exciting news!

CLEMTOG

CLEMTOG

Hero member
on Sunday 29th June Piero Laverda and Paolo Palma (joint editor of "Storia di una passione") will present a very spectacular protoype of a never before shown racing machine, outside the Laverda museum in Breganze! it might be time to find a cheap flight to Treviso (plus hire car) and spend a weekend in the area? a total surprise to me and I can only wonder and guess what might this "never before shown" prototype could be. intreging and alluring all at the same time.


CLEM
 
Not sure about a racing machine , but one of Massimo`s dreams / intentions was to produce a lightweight single cylinder four stroke Laverda sports bike ........... wouldn`t be something to do with that would it ?

Probably not , but you never know .............
 
rocketonarail said:
Not sure about a racing machine , but one of Massimo`s dreams / intentions was to produce a lightweight single cylinder four stroke Laverda sports bike ........... wouldn`t be something to do with that would it ?

Probably not , but you never know .............
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The Laverda management went on a trip visiting all the major importers in I think the late ´70s to hear their thoughts on possible future products. The head salesman at the Australian importer at the time said that there was definitely a market for just such a bike. I often flew past the salesman on the way to or home from work on my little desmo single on the boulevard and he reckoned it was fantastic. Interesting. That supermono Ducati should have been put into production.
 
Tippie said:
The Laverda management went on a trip visiting all the major importers in I think the late ´70s to hear their thoughts on possible future products. The head salesman at the Australian importer at the time said that there was definitely a market for just such a bike. I often flew past the salesman on the way to or home from work on my little desmo single on the boulevard and he reckoned it was fantastic. Interesting. That supermono Ducati should have been put into production.
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In the 1980's-90's the bike mags universally exclaimed bikes were getting too big, heavy, generally ungainly. All cried out for light and nimble single-cylinder sports bikes. Big hoorays with caps in the air all around! Suzuki and Yamaha delivered with the Goose and SRX600 respectively, Ducati Supermono was competition-only and Gilera had the lovely Saturno, possibly a couple more that I've lost in my foggy memory. Joe Public turned away! Only Yamahas SR managed to carry through, but mainly because it never had any sporting pretensions. At least the singles made their mark on the off-road sector.

What the public "wants" and what they end up buying are often complete opposites. Much like women, actually... ;)

piet
 
I was asked to take part in a survey/ meeting/ seminar thing for “ a manufacturer” where we were questioned on a future motorcycle concept.
The gathered enthusiasts all seemed to agree a single cylinder, easy to work on, lightweight, uncomplicated sporty 500cc would be their ideal bike. I later found out the survey was for Honda and it produced the XBR500 for UK market as a direct result. Working for a Honda main agent we duly got them in and they were a great bike but we couldn’t give them away! All the old tossers would spend hours in the showroom “ like my gold star, blah , blah” but never parted with the cash. We had exactly the same response to the Harris Bonnevilles, loads of attention but nobody bought one. Honda Super Dream 250/ 400 were utter shite and we pitchforked those out by the thousands- same as CX500 !
 
Wild speculations, but if they have never shown it before, it be nor really worth showing it... Just a thought...

Beginning of the 80's, they were showing some engine cases of - IIRC - watercooled 600ccm and 900ccm 3 cylinder engines. Can't seem to find an evidence on the net though, but I know I have seen black- and white-pics of Massimo showing these engines to - I think - the press. Maybe they had one build into a rolling chassis and call it a prototype?!?
 
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Tippie said:
That supermono Ducati should have been put into production.
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Yes , that was beautiful .........the only Pierre Terblanche designed Ducati that doesn`t bring tears to the eyes ...... ( in a bad way ) ...... !!!

Recently , the current Ducati CEO described Terblanches other efforts as resembling food blenders ........


The reason I mentioned a supersport single stems from an interview with Massimo in the mid-eighties , when the original company had gone belly-up .................. according to the interviewer , Massimo was lamenting the fact that his dream of a lightweight high performance single would now never become a reality .

There again , we all have ideas relating to the sort of bikes we would like to see , whether it be a single , triple , V4 , or whatever ..... so it may have been just pie in the sky , nothing more than that .

There again ( again ) .... after all the expenditure wasted on the V6 , and dead ends like the 350 / 500 Lesmo V3`s ......... then a relatively straight forward single may have been the only option left open ..........
 
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... as this years meeting is dedicated to the small LAVERDAs, I have expected something in the range between 50-125 ccm. Would love to see the 75 DOHC in flesh, but can't make it to Bregenze this year. The only 100 DOHC I know was last year presented in the MUSEO MOTO LAVERDA. I think it was part of the Giancarlo Morbidelli collection before. Ciao, Gert
 

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rocketonarail said:
Yes , that was beautiful .........the only Pierre Terblanche designed Ducati that doesn`t bring tears to the eyes ...... ( in a bad way ) ...... !!!

Recently , the current Ducati CEO described Terblanches other efforts as resembling food blenders ........


The reason I mentioned a supersport single stems from an interview with Massimo in the mid-eighties , when the original company had gone belly-up .................. according to the interviewer , Massimo was lamenting the fact that his dream of a lightweight high performance single would now never become a reality .

There again , we all have ideas relating to the sort of bikes we would like to see , whether it be a single , triple , V4 , or whatever ..... so it may have been just pie in the sky , nothing more than that .

There again ( again ) .... after all the expenditure wasted on the V6 , and dead ends like the 350 / 500 Lesmo V3`s ......... then a relatively straight forward single may have been the only option left open ..........
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I've got one of these food blenders in Ducati red, and it's absolutely gorgeous. The thing I love about Terblanche's design aesthetic is it polarises people. Marmite. Love or hate. This alone is always a sign of an excellent designer. Designs that slip into anonymity because they're 'not bad' or 'OK' are as forgettable as the people that penned them. The greats will always divided opinion, which is all it as at the end of the day. Just personal preference.

Ducati 900SSie.jpg
 
Well, air cooled Ducs, still hooks me too. Totally OT, but I contemplate with an air-cooled Duc to replace my Aprilia at some point. Not the Terblanche Design, rather the predecessor, but with the latest dual spark 1.100 cc motor. Optically close to this (which I had till 2004):
53383047522_1cffce4d68_c.jpg


Nothing to buy of the shelf, needs to be build - time will tell ...
 
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