The year 2017 saw Victoria fete Piero Laverda and his friends when the Laverda Corse team from Italy visited DAM 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.

DAM Classic Racing Pty Ltd staged the rally at their workshop for riders to meet the Laverda Corse team and Piero Laverda, the brother of Massimo who together were the masterminds of the motorcycle branch 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 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 brought the awe-inspiring Laverda V6 with him from Italy to the Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney and Greg Parish (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.

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 racers 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 with 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. 

[Epilogue: John Nickles developed cancer and passed away in the Phillipines in 2016. Before his death John had entrusted the sale of the 750 V8 to Drysdale and asked that the proceeds of its sale go to provide for Nickles' widow and daughter. Drysdale kept the motorcycle at his premises for the next 13 years without any communication with Nickles' Widow. No commercial sales advertisement was ever placed. In a separate matter Legal action was taken against Ian Drysdale for copyright infringement of images and video of the 750V8 and 1000V8 in August 2024. Nickles' widow was contacted in July 2025 to ascertain who legally owned the 750 V8. She revealed that the last written communication with Drysdale had been in 2002 and the whereabouts of the motorcycle were unknown. The updated address and contact details for Drysdale were sent to her to redress the wishes of John Nickles' contained in his Will. Drysdale was contacted and subsequently offered the 750 V8 for auction as Lot 33 online.doningtonauctions.com.au in December that same year. It sold for $73,850 excl. gst and fees. Peer group pressure to honour Nickles' wishes secured an assurance from Drysdale that the proceeds would be forwarded to Nickles' widow and daughter.&91;

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 ordered 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 Laverda 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 responded that he 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 was extraordinary and a truly unique event in Australia.

NEXT PAGE: Laverda Drag Racing

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LAVERDA CLUB VICTORIA

Although Covid-19 Restrictions have curtailed much of the social activity lately you can read a short history the Laverda Club Victoria and social groups in Victoria.

NEW BOOKS IN STOCK


Book sales over the past months have increased and we have managed to source rare and unobtainable books direct from the publishers and authors' last remaining stock. Some of these have been out of print for some years and sell quickly. Check out the category Books and Gifts from time to time to see what we have uncovered!


LAVERDA TWIN AND TRIPLE REPAIR AND TUNE-UP GUIDE: 
The New Green Book: Revised and updated 2020 edition

This is undoubtedly the most popular of all Laverda repair books and stock is selling fast.
This is the newest and most recently Updated Edition 2020 direct from the author Tim Parker.
It contains revised techniques for performing basic maintenance through to complete rebuild and contains new information not previously published in earlier editions.
This 'must have' workshop manual is for anyone with a Laverda from Breganze Italy or the collector who likes to follow the evolution of every edition of this iconic manual.
The Laverda Twin and Triple Repair Tune-up Guide has been the quintessential handbook for Laverda owners for more than 40 years.

BUY NOW $63.63 (plus GST for Australian customers)

MOTOS LAVERDA LES MOTOS MYTHIQUES DE BREGANZE
(The Mythical Motorcycles of Breganze 1949-2019)

The rare and collectible book from Author Jean-Loius Olive
(French Language - LIMITED EDITION and limited quantity available)
This book is approved and supported by the Laverda family who have written the foreword and also provided many documents and photographs. 
It presents a fine sense of detail in an historical, technical and anecdotal basis, and is a reference for the famous models of the Fifties and Sixties that are very rarely recognised. It also has the story of theSalt Lake Land Speed Record of Angus Parish set in 2019 on the 1977 Laverda 500.
Don't forget, it is écrit en langue français (written in French language)
 
BUY NOW $99.99 (plus GST for Australian customers)

LEGENDARY LAVERDA 1949-1989
The very rare and collectible book from Author Jean-Loius Olive
(English Language - LIMITED EDITION and limited quantity available)
After searching the world for this pubication we pleaded with the publishers to check the boxes in their basement and have secured their last remaining copies of this extraordinary book.
More than two years of work and research in Italy, other European countries, the USA and Australia, was completed to restore the historical truth of the marque through its most legendary models like the 75, 100, 750, 1000, 1000 V6 and 500cc. Each chapter contains the history and specification of each model followed by a focus on a specific and famous bike.
 


