The Laverda

You don’t get many chances to turn back the clock. Old movies, college yearbooks, time capsules and cornerstones are the usual tangible pieces of evidence that support memories of a prior existence. Yet every now and then, a time machine appears…..

My own time machines are a result of another man’s vision. When the first surge of Italian motorcycling was at it’s height from the mid-70’s to the mid-‘80’s, one man was taking the opportunity to put the “most interesting machines” in one spot (his garage). These magnificent examples included a pair of Ducati 750SS, a pair of MV Agusta America’s, a pair of Laverda SFC 750’s, the Ducati Montjuich prototype, a Ducati TT2 (billed as the last factory-built racer) and various other machines that would stop the crowd at a motorcycle gathering. In-the-crate examples would include a pair of Ducati 1000MHR (the “real” Mike Hailwood Replica), a pair of Ducati 900SS, and a pair of Lavera SFC 1000’s.

My 1986 Laverda SFC 1000 was part of this auction in 2001. I also tried for one of the SFC 750's but the owner wasn't able to deliver the bike within the agreed-upon three-month time period, so I passed on that. Seems to me as though when an agreement in price is reached, three months is a more than  reasonable period to wait.

However, the SFC 1000 was in Southern California in a week. It took about six months to register the bike, since the Republic of California couldn't come to grips with something that wasn't in their computer database--it was like trying to register a Klingon Warbird....

The wait, though, was worth it, as the pictures will attest....

At The NALOC Rally in May 2005; alone and with some cousins...

Stablemates

HD's XR-750;  We're also working on a XR-750 TT

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