1974 Laverda 750SFC

Background

There is plenty of information on-line and in various books and magazine articles about the Laverda SFC, and some of it is even correct. I claim no special expertise myself. Most statements about SFCs on this website will be based on the information in the excellent booklet “750 SFC” by Tim Isles and Marnix van der Schalk (unfortunately, out of print) and the opinions of Scott Potter, who has restored a number of SFCs and conducted research with primary sources. If you think you know better than what you read here, please let me know and I will seriously consider amending the text.

About 549 examples of the Super Freni Competitione (SFC) version of the Laverda 750 roadster were produced from 1971 to 1976, mostly in five “batches” with consecutive numbers which are known by their characteristic serial numbers. Although the serial numbers came out of the standard production line, SFCs were built by hand in the Laverda racing department, not on the regular production line. The first three batches used a drum front brake: the “5000” and “8000” batches in 1971 and the “11000” batch in 1972. The “16000/17000” batch in 1974 and the final “18000” or “Electronica” batch in 1975/76 had disc brakes front and rear. In terms of development, the leap from the last 1972 drum brake machines to the first disc brake machines in 1974 is probably the greatest change; the 1974 machines represented almost a ground-up redesign.

The subject of this section is a U.S. market 1974 750 SFC, #17100, that Scott Potter purchased as a basket case in 2021 in Texas. 222 SFCs were produced in 1974, in two sub-batches, one for European markets (with serial numbers in the 16000 range) and one for the North American market (with serial numbers in the 17000 range). The North American machines were built in May and shipped in two batches of 50 machines each, in June and July. Because of U.S. Federal regulations, the North American SFCs differed significantly from the machines for the European market.

In the following pages we will attempt to thoroughly document the restoration and assembly of 17100 by Scott Potter, with an emphasis on the many details that are different from a standard Laverda 750 SF2 roadster (the model in production at the time 17100 was built).

Initial Condition