Update 2.14.2017: We last posted this bike roughly a year ago, and bidding stopped at a little over $20k, reserve not met. Links are updated with the current auction. Good luck to buyers and seller! -dc Here is something we have only had on RSBFS once before, a Bimota VDue Trofeo edition. The Trofeo was…
Considering I can comb eBay for months on end and not see a single Laverda for sale, it’s crazy that we’ve seen not just one but three worthy examples representing a couple different eras recently. From the 1990s Formula that might be more familiar to our readers, to the more vintage 1984 Jota and today’s…
Erik Buell created a few career’s worth of rider’s motorcycles, but they were also for the thinking rider. The XB12R grabbed a few engineering concepts and hung on. Centralized mass, low unsprung weight, and and frame rigidity were the factory’s goals, and by all accounts they succeeded. Harder to quantify issues like handling and fun…
In the world of bike porn, there are many shapes and sizes. And while most lust-worthy machines are built from the ground up to become a whole – frame, suspension, motor, bodywork – the outrageous, plus sized Honda CBX seems to be a machine totally built around the motor. The first gen CBX made no…
While there is no guaranteed formula for success in the motorcycling business, there are some pretty basic tenets worth following. The first is to start with a decent brand name and reputation. Laverda – building performance motorcycles since 1949 – fits that bill perfectly. The second rule is that the bike has to look good;…
Shoehorning the 992 cc dual-spark into the popular Monster frame, Ducati lined up the elements of a great naked sportbike. With air-cooled desmodue, single-sided swingarm, and dual mufflers, the model held down the middle of the showroom between the basic M695 and the radical S4RS Testastretta. This example has been stored since new, and could…
In the annals of what could have been sits the very underrated motorcycling firm of Laverda. Best known for their iconic three-cylinder machines, Moto Laverda was formed in 1949 by Francesco Laverda – to make motorcycles. This was a very different start than many other Italian manufacturers of the era – many who started in…
The engine of any motorcycle is its living, beating heart and the powerplant of Aprilia’s funky RSV Mille R was, at the time, as unconventional as the bike’s styling. A 90° v-twin is generally considered ideal for sporting applications, as the angle between the cylinders provides “perfect primary balance” where the unpleasant vibrations caused by…