Rider Files

Magazine ad for the 1975 Laverda SFC.

One of the coolest sport bikes of the early 1970s was the Laverda SFC (which stood for super freni competizione).

Laverda was the first of the Italian makers to enter the superbike segment, brought on by Honda’s CB750. The SFC was launched in 1971 and was not only a technical achievement for the Italian maker, but was a design marvel as well. It featured a vertical twin, single ohv, air-cooled engine that  in production form produced around 70 h.p. at 7500 r.p.m. A five-speed, the half-faired SFC had a top speed of 130 m.p.h.

The SFC won numerous endurance contests and a few were even raced in the early years of AMA Superbike. The best AMA result for te SFC was a fifth-place finish by Wayne Sullivan at Charlotte in 1977. Chicagoan Al Phillips raced one in AMA Superbike all the way thtrough 1981.

This is a 1975 magazine ad for the SFC. Today the machine is a sought after collectors’ dream.

Laverda is dormant today, but there is an international registry for the machine where enthusiast of the brand can trade information.