Great news for local riders is that you are “allowed to travel more than 5 kilometres to get spare parts or have your motorcycle serviced if you cannot source these spare parts or services closer to home!”
For more detail visit our COVID-19 Update
We are still very busy finishing several engine rebuilds and bikes already in for service so please call first to make an appointment in line with the Covid Safe guidelines.
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Creating an impromptu tent village they set up camp on the lawns beside the meandering Curdies River, 8kms from where it joins the sea at Peterborough, to swap stories of epic rides, family news of the past year and enjoy the company of fellow motocyclists. Riders come from Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia to meet their like-minded friends and enjoy some of the most beautiful countryside in the southern part of Australia and, in some years, international visitors also join in the comeradarie of great pub food, live music and an astounding array of motorcycles.


The Annual Raffle is a always a great attraction. In 2020, the State of Victoria, South Australia and NSW had been ravaged by terrifying bushfires that swept out of control destroying everything in their path so the Rally Raffle was staged specifically to raise funds for some of the victims who usually ride to the Curdievale Rally every year. The items provided for the raffle was extensive. There were some special memorabila items brought back from the Laverda 70th Anniversary 1949-2019 in Breganze Italy, a grand range of Inox products by former Laverda Club member Adrian Crick, and DAM Classic Racing provided many items such as printed mugs, books, tools, tool-rolls, bike locks, bike care products and framed photo prints.

Many families lost their homes to the inferno. The trajedy made world news that reached Piero Laverda in Italy. DAM Classic Racing suggested they present something special for the raffle and Piero gave his blessing to have his signature presented on two exclusive prints that would pique the interest and participation in the fund raising effort.

The first to have Piero Laverda's signature was a photo of Jesse (Jimmy) Parish on the start line as he set forth to set a new 1/4 mile Drag Racing Record on the DAM Laverda 981cc Bol d'Or eplica. The second print was of Jesse's brother Angus at Lake Gairdner Salt Lake when he set a new Land Speed Record on a Laverda 500 Alpino in the Production Classic 500cc Class.

Piero Laverda was most specific in that these two prints were to be the only versions ever made with his personal signature to ensure their exclusivity and collectability.

Piero provided a personal message of support sent to Laverda Owners Victoria via DAM Classic Racing to be relayed to the bushfire victims and rally goers.

In a quirk of fate and serendipity, two brothers had the winning tickets for the photos of the two brothers' records. Derek and Shane decided that the framed and signed photos along with the Transcripts of Authenticity should remain as a set so they hung them proudly together in Derek's study and the money raised from the raffle was carried back to support our friends in South Australia.

In 2019, being the 70th Anniversary Year of Laverda motorcycles, Angus Parish (D.A.M. Classic Racing) set a new Land Speed Record in the 500cc Classic Production Class on a 1977 Laverda 500 Alpina.

The story of the record attempt has been published in the book 'Legendary Laverda 1949-2019’ Author Jean Louis Olive (France)
The last line of the text reads: 'This is probably the fastest speed ever recorded for the Laverda 500cc Alpina.

.

Angus Parish (DAM Classic Racing) caught up with Brad and Scott Lawrie at the Internationale Deutsche Motorradmeisterschaft in Schleiz, Germany to see how a slick sidecar team put it all together on raceday.

The sidecar duo of Brad Gorrie (AUS) and Scott Lawrie (GBR) had a major setback in Zolder, Belgium. Brad missed his handgrip on the switchback and fell from the chair breaking some small bones in his wrist requiring fixation with pins.

This left him unable to compete and he was relegated to autograph duties and tyre prep.

Both Angus and Brad have common experience working in graphic design and the signage industry and before all the decals were placed on the bike Angus jumped into the drivers seat to try it on for size.

.

.

Being an avid fan of Laverda motorcycles he remembered a photo of the Australian Championship winning Laverda powered DPA Laverda Sidecar that his father Greg had sat in when it was unearthed by Crispin Trueman (OzLaverda) several years ago.

.

.

There is a plan to restore this machine whose engineering was well ahead of it's time and was groundbreaking in it's design. It was a game-changer for the sidecar world.

Link to the DPA Laverda Sidecar.

Jesse (Jimmy) Parish rode the DAM Classic Racing Laverda Bol d'Or Replica to set the fastest time in his class against some very well presented two and four stroke racers and set a faster time than a competing 1200cc Laverda triple entered in the Period 5 class. 

The 981cc engine was built and prepared by DAM Classic Racing. Fueled by 98 octane petrol breathing through 36mm Dellorto carburettors the engine has high torque in the mid range and around 100HP at 7,500rpm redline.

