Back in the 1960s and 1970s you could buy race cars and race bikes that were basically road-legal, vehicles you could actually drive or ride to the track and reasonably expect to be competitive with pretty minimal changes. Of course, those days are long gone: race machines often share very few components with their road-going counterparts and frequently bear little resemblance to any sort production vehicles whatsoever. But today’s Laverda 750 SFC was a machine from the tail end of that earlier era and was very much a race bike with some lights and signals slapped on to make it vaguely road-worthy.
I mean, just take a look at that taillight: was it thoughtfully integrated into a specially-designed cut-out? Nope, it was literally bolted to the sloped rear face of a solo tail section that was obviously designed with a number-plate in mind. The instruments are basically just a tach, ignition barrel, and indicator light bolted to the inside of the fairing: this thing is the epitome of crude, at least in terms of creature-comforts and finish. Speedo? Who cares? Just figure out what revs approximate which highway speeds in top gear and assume you could just outrun cops of the period anyway.
But forget refinement: the mechanicals are where it’s at, and the bike has those in spades. Early models used a huge alloy drum brake, and later machines like this one a pair of discs, giving the bike it’s name: “Super Freni Competizione” or basically “Super Braking Racebike.” Laverda used the very best components available everywhere they could, and the basic parallel-twin was overbuilt and very durable, making it ideal for endurance racing.
Ceriani forks, Bosch ignition, and Nippon-Denso electrical components, and that 744cc parallel twin with five main bearings, backed up by a five speed gearbox that put the bike’s claimed 75hp to the rear wheel. This example isn’t some museum-piece and the seller mentions it’s done quite a bit of track time. How much? Who knows: like many SFCs, this one lacks a speedometer, and therefore an odometer. The tach looks non-standard, although I’ve seen several different types fitted to the original bikes. It’s hard to tell from the pic, but maybe it’s a Scitsu unit?
From the original eBay listing: 1974 Laverda 750 SFC for Sale
Am 76 and it’s time to let go of my collection. Started collecting about 50 years ago and the main objective was to buy one owner high end cars and motorcycles for pleasure and investment. I won’t bore you repeating the history of the 750 SFC Laverdas – If you are reading this you already know of the Laverda 750 SFC’s iconic competition accomplishments, background and rarity. Hand built by a small number of employees, there were only 100 of these limited production Laverda 750 SFC competition motorcycles manufactured in 1974. Recently brought out of storage, it is an authentic two owner (I am the 2nd owner) matching numbers factory original survivor. I purchased it from the gentleman who bought it new at a dealership in Florida. He raced it on every motorcycle race track East of the Mississippi up until around 1984, when he found out he had terminal cancer and put the bike in storage. He did not want to sell it but had to liquidate his holdings. It is a beautiful piece of art. The engine had a complete overhaul from a company called Megacycle in California after it’s last race and is in fresh like new original condition. Runs perfectly. What a sound. An exhilerating deep throbbing sound that can only come from a Laverda 750 SFC. It has been cleaned and the brakes rebuilt. It is in it’s original racing condition complete with period stickers, as it came off the last track. The engine mount tab is indeed stamped “SFC” from the factory. My collection included many motorcycles but I kept this one for the last and had no intention of ever selling it – but to be realistic it needs to move along to another caretaker. I have framed photos of it being raced at different tracks and the original 1974 owners manual. Please read the complete description so you will understand all conditions and any issues. THERE IS NO TITLE – Sold on a Georgia bill of sale and Georgia Sheriffs Department inspection certificate. I will answer all email questions and consider offers.
Just 549 total were built between 1971 and 1975. So the Buy It Now for this race-bred classic? A mere… $195,000?! Well, maybe that’s a mistake. I mean, it is eBay after all. So the starting bid is… $150,000?! Wow, I guess he is serious. Well I’ll be curious to see if anyone bites. Seems like a major auction might be a better bet for something like this, but who knows? Certainly the SFC is one of the most valuable and collectible bikes of the era, and prices are certainly headed in that direction.
-tad
I very much doubt that swingarm is “original” to anything built before about 1990.
