Orange Crush: 1974 Laverda 750SF
The subject of this Taco Tuesday post is giving me a bad case of writers cramp. I just want to sit in front of the monitor and drool over a classic piece of Italian two wheel design. They sure got things right during the late 60’s and early 70’s. Find this 1974 Laverda 750SF for sale in Vallejo, CA for $17,800 via craigslist.
Laverda got its start in the late 1800’s as a manufacturer of farm machinery engines. The grandson of the founder decided to begin producing motorcycles in 1949. By the late 60’s they had introduced the bike they became most famous for, the 750. The 750 was known for its almost bomb-proof reliability, over-engineered with five bearings and duplex cam chains, and Bosch electrics, but you’d have a hard time calling it agricultural.
The seller really knows how to photograph a bike to get under your skin. It’s easy to imagine this view in first person on your favorite road. The seller has replaced the rear shocks with dampers from the SF2, so it should be really good in the twisty stuff. By the way, in case you were wondering, SF stands for Super Freni or Super Brakes. which featured a twin leading shoe system designed in-house.
This bike was imported from Italy, comes with all the proper California paperwork and was restored in 2009. As part of the restoration, the motor was gone thru with high compression pistons, racing cam, along with lightweight valves. It’s said to give 75hp, which is 15 more than stock.
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Gianni is Daily Turismo’s Pacific Northwest correspondent.
Yum. Hard pressed to justify spending 17-large on a bike where I live, but it would be fun.
THANK YOU!! The Laveda 750 was the bike that I drooled over as a teenager living in Switzerland ('70-71). I remember the tailpipes on the earlier bikes as being slightly more upswept (like the Norton Commando Roadster). They were glorious sounding when riding in the narrow roads, echoing beautifully off of buildings on both sides….
These are wonderful and exciting to ride. At the time a friend of mine had a Jota and an SFC while I rode a 750SS Duc. Believe it or not the SFC sounded better and was more painful to ride in traffic than the Duc.
Yes it is pricy and then again what you get for the money in vintage bikes is so much more than with cars.
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There use to be a Dealer in Fremont Wa back in the mid 70s the bikes were expensive then do remember they had a cam-valve issue that was fixed in later models. Dropped a Guy who had his melon saver with him and asked what he road and it was a Laverda and was in the shop and was not the first time.