Growing up on a diet of dirt bikes and motocross made it was a steep learning curve for Jesse to grapple with the very quick Laverda triple for the first time in an event. But once he controlled the wheel spin, and the front wheel from lifting skyward, the times got quicker and quicker, setting a new Curved 1/4mile record. From the start line the road is a continuous 400 metre curve to the finish line.

This record still remains unbeaten in 2024. Well done Jesse!

DAM Classic Racing Laverda 981cc Bol d'Or Replica                  Rider - Jesse (Jimmy) Parish

2018 Geelong Speed Trials - Curved 1/4 Mile Sprint                           1st .Period 4 Unlimited up to 1300cc

                                                                                                             Rider - Greg Parish

1990 Formula European Championship Australia:                              Australian Champion

1990 WSBK Classics  Australia                                                            5th from 40 world competition competitors 

2013 Phillip Island International Classic Championship:                     9th. from 40 competitors AUST/UK/NZ/USA

2013 Historic Motorcycle Racers Association Championship:             2nd. from 37 competitors AUST/NZ

2014 Historic Motorcycle Racers Association Championship:             3rd. from 27 competitors AUST/NZ

2014 Phillip Island International Classic Championship:                     11th. from 43 competitors AUST/UK/NZ/USA

2014 Australian Southern Classic Championship                                DNF Crash while in 4th position.

Two Wheels Magazine dubbed it 'Australia's Fastest Chair'.

"The DPA-Laverda was the outfit no one really thought would work. It was a completely new design with innovations which made it by far the most sophisticated in Australia.

And it works.

The World's best sidecar

The DPA was designed by John Bennet, who started Headmod in Melbourne several years ago, and powered by a near stock 1000cc Laverda engine. DPA is the name of the new venture Detail Products of Australia, owned by Bennet. The only changes from standard on the Laverda were bigger inlet valves and facing the cam.

And with that, the radical chair swept the hotter than hot gaggle of Kawasaki and Honda Fours all bored to 1000 to 1200cc.

The Project began when John Bennet told Dennis that he could build him a sidecar which would be impossible to beat. Bennet had worked Dennis’s Honda Four outfit to the limit. The frame simply would not take anymore engine stress and the cost of new mods to the bike were prohibitive. So Bennet began the design of the outfit which cleaned up the series with only Bob Levy as serious competition.

Now Skinner is eagerly awaiting a hotter factory-prepared racing engine wangled out of Laverda Spa by Stanco Motorcycles, the Australian distributor of Laverda. John Black of Stanco has helped Dennis with free spares and has been instrumental in gaining the small factory support for him with the new engine and special hot parts.

The original engine for the DPA came from one of the standard 1000cc Laverda's in stock at Stanco's Elizabeth Street shop. The bike was one of the first three shipped to Australia and was complete with drum front brakes. Stanco dismantled the bike to give Dennis the engine. The parts were used later in a crash repair job.

John Black almost immediately began to help Dennis with spares and after the sidecar's early success went to the Italian factory for a new engine and hot high compression pistons and high lift cams. The new motor didn't arrive until August last year which meant no development could take place on the motor, because there was no spare in case the mods failed to work out. So a stock standard engine was used for nearly the entire season.

John Black believes the new hot bits will help Dennis stay ahead of his competition: "My conuterpart in England, Roger Slater get's his 1000s from the factory already assembled with hot pistons and cams and without exhausts. But then, they have much less stringent noise laws in England".

“Slater's bikes will do 225 km/h off the floor.”

Already Laverdas are beginning to carve a name for themselves in local production races. John Black believes that riders will begin to play around with the big Laverda triples as they become more available. “Experimental work can only take place when a rider has a spare motor he can use when his best may be still in bits,” he said.

One of the best features of the DPA-Laverda is still the incredible frame which is believed to be one of the most advanced in the world. South Australian Alex Campbell who raced a 700 Yammy into seventh place at the Isle of Man Sidecar TT told Dennis there were no bikes which were as good as Dennis's.

He attributes some of his success with the standard Laverda to the fact that he has not been running a stressed engine. At 80 – 90 horses there is still miles of room left for development. Dennis thinks 120 horses would not be too much to ask, as the frame is also way understressed, leaving room for more hot goodies. Dennis said that he and John Bennett had decided on the Laverda engine because of the strength of the motor. “Take one look at this crankshaft and you will know what I am talking about” he said, lifting the heavy shaft. “It's like a truck shaft.”

