MISTER DRESS-UP

Racing improves the breed, goes the old saying. And though well overused, it certainly applied to a small motorcycle manufacturer from Breganze in the foothills of the Italian alps.

It was Massimo Laverda’s visit to the U.S. in 1964 that determined a change of direction for the eponymous company. Until then, Laverda had produced mostly commuter bikes of 100cc or less. Massimo’s father, Francesco, started offering motorcycles alongside the company’s line of agricultural machinery in 1949. But the arrival of the Fiat 500 in 1957 provided a cheap fourwheeled alternative. Commuter motorcycle sales tanked.

Massimo understood that, to survive, Laverda needed to embrace the U.S. market. And that meant bigger-engine bikes to meet those customers’ demands. Laverda’s first U.S. offering was a 650 SOHC twin, the engine of which borrowed its general layout and appearance from the contemporary 305 Superhawk. It’s said that Massimo did this deliberately to imbue the new twin with a perception of Honda quality.

Underneath, though, the powertrain — and indeed the whole motorcycle — was designed and constructed for strength and durability. In 1968 the 650