1977 Laverda V6
(Page 4 of 5)
March/April 2007
By Phillip Tooth
The Lav had no chance against the light and powerful OW31, let alone the mighty Honda factory racers, but nobody expected the Yamaha to last more than a couple of hours before it needed a new crankshaft, barrels and pistons. But the crank had been worked on by the Hoeckle experts in Germany and to everyone’s amazement the OW31 went on and on, swallowing a tank full of gas every 50 minutes, reducing brake pads to charcoal and, at night, flattening a whole batch of batteries that supplied the total loss lighting system. After setting a record 96.7mph for the first hour, Pons and Sarron settled down to a steady pace that kept them between two and four laps in front of the pack well into the 17th hour before the crank finally cried enough.
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The big Laverda was never able to climb above the 23rd place it held at the end of seven hours, and the V6 joined the Did Not Finish list after eight hours when the needle rollers in the Cardan-cross universal joint in the driveshaft broke up. Out of the 73 bikes entered, only 26 finished the race.
The OW31’s retirement removed just about every serious threat to the RCB works machinery. The 42nd Battle of the Bol ended after 23 hours, 53 minutes and 42.10 seconds when the crowd spilled onto the finish line to greet the winning Honda France team of Jean-Claude Cheramin and Christian Leon, with Hondas in the second and third spots as well. And Honda-engined bikes took eight of the top 10 places, with 4th and 8th going to Kawasaki 1000s.
Yet even though the V6 had broken down, the Laverda pit was not disheartened and they enthusiastically talked about coming back in 1979 with a new bike slimmed down to a competitive weight. It never happened — the FIM changed the rules, limiting Endurance racers to four cylinders, so the project was shelved. The wild V6 might not have won any races, but it became a legend.
Laverda no more
The Laverda marque is no longer owned by the Laverda family, the company having been bought out by Aprilia in 2000. Hopes of reinvigorating Laverda with the SFC 1000 and its RSV Mille-derived V-twin engine came to nothing. Now that scooter maker Piaggio, which also controls Vespa, Gilera and Derbi, has acquired the Aprilia group, it seems a Laverda revival might yet happen. But don’t hold your breath.
Yet Piero and his sons Giovanni and Simone are still as passionate about Laverda as ever. “Today we ride the V6 in the main classic events around the world, and enjoy meeting the Orange People,” says Piero referring to the nickname for Laverda fans. “The V6 is still fantastically reliable. It has not needed even a service during the last 10 years!” MC
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