Piero Laverda Visits Australia

Piero Laverda Visits Australia

The year 2017 saw Victoria fete Piero Laverda and his friends when the Laverda Corse team from Italy visited D.A.M. Classic Racing in Victoria (video content). Many riders on all types and brands of motorcycle turned out for this amazing opportunity to meet and talk with Piero Laverda in person.

D.A.M. Classic Racing Pty Ltd staged the rally at their former workshop in Springvale for riders to meet the Laverda Corse team and Piero Laverda, the brother of Massimo who together were the masterminds of the motorcycle arm of the family business. These two men were the driving force in the creation of the famous Laverda motorcycles that became the catalysts for long standing friendships and adventurous lifestyles for many people over many years. These bikes had represented a certain character of a person that created friendships and sparked romances that often became lifelong relationships. Laverda motorcycles had been the instrument of youthful hooligans, and now the sons and grandsons of those not so youthfull, to burn off testosterone driven energies. These machines inspired scenes that still initiate laughter and fond memories of time spent with good friends, epic journeys around Australia, rallies and race weekends.

Piero had brought the awe-inspiring Laverda V6 with him from Italy to the Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney so DAM Classic Racing financed and arranged transport for John Nickles’ (r.i.p.) 750cc /18,000rpm V8 motorcycle to be shipped north with the agreement of having award winning journalist and famed Laverda Racer Alan Cathcart ride it side by side with Piero Laverda riding the 1000cc V6 Laverda at the International Festival Of Speed.

The ride was commandeered without notice by a common rider causing the international photographers to dismiss the opportunity to photograph the two bikes on the track together. It was history lost. But for the enthusiasts trackside it was a sight and sound like no other to see these two mighty engines on the track together.

John Nickles had commissioned and financed DMCo to build this extraordinary bike in the mid ‘90s. In its original configuration it was fueled by 8 carburettors when test ridden on the same day by Cathcart and Parish  at Calder Park Raceway. The relatively heavy throttle was source of humour between the two riders because even though it was heavy by most standards, the effort required to pull the cable to the eight carburettors was not significantly heavy when compared to that of a Laverda Jota!

Neville Hazelman Racing soon replaced the eight individual carburettors with a fuel injection system. Neville ran the 750 V8 extensively on his water brake engine dynomometer to determine optimum exhaust specifications and then with great skill Phil de Konig and Laverda Club Victoria member Harold Blewitt worked to encourage the long pipes to coil imaginatively over the rear wheel. Their work was a piece of art for the common man to see.

Subsequent models were fitted a different timing chain arrangement and the capacity was enlarged to 1000cc. In this respect the original 750cc V8 machine that was commissioned by Nickles is singularly unique and a very rare machine indeed.

[ Although it was to be sold after John's passing, the John Nickles' 750cc machine was housed at the Drysdale factory premises after John's death. The 750cc V8 remains the property of the Nickles’ Estate and the proceeds of its sale are to go to John's widow. No commercial sales advertisement has been placed.]

Specially made for the 2017 International Festival of Speed event, embroidered business shirts displaying a map of Australia surrounding the event title designed by Angus Parish were purchased by DAM Classic Racing and presented to the Italian Team to commemorate their visit. The Laverda Corse Team wore them every day for the duration of the event.

 Laverda riders from Victoria and all across Australia joined in the lunchtime parade around the race circuit. Never before had so many Laverdas been seen in one place in Australia. It was a grand sight, and sound. At the Gala Dinner for the International Festival of Speed Piero unveiled the Laverda SFC/4 and announced that Greg Parish from DAM Classic Racing was to be the first rider to officially test-ride this evolution of the air-cooled, fuel injected, 180º parallel twin. Greg felt very honoured to be selected to display the agile abilities and speed of the air cooled fuel injected Laverda 668 based race-spec machine to the world and Australian Motorcycle News magazine reported the test with photos promoting the latest creation of Laverda Corse.

The experience of the 2017 International Festival Of Speed featuring the machines of the Laverda brothers and the carnival atmosphere created by the sponsors and exhibitors will never be repeated again in Australia.

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