ClassicMotorcycleMechanicsJune2020

W

ewillurgecaution withacapital ‘C’
here, because, if we’re honest,you do
needtohavealarm bells ringingwhen
you buy oneofthese.
Why?Well,firstly they’rebased onsomepretty old
tech,engin ewise... The motors of the 650-750cc
twins were effectively basedon the old 500
Montjuic parallel twinoft he 1970s, butupdated,
water-cooledand fittedwith th estoutWeber-Marelli
fuel injection system.
The early 1990s saw the likes of the 650 Sport
range,wit hrectangular headlight and somedark
gre en dull colour schemes, then from 1997 the 750
rangewithatwin-spot headlamps look. This was
much betterlooks-wise! Power was around 80bhp at
the backwheel fromthe747cc motor,but delivery
wasawfulpeaky compared to the likesof the 900SS
and even thehumble Yamaha TRX850.
Initiallythe bikewashalf-faired,but thissoon
changed from 1998 andthe Formulamodel was
basicallyapiped andchippedversionoft he Sand
thebike wasdiscontinuedafter2002. Ifit sounds
like adog’sdinner–itcould be andthing softenwent
wrong.But where the750Sand it sfamily scoreis
with thecycle parts. This camewith namessuch as
Paioli suspension, Brembo brakes, Marchesini
wheels,Termignoni exhaustsandthe like. These
machines looked good andsoun dedgreat.
This is where we all (me included) get all misty
eyed.It’s an Italian motorcycle ferrchrisakes, and

withthatinmind we can oftenignore some of its

foible sand issues. Some of these include thefact

thatyou need to check the electricalconnectors

whenany fa ult occurs; they were rubbish whilethe

elephant in the room is crankshaft issues, so askif

any remedialworkhas been done inthemotor .The

legendis that thebestmodels are ‘Zane-era’ 750

Formulas,buil tbetween 1998 and1999and with

the‘type-3’ crank. Allegedlyonly100 were

produced. That’srarity for you!

Ok, so it’s price time... and here’swhere things

get difficult as they’re so damnrare! Youcould find

aknackered onefor aroundagrand –still –but

good ones (with upgraded motors/cranks) can go for

as much as £3000-£5000.

The thing is, as much as we shouldprobably be

warningyou off of suchamachine –havingridden

one, with loud pipes–there is so much to love

about this bike.It’s visceral,it’spersonal andit’s (in

my opinion) actually ratherlovely tolook at.

SPECIFICATION

COMINGCLASSICS

Laverda750S/Formula

MAKE

Laverda

MODEL

750S/Formula

PRICE NEW

£8935 (full-fairedFormula

1997)

YEARSAVAILABLE

1997-2002

MAJOR CHANGES

Colours,Termignioni

silencers

COST

£1000 forawreck to £5000

for aminter that’ssorted

VERDICT

Reli ability can be an issue

–but they handle and

are sorare!

FOR:Looks,handling,

rarity!

AGAINST:Reliability

and parts

BERTIE’SBLATHER

He’sbought some pups and

sold some gold and loves a

nice sportyV-twin: how about

aparallel twin?

http://www.classicmechanics.com/75