Massimo Laverda

sfcpiet said:
True Paul.

Given proper treatment, even the most mediocre of machines will offer a half-decent level of performance and reliability.

I find lots of early 750s with a zillion kms on the odo still on LH ball mains. See no reason to change, unless they're taken to the track, or otherwise unappropriatly abused. Treated accordingly, the LH ball main will last just as well as the roller.

Compared to their contemporary competition, Laverdas were solid, rugged bikes that would out-last many others. Their reputation was ruined by inept dealers and brain-less owners.

piet
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I did buy from the French customs, many years ago, a 750 GT with an Italian license plate that had been abandoned in France by its Italian owner due to a blown primary side main bearing.

As for brainless owners, in view of the fad for old bikes and the total inexperience in the maintenance department of many new owners, not to mention the absence of dealers, inept or otherwise, I very much fear that a lot of Laverdas are doomed in the near future.

Paul
 
Frazer : Aye we were young then, just boys really. I told him the ruby was CURSED !
DEATH ! The ruby will bring ye DEATH ! DE-E-ATH !I

Pike : Did the curse come true ?

Frazer : AYE SON, IT DID. He died.......... last year, he was 86.
 
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arancia said:
Thanks for the pointer Paul.
Having been one of the fortunate few present when Massimo fired up the V6 in his home much to the chagrin of his wife I'm happy to honour him and share my translation into English - first draft as follows based on Google translate with some editing by me, I hope the author isn't too irritated by my adjustments:
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Which one are you in the photo? I recognize Larry Strung!

Jim
 
Laverda's biggest flaw and an obstacle to it maintaining its success was price and marketing.
Price, the bikes were superb quality hand-built motorcycles competing with mass-produced Japanese and German motorcycles. The price may have come down if they were able to increase the volume of cycles produced but that no doubt would have put an end to hand-built production. In 1974 when I bought my Kawasaki 900 Z1A for $1640 Aus a Laverda 3c was $2500++, which was an absolute deal-breaker for a young apprentice that was a huge price difference.
People appreciate quality and riders are willing to pay for it but Laverdas was a niche market for some strange reason. They were never marketed to the hundreds of thousands of baby boomer kids looking to get out there on 2 wheels. Laverda's marketing sucked, I do not know for certain but I bet Laverda sold more bikes in Australia than they did in the USA. Laverda is the unknown motorcycle in America.
Laverda has a solid reputation as a quality built motorcycle built to last as many on this forum can attest, but to stay in business you got to sell your product and Laverda lacked a marketing department that was able to read the landscape.
 
78jotadave said:
Laverda's biggest flaw and an obstacle to it maintaining its success was price and marketing.
Price, the bikes were superb quality hand-built motorcycles competing with mass-produced Japanese and German motorcycles. The price may have come down if they were able to increase the volume of cycles produced but that no doubt would have put an end to hand-built production. In 1974 when I bought my Kawasaki 900 Z1A for $1640 Aus a Laverda 3c was $2500++, which was an absolute deal-breaker for a young apprentice that was a huge price difference.
People appreciate quality and riders are willing to pay for it but Laverdas was a niche market for some strange reason. They were never marketed to the hundreds of thousands of baby boomer kids looking to get out there on 2 wheels. Laverda's marketing sucked, I do not know for certain but I bet Laverda sold more bikes in Australia than they did in the USA. Laverda is the unknown motorcycle in America.
Laverda has a solid reputation as a quality built motorcycle built to last as many on this forum can attest, but to stay in business you got to sell your product and Laverda lacked a marketing department that was able to read the landscape.
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Laverda sold well in France and The Netherlands because they won endurance races which were important in those countries. But they couldn't keep up with the competition after 72 so that was it.
Then Francesco Laverda passed away and was it 7 kids to share the inheritance? 2 or 3 only interested in motorcycles.
And a lot of money wasted on the 4 x 4 and the V6.

There is a niche for expensive quality motorcycles.

Paul
 
Interesting to speculate if Laverda could have made a bigger impact in the USA ; it would not have been easy for a small family concern to set up distribution and dealership networks to rival those of the Japanese,or that of BSA/Triumph who had distribution headquarters on both the East and West coasts which served them well during the `fifties and `sixties.
The McCormack/American Eagle venture was a failure (there is a rumour/story that Laverda never received a penny for the bikes supplied,although I stand to be corrected if anyone knows any different.)
But I wonder if they ever did manage to crack the American market would demand have outstripped their ability to supply the machines,even after the move to the new factory in `73? For a small manufacturer like Laverda there is never going to be the chance to match the output of the Japanese ,modern factory or not.
There is a kind of selfish aspect to this for Laverda owners,as Paul suggested,limited production means you are not going to see Laverdas on every street corner,so this adds to the special feeling of owning one.
Also wonder if Laverdas had become more easily available,whether the very "real" nature of the early twins and triples compared to smooth and polished Japanese machinery would have resulted in many more sales anyway?
 
