Hello all i have a Laverda 1200

motoddrob said:
Back in the day we put hundreds of thousands miles on our laverdas. Rode the fuckers everywhere. Few on this forum could attain to that.
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Back in the day, bikes were already playthings, hardly used and sold or put away when wife, kids, house, job, lack of interest came along. The days of the working man having a motorcycle as affordable transport were already over. A lot worse today since the working family has several cars.

Today, the bikes are collectors and hardly used by mature men afraid of getting cold or covering their precious relic in mud.

Nothing new.

Paul
 
Maybe it was an Australian thing. We're use to doing big miles to get somewhere.
Laverdas were also our sole transport, Not many of us had more than 1 bike either.
This was 70s and 80s, young
and reckless and no direction
🏍🍺🤪
 
hooksey said:
Well the bike could of sat un used for 30 years, it happens!.............I got me self one of those just recently, and the donk is very tight an quite ;)
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Im sorry to say but my mirage has been sat most of the 22 years I've owned her and I bought from a guy who had not ridden it since the mid 80s, and as a result it still only 22k miles on the clock.
 
Not just an aussie thing, in NZ when I was 17, I didn't know about Laverda, But for NZ we still did a shit ton of kms, This was my NSR set up for touring to go to the Brass Monkey Rally. I did Hamilton via Tauranga to the Rally in Otago in a days ride so a decent old distance. We were reckless and no direction in the 90's too. I don't really think its where you are from, its just if you are up for long rides and living on a bike... back then I swore I wouldn't ever get a car license , I didn't till I was 26 ,it was bikes only until then.
 

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Ditto - motorcycles were used everyday and often over very long distances - nothing unusual to cover 1000km on a weekend ride. But the ks added up even around town, commuting, visiting friends (to behave in a manner befitting a a reckless, directionless young person!!) - and raid their fridges.

I don't reckon my SF even cooled down most days! :cool:
 
I bought my SF1 new in May 1973, I crashed it badly five weeks later and it very nearly took me with it, six days unconscious, I had done 3,562 miles (6,001 kilos) at the time of the crash, that is more than an average of 100 miles per day and I was working 5 days a week but going there and back (and whtever else) in a company car, so it was evenings and weekends, where I clocked up the miles
CLEM
 
I bought my 84 RGS Executive several years ago with 1,054 original miles on the clock, now still only has about 8,000 miles. I bought my 82 1200 TS Mirage Series 2 with very low kms a few years ago, had been crashed and put away as crashed, sat for 30+ years before I resurected it. Now has less than 11,000 kms on it, so about 6,000 miles. On the other hand, I have had my 1979 1200 Mirage since 1999, it has been the Laverda that I mostly ride, and it is about to turn over back to zero for the second time during my 21 year ownership, currently sitting showing 99,600ish kms, would have turned over the 200,000+ km mark this past summer if I hadn't been sidelined off the bikes for most of the past two summers, bloody hell.

Canada and Australia are similar in distances that seem immense to people for other smaller countries, travel by car or motorycle often involves large distances, when I used to regularly drive back and forth from where I live in Calgary Alberta to visist family in my home city of London Ontario that is a drive of over 2,000 miles (3,225 kms) ONE WAY, so at least 4,000 miles round trip, at least once a year, sometimes twice. Did that round trip a number of times on various motorcycles over the years. I suspect mileages piled up on Australian or Canadian or U.S vehicles may be higher than in various smaller countries, but not always....

Reading through this thread and looking at the photo of the 78 1200 which is the original subject of the thread, various bits missing, lots of non standard bits, a period repaint, etc., etc., but at more than 40 years old and unknown history, all I ever worry about is the completeness of the engine/transmission, everything else can be made or remade to be whatever the current owner wants..... How many 40 year old more disposeable motorycles are still around?

Also nostalgic reading again about Lance Weil of Rickey Racer, still remember Lance doing the track side tower narration at Willow Springs NALOC 2005, what a character, also the Slater brothers and their lovely wives, Piero Laverda and his extended family and close personal circle, etc. Really amazing what a small family run passion project produced and the impact that still remains.

Paul LeClair
 
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My Motodd original km years ago, taken in 2014. It's done about 8000 kays since but did see my GS BM odo click over to 00000 last year.
Need to ride the Motodd more often.
Add another 70 thousand kays before the Motodd conversion.
 

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