Beschreibung:

Founded in 1873, Laverda started out making farm machinery, only turning to motorcycle manufacture in the immediate aftermath of WW2. Lightweights, scooters and mopeds formed the mainstay of Laverda production up to the late 1960s when the small Italian concern, hitherto little known outside its home country, astonished the motorcycling world by introducing a 650cc parallel twin. Launched in 1968, the latter was a controversial design, appearing to have been closely based on the Honda CB72 and CB77 twins. After fewer than 100 had been made the engine was taken out to 750cc and a team of 650 and 750 Laverdas duly walked away with the 1968 Giro d'Italia. That first 750GT touring model spawned the 750SF sportster in 1971. 'SF' stood for Syper Freni (super brakes) and marked a switch from Grimeca stoppers to Laverda's own superior drum brakes. Introduced at the same time, the 750SFC - Super Freni Competizione – was a thinly disguised racer that soon came to dominate the endurance races of the day. Built in strictly limited numbers - only 549 were produced in five batches between 1971 and 1976 - the 750SFC production racer is today one of the most collectible of Laverda’s early twins and thus highly sought after. This matching-numbers example has been included for many years in Tim Isles and Marnix van der Schalk's ‘International Laverda 750 SFC Owners Registry’, which details all the special features of the batch of 222 ‘disc brakes/points ignition’ machines (to which this one belongs) and provides strong evidence of its originality. The machine spent its first 15 years in Italy where it was raced. In 1989 it was personally imported into the UK by the present owner and registered in 1993 with an age-related number. Never restored, the machine has been preserved in the condition it was in when discovered in Italy. No replica or remanufactured parts are in evidence and no unsightly modifications or ‘updates’ have been carried out, while its competition pedigree is confirmed by the drilled-for-lightness starter drive cover and the machining/lightening of some of the cycle parts’ bolt heads. We are advised that there is no evidence of significant crash damage. The Laverda has done very few road miles since arriving in the UK, where it has made occasional appearances at classic parades and rallies. It is said to run strongly and healthily but is not currently MoT’d. A standard factory 2-into-1 megaphone exhaust system has been fitted from new, and a slip-on noise-attenuating extension piece is currently in place for road use. Offered with Swansea V5, ‘PDX 224M’ represents a rare opportunity to acquire an original and unrestored example of this legendary Italian production racer.