rocketonarail said:
Interesting to speculate if Laverda could have made a bigger impact in the USA ; it would not have been easy for a small family concern to set up distribution and dealership networks to rival those of the Japanese,or that of BSA/Triumph who had distribution headquarters on both the East and West coasts which served them well during the `fifties and `sixties.
The McCormack/American Eagle venture was a failure (there is a rumour/story that Laverda never received a penny for the bikes supplied,although I stand to be corrected if anyone knows any different.)
But I wonder if they ever did manage to crack the American market would demand have outstripped their ability to supply the machines,even after the move to the new factory in `73? For a small manufacturer like Laverda there is never going to be the chance to match the output of the Japanese ,modern factory or not.
There is a kind of selfish aspect to this for Laverda owners,as Paul suggested,limited production means you are not going to see Laverdas on every street corner,so this adds to the special feeling of owning one.
Also wonder if Laverdas had become more easily available,whether the very "real" nature of the early twins and triples compared to smooth and polished Japanese machinery would have resulted in many more sales anyway?
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An unending subject of discussion.
But we're all riding (I hope) obsolete bikes from no longer existing factories. Says it all really.
1912 Humber any one?

Paul
 
Had Laverda gone down that mass sales path they would have had to totally change the entire business structure from family based to corporate. The investment sums and the balance sheet margins would have been way out of scope for a family business. I am sure that the appeal of the bikes comes from the fact that it was enthusiastic family and close knit factory people setting the course. It would be interesting to compare Laverda sales figures to e.g Ducati bevels of the time, which also were never a very high number sales item but seem to have a higher profile. I was surprised to see the low figures for Australia that a friend had found when he was researching bikes to restore for a Japanese motorbike museum collector, I think he did a 750GT for them.
 
When I was in Breganze in 1981 to equip my SF3 with a SFC fairing I had some time to discuss with Cico and to meet Massimo in the factory. Cico told me, that due to his opinion the three cylinder engines are far too heavy and too bulky to compete with the new japanese engines. He was very worried about the future of Laverda. When I met Massimo in the factory he seemed to be primarily interested in the V6 at the same time mentioning, that this project will not be commercially succesful. The overall impression I got was not very professional ...
 
I wonder; Why do business have to be hugely profitable, over many decades, to be 'successful'?

Massimo was an engineer - fired by passion. Interested in the next engineering challenge at all times, I guess, as typified by such a character.

Laverda motorcycles came, were wonderful, then faded and died. That alone is fabulous. I simply say thank you to everyone involved in the production of our bikes. From the Laverda family, to the guy who swept the floor.

Without their passion, our bikes would be just machines, made to corporate formula. I don't want 'just' a machine. I want that fizz every time I go into my garage, with a key in my hand and excitement in my stomach.
 
Tippie said:
It would be interesting to compare Laverda sales figures to e.g Ducati bevels of the time, which also were never a very high number sales item but seem to have a higher profile. I was surprised to see the low figures for Australia that a friend had found when he was researching bikes to restore for a Japanese motorbike museum collector,
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Volumes were similarly low, Tippy. Until the Monster came along, the single cylinder 250/350/450 Scrambler was Ducati's biggest seller by far. Ducati made less than 1,500 of my own bevel twin, a 900SSD.

During the late 70s and into the 80s, a major difference was that Ducrappi was state supported/owned. This was the time of 'Bologna La Rossa' after all. But there was never any similar political menace coming from up there in the Veneto. So there was much less pressure on the government in Rome to keep Moto Laverda, a small family-owned business, going regardless of the economics. I don't know that Moto Laverda ever got much direct state assistance.

Also, as well as motorbikes aimed at the export market, Ducati made a range of more or less profitable diesel and stationary engines for the domestic market. And it was on those that the management had decided to concentrate all its effort when the company was sold to the Castiglioni brothers - who then decided otherwise.

As for profile, Ducati was lucky in getting some big publicity breaks: Paul Smart at Imola in 1972, Cook Nielsen at Daytona in 1977, Mike Hailwood at the IoM in 1978. 'Lucky' in that the last two had very little do with the factory management.

(And then, of course, Ign. Taglioni designed the belt driven Pantah engine, a design which proved to have longer legs than either the V6, or the 2-stroke 3 cylinder, or the Alpino ...)
 
Haggis said:
I wonder; Why do business have to be hugely profitable, over many decades, to be 'successful'?

Massimo was an engineer - fired by passion. Interested in the next engineering challenge at all times, I guess, as typified by such a character.

Laverda motorcycles came, were wonderful, then faded and died. That alone is fabulous. I simply say thank you to everyone involved in the production of our bikes. From the Laverda family, to the guy who swept the floor.

Without their passion, our bikes would be just machines, made to corporate formula. I don't want 'just' a machine. I want that fizz every time I go into my garage, with a key in my hand and excitement in my stomach.
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(y) Well put, Haggis.

As far as I'm concerned, the marque needn't be revived, let it rest in peace. Nothing new could ever remotely conjure the magic of the old clunkers. There's more to the marque than a dab of orange...

piet
 
Really interesting historic and racing comparison, I always wondered why one went on and the other didnt.
 
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