Beschreibung:

'Thus impetuously and unquestionably, the 750 Laverda took its rightful place among the élite of the world's motor cycles. Designed as a highway express, and proven in the most punishing of long-distance races, it was fast, tireless and very well behaved, a machine of connoisseur quality.' - L J K Setright, On Two Wheels. Founded in 1873, Laverda started out making farm machinery, only turning to motorcycle manufacture in the immediate aftermath of WW2. Its first product, the 75cc Motoleggera (lightweight motorcycle) helped meet the unprecedented upsurge in demand for basic motorised transport, and modified versions were soon winning their class in the long-distance road races popular at the time. Lightweights, scooters and mopeds continued to form 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 was the 750SFC - Super Freni Competizione - 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. The matching-numbers 750SFC we offer was one of 50 despatched new to the USA in 1974. Subsequently returned to Europe, it was sourced in Germany by David and Tim Isles and first registered in the UK to David Isles, who sold it in 1994 to the current vendor, its first private owner in this country. (The Isles brothers are 750SFC marque specialists, Tim having co-authored the privately published 'SFC 750' with Marnix van der Schalk, custodian of the 750SFC Owners Registry). Kept in running order and serviced as necessary, the machine was last taxed, MoT'd and used in 2008 (the owner was away on business for most of 2009) and is presented in generally good running order. It should be noted that, as a competition motorcycle, the 750SFC was originally supplied with a Smiths/Laverda rev counter as the only instrumentation, though this example does have the optional speedometer drive unit fitted enabling it to be legally used on the road if required. Representing a rare opportunity to acquire an original and well cared-for example of this legendary Italian production racer, 'RPK 325M' is offered with sundry service/maintenance invoices and Swansea V5 document, and is expected to be freshly taxed/MoT'd immediately prior to sale.