Early day's, the DPA Laverda drew a lot of comment when it
first appeared on the circuits because of it's radical frame and
fairing. Skinners ability was the final ingredient for success.

The shaft might be strong enough to drive a truck but it is far removed from a truck component in this fine metal work. The front wheel is connected to the frame by a wish-bone link affair made from box section 18-20 gauge sheet steel. There is no headstock, but a new steering device which eliminates any wind-up. Very little steering is necessary on the unit. Power is the main factor and steering is mainly for correction.

A huge Formula One grand prix four-spot disc is used to stop the front Dunlop racing slick. The front brake is activated by the left foot. The back brake is activated by the right hand and clutch by the left hand. Dennis finds that individual brake control is necessary and he has been able to get more control by using the left foot to control the front brake.The rest of the frame is made from 18 to 20 core moly tubing and the whole ring is integral including the sidecar – unlike conventional outfits in which the sidecar is an attachment. Consequently, the sidecar doesn't move anywhere near the amount normal outfits allow. There is also little nose dive under braking or lift at power. The suspension is relatively soft. In fact Dennis has not spun the outfit out or had any bingles apart from tearing the fiberglass fairing while being towed after breaking the chain. “I have spun it sideways but it didn't seem to want to spin any further and it just came back straight,” says Dennis.

Because of the fairing the DPA Laverda looks a lot bigger than
it's competitors. The fairing pays off on fast circuits like
Surfers Paradise.

Dennis has well and truly paid his dues. He won the title twice (previously on his Honda) and has scores of State titles to his name. He is also a former dirt track National Champion. Now at 32, with sidecar passenger of eight years' standing, Bob Curnow, 31, the pair are finely tuned combination. They do little practice together, leaving that to official sessions and racing. Most of the problems are sorted out in the old fashioned seat-of-the-pants tradition.

Dennis doesn't like dyno-tuning much and prefers to adjust his machine to how it feels. He says he can fine-tune his outfit by knowing just how he wants it set up. Whatever, his bike has started a sophisticated side-car business in Australia which in itself is a breakthrough.

To prove a point, at least two bikes have now got the centre hub steering, and others are working on the other DPA innovations. Stanco's John Black is all smiles as Laverda, still a small-volume bike here, is on the map well and truly in road racing."

(END Two Wheels 1977)

One of the factory supplied motors fitted to the DPA had no engine number, only the capacity prefix 1000*, so Dennis stamped his initials on it: DS1. The ignition didn't have a rev limiter and the long straight at Bathurst seemed to go on forever allowing the engine to rev well beyond the limits of its components breaking a conrod that smashed through the front of the crankcase.

Another engine from the factory came without engine numbers at all and was roughly enscribed 'D. SKINNER'. The barrell's cast-iron liners were replaced with Laverda 750 liners and oversized high compression pistons from the Laverda 750SFC were modified to suit the contour of the combustion chamber and maximise the squish band of the head.

With the head having large inlet ports feeding extra large inlet valves and small exhaust valves, it created incredible torque and high horsepower.

Reportedly fueled by a Methanol, perhaps mixed with a little bit of Nitromethane, it was a Laverda 3 cylinder engine that carried the DPA duo to victory in the Australian Championships against the Japanes multis. This engine waits safely under the workshop bench to be rebuilt to it's former sidecar performance dominance.

There were many people associated with this machine on it's journey to victory. Iconic racing names like John Bennet, John Ferris, Ian Chugg Alan Mawner, Ken Girvan and others. 

In a quirk of history Dennis Skinner's father George modified  the mold of DPA's large fairing, and gave it a second life covering the secret innovations of the race winning Honda 6 cylinder sidecar dubbed the Yellow Peril, after a well known contraversial Melbourne sculpture of the same name.

The Yellow Peril was a Push/Pull lever steering, aerofoiled NHR Sidecar. A radical and innovative example of engineering and thinking 'outside the square' built by Neville Hazelman Racing. It was so incredibly fast, so much quicker than anything else, that the FIM summarily banned it.

The DPA sidecar was eventually sold to the the Lamble brothers sidecar team. Herbie swapped the chain drive to the other side and fitted a 1200 Kawasaki engine into the DPA Chassis. Out onto the track it went, and continued to win races.

There's also pics and reports of the Victoria Formula European/BEARS Series 1990, riots at the Bathurst Australian Grand Prix, DAM Classic Racing Laverda Racing photos and more.

Link to History