The company started with 650cc parallel twin, and later introduced a 750cc version. These bikes were built to be racers first, road bikes second. The bikes were painted orange so they would be more visible during endurance races. Built using only the best components, Laverda twins were expensive, and only a handful were built. Laverda sold in the USA as "American Eagles", for a reason I'm not entirely sure of. A purpose built racer called the SFC (S for sport, F for "freni" (Italian for brakes), and C for competizione) followed shortly.
Laverda also produced this race-only V6 bike.
In the 1970's Laverda upped the ante with the 981cc triple. It was big, powerful, loud, and most importantly, fast. Like Laverda's past models the triple was a racing success. In 1976 a British importer introduced an upgraded version known as the Jota.
Laverda was on its last legs by the mid 1980's. The company came out with the RGS 1000 a sport touring bike with some clever fairings and integrated saddle bags. A sport version of the RGS came out next using the SFC name, the SFC 1000. Both bikes were fine motorcycles, however they were based on Laverda's 1970's triples, and were terribly outclassed by Japanese competition.
A serious attempt to revive the Laverda brand produced a number of really interesting motorcycles in the mid 1990's. The company launched a completely redone 650 twin, and later a liquid cooled 750. More models were planned including a series of 750 models known as the Ghost, Strike, and Lynx.
In 2000 fellow Italian motorcycle maker Aprilia bought the rights to Laverda. The only thing to come of this was a 2003 concept called the 1000 SFC prototype. The concept was a modified Aprilia RSV 1000. The bike was never produced, and Aprilia was later sold to Piaggio, where Laverda's name collects dust.
No comments:
Post a Comment