Breganze's Best Rally in B.C.

If Ducati is the Ferrari of motorcycles, then Laverda must be the Lamborghini.

Produced in small numbers, and always sport oriented, Laverda's big twins and triples defied the established paradigm that Italian motorcycles were small and light with suspect electrical systems. Massimo Laverda's designs were robust and hugely durable, with ancillaries chosen from the best available sources: Bosch, Nippon Denso, Brembo, Marzocchi, and Lafranconi. And when bought-in components weren't up to snuff, as happened with drum brakes and cast wheels, Laverda simply made their own.

The story

In 1948, Italy was reeling from the devastation of WWII, and much of the country's transportation infrastructure was in ruins. The people needed to get around inexpensively, spurring a demand for small, rugged motorcycles; and many companies, especially former defense contractors – Piaggio, Innocenti, Ducati and Agusta for example – moved into the bike-making business.

Seventy-five years before, Pietro Laverda had begun making farm machinery at a small factory in Breganze, in the foothills of the Italian Alps. The company thrived, but the post-war economic depression meant Laverda had production capacity to spare. So Pietro's grandson Francesco designed a 75cc, four-stroke OHV motorcycle with a three-speed transmission, and acceding to the enthusiastic demands of his neighbors, he decided to go into production. The first batch of 500 Laverda motorcycles was built in 1951....