles, made by Laverda. In close cooperation with the factory they developed high performance versions of what were already fast bikes.
One in particular, the 1000cc Jota, then the fastest bike in the world at 140mph, even now it is quick. Back in the '70's it won production races, against the might of huge Japanese factories. Nowadays it is a sought after classic, as are other UK developed Laverdas, such as the 1200 Mirage & Montjuic 500.
I owned a Mirage, lived nearby, & would often ride over for spares, or just to have a chat with Mr Slater, or Frank, his main mechanic.

---

---