“Prices are headed in that direction” seems to be what you write about every grossly overpriced bike that you find. Hagerty puts the value of these closer to $15,000, so either the seller accidentally added an extra zero, or he is out of his mind. However, why you would try to rationalize what is either an obvious mistake or a blatant rip-off remains a mystery.
I can’t imagine the market for these is big enough to support 195K ebay listing. For that kind of $$ you can buy some serious collectible bikes, I just can’t see many Laverda collections ready to drop 195K for a bike with iffy history and no title……..
I emailed the seller. Strange. Says he listed those prices ($150K and $195K) but doesn’t expect to get that amount, willing to take offers. However he “is expecting to get big money for his retirement”. Weird selling strategy, good luck with that . . .
I would rather have a 3 cylinder. Ridiculous.
It’s pretty obvious you know that’s not what I’m doing [cough, troll much?], so I’ll just edit my earlier reply to your comment. To be clear, “prices are headed in that direction” means one of a couple things. In most cases, and this one in particular, it’s the equivalent of your mom saying to you “whatever makes you happy, dear.” But it can also mean, “It’s midnight and I’m too tired to see what these have sold for recently, so I’ll let the comments section weigh in on the pricing.”
Also, Haggarty says $15,000? Really? What does Kelly Blue Book say? Tell you what, if you find an SFC for $15,000 in ANY condition, I’d suggest you buy it. A recent example featured here sold for over $52,000 and another shows that bidding was up north of $44,000 before the listing was ended.
Good catch. It sounds like this one has see a good bit of race/track use so an updated swingarm makes sense, but when you’re asking this kind of money, the bike better be perfect, or have some sort of seriously famous history. It’s always a shame when neat bikes get listed with poor photographs, and that’s certainly the case here.
Thanks for making the effort and then sharing your results! Yeah, nothing wrong with fishing for big money but this really isn’t the way to go about it.
Laverda and an XKE. How cliche!
I’m with you there. The triples had it all over the twins. SFC included. They were motorcycles back in the 70’s. Now they’re investments bought by those with too much money. This will no doubt look good in some office or den. Won’t see pavement. Why bother.
If the car is included maybe it’s not such a bad deal? If not, I’d be buying something MUCH more rare and collectable.
Tad, no, not trolling. I honestly misread your comment on the price as a form of acknowledgement, if not endorsement, that an asking price that you characterize as “where the market is heading” means it is a slight reach, not the kind of moon shot that this seller’s ask represents. BTW, it’s Hagerty, not Haggarty, and (unlike KBB) they know a thing or two about appraising collectible cars and motorcycles. Like the value of this Laverda, you could look it up. (Okay, now I’m trolling.)
I appreciate you being being polite with your response, and thanks for clarifying: sometimes stuff escalates quickly around here and I don’t always keep my fingers in check… My post was definitely not meant as an endorsement: the price this guy is asking is outrageous for sure. For now, anyway. Generally, I try to be polite and that phrase is generally intended to mean that I think the seller is being very ambitious in terms of pricing… It’s also a phrase I fall back on when I’m short on ideas about what to say. And I was being snarky about KBB: I know they’re not someplace you’d look up values for these. Honestly, I’d start with Hagerty myself if I was trying to determine values, but if they’re saying $15k then they’re way off. When I was posting at ClassicSportbikesforSale.com a couple years back, they were already going for $30k+ if I recall correctly. As I mentioned: the ones we’ve featured recently sold for much more.
But this Jaguar is a Series 2, 2+2 model “the pregnant” E-Type. It doesn’t count.
Back in 1984, I was offered two 750 SFC’s at a Laverda dealer in Bromyard, Herefordshire, England. UK. The price then was £4000 pounds sterling each. I could’ve bought them both but didn’t…….unfortunately. So I bought other Laverda’s (3) instead but not an SFC. That was in London U.K. back in 1984 to 1988, when they were cheap. I know a few 750 SFC owners and they’re certainly rising in price. I’ve seen prices somewhere between €40k to €70k, about that ( + – give or take), in Europe anyway.
I still have my three Laverda’s, a single, a twin and a triple, 35 years later.