Laverda
SF750 Test
Motorcycle Sport 1973
Who was it said, "If it looks right, it
is right"? If that is indeed the criterion
by which a motorcycle should be judged, then
the Laverda SF is without question one of the
best motorcycles in the world. It is easy to
fall into the trap and proclaim all Italian
motorcycles as being good looking just because
they are Italian; certainly they produce more
than their fair share of handsome motorcycles.
(They also produce the occasional ugly duckling:
the Moto Guzzi Ambassador and the latest 350
c.c. MV "Scrambler" are two in this
category.) Conceding, then, that the Italians
know a thing or two about styling, we will content
ourselves with the observation that the
Laverda SF is so beautiful that it leaves one
bemused. The crowning glory of the machine
is the petrol tank, holding a shade under four
gallons, that must rate as having one of the
best shapes ever. Oh yes, we were well on the
way to being seduced by this shapely Italian
lovely before we had ever reached intimate terms.
A factory policy that insists that the bulk
of the machines produced are to go to the home
market (and who is going to quarrel with that?)
has meant that with the best will in the world,
and a full order book, only a handful have reached
British shores and even now barely half a dozen
a month find their way to deepest Worcestershire,
where is the Roger Slater establishment. (We
are not complaining about that, either. We applaud
anyone who has the sense to run his business
from beautiful surroundings!) The result is
a machine that is rare enough for . non-motorcyclists
to ask what it is and for the afficionados tp
cluster around. Not too many have actually heard
one and fewer have had a ride on pne.
Things are changing, though. At the recent
Woburn Rally a demonstrator was available (our
test machine, actually) and anyone who felt
so inclined was invited to sample it. A bumpy
field was not, perhaps, the best initiation
to Laverda-ing but sufficient people liked what
they found for half a dozen orders to be taken
before the day was out. Another reason for the
comparative absence of the Laverda is the price,
of course. At £995 (including VAT) it
is not cheap. Before spending that kind of money
most enthusiasts are going to have to want
to know a great deal about the machine. New
boy in the Roger Slater camp ex-MCS and MCI
road-tester Dave Minton knows only too well
the value of publicity and is determined to
make, before long, the name Laverda a household
word. A very persuasive fellow, Dave. He came
in with a bang right from the start by ringing
up and asking if we would like to try a Laverda.
Asking ... If not unique, such an approach was
rare enough for us to hesitate for maybe a hundredth
of a second, in case there was a catch. There
was no catch: he wanted the general public to
know about Laverda.
What about Laverda? Based at Breganze in Northern
Italy, they produce four models —three
750s and a 1000: the SF, which is the subject
of this test, the SFC which is the production
racer, and the softer GT, which sells at £900
here and seems to us to be eminently suitable
for our environment, and finally the much admired
three-cylinder 1000 (980 actually). One or two
have been delivered in this country and
if you have £1,350 it is confidently expected
that you will be able to exchange it for a Laverda
Three in the autumn. In the meantime you will
have to be content with a 750. It is enough
to be going on with.
The SF has been around for a couple of years
and readers may recall that we took one to Cologne
last year. Since then there have been a few
changes. One is quite unable to avoid some
sort of comparison between the engine unit
and that fitted by Honda a few years back and
one imagines that Laverda have had it said so
ofien that they may well be a little bored by
the subject. Who cares if it does look like
a Honda engine; it is how it goes that counts.
It is, of course, a 'twin-cylinder four-stroke
with duplex chain-driven overhead camshaft valve
operation. The chain is sensibly retained by
a split link so that it is not necessary to
remove the crankshaft to replace it. New for
this year is a cylinder head developed on that
used in the production racing SFC. It comes
as a package designed to make the machine go
faster with less effort. Larger, 36mm, carburettors
are used which incorporates a mechanical
car-type injection pump for starting. Slipping
the throttle results in a squirt of petrol and,
if overdone, a wet plug. A new air cleaner of
the paper element type is used. Compression
ratio has taken a drop, from 9y to 1'to 8.9
to 1, enabling three-star petrol to be used.
Another significant change is the redesigning
of the exhaust system to comply with strict
German silencing laws. The old ones were a.
bit sporting. These pipes have a large diameter
balancing pipe, uncharacteristically a little
on the ugly side.
Returning to the engine layout . . . The camshaft
actuating chain runs up between the cylinders,
with the camshaft running on four bearings.
The crankshaft, too, has four bearings, two
spanning the double camshaft sprocket inside
the flywheel and one at each end. Outside the
right-hand main bearing is the starter motor
drive-chain sprocket. The 0.95 h.p. motor is
mounted behind the engine, above the gearbox,
and the crankshaft is turned via a single row
chain. Finally at the right-hand end of the
crankshaft there is the dynamo drive pulley
with the belt drive running to the forward-mounted
150w dynamo. The left-hand end is also crowded
with first of all a treble sprocket to take
the triplex primary drive chain, then a smaller
gear, sharing the same drive spline and running
to the oil pump drive gear. The oil pump is
of gear type delivering three litres a minute.
