Laverda 250 Chott
With Phil Aynsley
While Laverda had produced some ‘off-road’ models in the ‘50s these were basically 75 cc road models with minor changes. The mid ‘60s saw the 125 cc Regolarita – a four-stroke single with a little more off road cred.
![](https://www.mcnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Laverda-PA-250Chott-007-1024x868.jpg)
The company decided to get a lot more serious in the ‘70s when they showed the 250 cc Chott (named after a region in northern Africa where the bike was tested), at the 1973 Milan Show. The bike entered production the following year.
The Chott featured a completely new 246 cc two-stroke motor, designed in-house. Dual ignition with twin spark plugs was fitted. Very obvious was the use of magnesium alloy for the engine cases, brake hubs and chain enclosure.
![The Laverda 250 Chott ran a](https://www.mcnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Laverda-PA-250Chott-001-683x1024.jpg)
The steering head angle could be adjusted to three angles – 25, 27.5 and 30 degrees. The Chott was good for 26 hp at 7600 rpm and had a dry weight of 108 kg. The bike seen here is in completely original condition.
Due to its sophistication and price the Chott was not a big seller so was replaced by the more basic 250 TR2 in 1976. It was much the same as the Chott but without the magnesium parts; had no speedo and used plastic body work rather than metal, resulting in a lighter weight. It was discontinued the following year with less than 5000 of both models produced.
![Laverda 250 TR2](https://www.mcnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Laverda-PA-Laverda250TR-015-1024x683.jpg)
Rather than giving up on dirt bikes and concentrating on their 1000 cc triples the company decided to double down for their next model – but I’ll go into that in the next column.