The contact-breaker assembly, with twin contacts,
is mounted outside the oil pump drive gear so
it is a matter of debate whether one calls this
the oil pump gear or the timing gear! All this
activity at the ends of the crankshaft makes
for a rather wide engine and one would imagine
that there is a good case for fitting the safety
bars that are available as an optional extra.
A mild slide down the road could be very expensive.
The gearbox: five speeds with overall gearing
of 12.0, 8.6, 6.3,.5.,6. and 4.6 to 1. The crankcase
splits horizontally to reveal both the innards
of the gearbox and the crankshaft. The seven-plate
dry clutch is housed at the left-hand end of
the gearbox. The gearchange lever, as is common
on many Italian machines, is on the British
side, the right. Laverda, oF'course, like everyone
else, are going to have to change it to the
left by 1975 if they"wish to sell their
machinery in the United States of America.
The electrics include a Bosch 12v dynamo and
starter motor; It is not all Bosch, though,
for the headlamp is Laverda's own design, a
shell identical to that on the BMW. Electrical
controls are by Lucas. Most road-testers (including
ourselves) have been lukewarm about the
latest Lucas dipswitch assemblies, claiming
that they look as though they are likely to
snap off if given abrupt treatment. The
fact is they have been out for a couple of years
now and we cannot recall seeing any that have
suffered this fate. Left and right controls
are the same, the left having dipswitch,
horn and cut-out button and the right flashers,
starter and headlamp flasher. The flashing indicators
fly in the face of convention by being wired
so that "up" is for right and "down"
is for left. Most other manufacturers seem to
opt for the opposite, surely more logical, arrangement.
The headlamp beam was just about on a par with
most of its rivals, which is to say that it
was acceptable but not special. The horn was
special. A magnificent bellow escaped from the
twin horns, a rare treat for the road-tester
used to the pathetic bleat of most motorcycle
horns. If any other enterprising manufacturer
wants to use them they are made by Fiamm, of
Italy. Showing that they are willing to go anywhere
in the world to find the right part for the
job Laverda have this year introduced Japanese
tachometers and speedometers similar to those
used until recently on the big Hondas. (They
used to fit Smiths.)
The frame: how do we describe it? Using the
engine as part of the "chassis", the
actual frame consists of two robust top tubes
running from the head to the rear of the
dual-seat. Another two tubes loop up from the
rear swinging-arm bottom pivot point, meeting
the two top tubes for about 12in and then curving
down to join the bottom of the steering head.
We have never seen anything quite like it before
but the question is, "does it work".
The answer is yes. A tendency ll at high speed,
evident in last year's models, has been, at
least under the conditions that we tried
the machine, eliminated. The importers felt
that this wandering may have been due to the
Metzler tyres fitted and uiey recommend TTlOOs.
Future production models will have TTlOOs, made
by Pirelli in Italy. Not surprisingly, front
and rear suspension units are made by Ceriani.
Brakes are Laverda's own, beautifully made,
each of 230mm and having 21s actuation. They
were outstanding. We were not too happy with
the choice of seat on the last Laverda we had,
feeling that single seats were limited in scope.
What we did not realize was that one had the
option of racing seat or dualseat. We were told
that many buyers take both. Our test machine
had a dualseat. In most respects it was very
good but it did conspire with two other of the
machine's virtues to create a problem. It sloped
forward and the petrol tank was quite deep at
the rear. If a pillion passenger was carried
and the brakes were applied with much enthusiasm,
in certain circumstances the passenger
would slide forward and the unwary pilot would
risk ruin on the petrol tank.
Just to sit astride the Laverda SF was a pleasure.
The machine felt just about as perfect as a
good motorcycle can . . . the riding position,
the controls and the whole feel of the machine
were just right for this tester. If one had
to form an opinion without riding anywhere
it would be that this had to be one of the best
motorcycles made. The suspicious might well
be wondering if we are not building up to put
the boot in. It is not quite as serious as that
but, in spite of our wanting to praise every
aspect of the machine and making every allowance
for our prejudices, one was still forced to
the conclusion that, when the chips are down,
it has this built-in problem. It is still a
vertical twin! Naturally this has virtues as
well but it has one big almost insurmountable
vice: a vertical twin by its very definition
vibrates and even Laverda, with what must rate
as one of the most robust, carefully designed
and assembled engines made, have been unable
completely to cure the problem.
It is a strange kind of vibration that one
experiences on the Laverda. Certainly it is
not difficult or tiring to live with and, if
one is trying to categorize the situation, "low
frequency" would be the nearest one could
get—but it is not that really. It is just
that one is aware, all the time, of the power
of the motor. It comes up to the rider in heavy
throbs. Not unpleasant ones, it is just there.
Perhaps that is why some people who ride Laverdas
are so enthusiastic? They like the feeling of
power this machine transmits. We can understand
it.
There were many things we liked, too. Ease
of starting. A short stab of the starter button
and the engine boomed to life, a Paul Robeson
throaty sound rather than the screechings of
a number of two-strokes we could mention. They
say the silencers have been redesigned and we
do not argue with that. It is quieter than last
year's model but the fact that it now satisfies
the rigorous German standards surprises us a
little for even its best friends would not call
it a quiet machine. It is the same old story,
of course, of the deeper voice recording lower
decibel readings than an apparently less noisy,
high pitched one. All this must not be taken
as a criticism. Far from it, it was a delightful
exhaust note and we doubt if anyone was offended
by it.
One of the assets of an electric starter is
that one can afford to let the tickover slow
to a fine tick-tock secure in the knowledge
that if it does stop a caress of the button
will bring it to life again. Naturally, being
perverse, because one doesn't mind too much
if it does stop, it never does! Only machines
that are an agony for us to start do that regularly!
The Laverda's tickover was at a steady 600/700
r.p.m. Mechanical noise at that and almost any
other speed was just about nil. Quite an achievement
bearing in mind all those chains whizzing around.
We have commented upon the disadvan the
other side of the coin. Threes, fours and"
flat-twins may be smooth, vee-twins have bags
of torque and big singles the pulling power.
What has the vertical twin got going for it?
Power, certainly, but it is more than that.
Casting around for the right word to describe
how we feel about a good vertical twin, the
nearest we can get is "gutsiness".
A good one, and the Laverda is a good one, has
a snappiness about it that few other cylinder
layouts have. The power is there right from
the word go, the tachometer needle needs no
encouragement to go flying upwards and all the
time from below comes this deep roar from the
exhaust. It is not a town bike, the Laverda.
It copes well enough but it is straining at
the leash, almost pleading to be let free.
Let it free and see what happens. There are
65 horses on tap (at 7,000 r.p.m.), every one
of them willing, and if there is a better high-speed
point-to-point machine than this when one is
able to use all of those horses we have yet
to meet it. The secret of fast point-to-point
riding is not only the ability to go quickly
but to stop just as quickly and to get around
tight corners just that bit quicker than the
next man. The Laverda does all this without
frightening its pilot and without tiring him.
Its weight (480 Ib) is a little higher than
it should be for a comparatively uncluttered
twin but when riding it it feels no heavier
than most of its rivals and it is very comfortable,
the handlebar/seat/ footrest relationship suiting
the tester to perfection.
The Laverda is really too good for this country.
It is, supremely, a high-speed tourer, able
to cruise for hundreds of miles at very high
speed, looking as cool, calm and collected at
the end as at the start. During the course of
the test not a drop of oil soiled the machine
and, naturally, nothing went wrong. Perhaps
that is not quite true. Right from the start
the green neutral warning light stayed on all
the time and the various warning lights seemed
to have become crossed so that one had
to do a certain amount of relearning to
know what the message was. A crossed wire somewhere,
we imagine.
Laverda also market a slightly de-tuned version,
also available in this country, known as the
GT. It has a b.h.p. rating of 52 and sells at
£900, a fair saving. If we were in the
market for a Laverda it is that one that would
appeal to us. The benefits of a machine that
can reach a claimed 120 plus m.p.h. are marginal
in this country and we would have thought that
the GT would provide a number of bonuses, more
flexibility (which is not to imply that
the SF is inflexible, it isn't), less wear and
tear, better economy, lower initial cost and,
we imagine, it would be even easier to ride.
All the modifications to this year's SF have
had one unfortunate repercussion. It is not
as economical as the one we tried last year.
That returned a consistent 50 plus m.p.g. This
one, with larger carbs, lower compression ratio
and redesigned camshaft to make best use of
these alterations, struggled to get above 45
and we would say that 40 is a more likely figure.
The benefit of using three star fuel hardly
balances that kind of difference.
Finished in a green/gold colour with black
frame, the Laverda, as we have said, is a most
attractive motorcycle. Liberal use has been
made of matt-finished alloy, and the machine
looks exactly what it is. A classic motorcycle.
Unfortunately we only had the Laverda in our
possession for a short time and it is not one
of those machines that one can learn all about
in a short time. The longer we had it the more
we liked it but, because we have been more critical
than we wanted to be, we have the feeling that,
given a nice long ride, say to Italy and back,
the virtues of the Laverda would drive those
few criticisms we have out of our minds. The
Laverda is the kind of machine that almost everyone
falls in love with at first sight, and we have
been promised a longer, less formal look at
it as soon as possible. It is the kind of machine
that makes us look forward to that day eagerly.
As we bring this piece to a close we are left
with one lingering question in our minds. We
wonder what the 1000 Three is like? If, as its
specification suggests, it is even better than
the 750 then it really must be quite a machine.
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