Laverda SFC 750 Egli classic Italian race machine. Rare

This is a very exciting opportunity to acquire a unique racing Laverda with impeccable  provenance. Only one brand new Egli SFC 750 was ever built and this is it.

Built in 1972 by  Slaters , the UK Laverda importers , this machine was created using a brand new 8000 series SFC motor which had been specially released from the factory for the project, delivered to Slaters and installed in a lightweight Egli frame built in Slater's own workshop by Graham Binnion, a highly respected welder/fabricator who was working for Slaters at the time. The bike is absolutely unique in that it is the only Egli framed machine to have been built new with a factory SFC race engine . Following completion the bike was then delivered through Laverda dealers Dowson's of Scarborough to Jim Berkenheimer [founder of the International Laverda Owners Club], an American serviceman based in the UK who ran a racing equipe called British American Racing [BR-AM]. The Egli was paired with a standard specification SFC and the team fielded the bikes in UK and European endurance races in the early seventies.The bike famously competed in the Spa 24 hours and other major European races as well as the shorter UK endurance and short circuit races being held at Thruxton, Snetterton etc.  The Egli was usually campaigned by rider Lisle Govan, but it was also ridden by Jim Wells and other notable riders of the day. It was also tested by well known journalist,the late John Robinson and featured in various publications at the time. Latterly the bike has appeared in the Ian Falloon's 'Laverda Twins and Triples Bible' where it features on page 142 and also inside the rear cover. The bike is well known in Laverda circles and has been used by Team Laverda Corse on their visits to the UK. I`ve been told by a number of people that the bike has TT / Manx GP history but I`ve never been able to substatiate this.  

Finding a genuine Laverda endurance bike with period racing history is becoming virtually impossible nowadays, finding an SFC which has all the correct parts still in place and is in first class running condition is equally difficult. This bike is not only the genuine article in terms of provenance and technical spec, it's also reliable, thoroughly sorted and superb to ride. The beauty of these classic SFC endurance racers is that they were built to stand up to the rigours of a 24 hour race . This means they are engineered to be ultra reliable. Despite being significantly modified compared to a standard Laverda 750 twin, the fundamental components and the ancilliaries of the SFC are all shared with the production models therefore spares are ready obtainable and surprisingly cheap. This means that it's possible to enjoy the experience of two-wheeled racing exotica without the high maintenance costs and fragile temperament associated with classic  race machines of that era  . 

  As well as appealing to Laverda enthusiasts this bike will also be of interest to Egli collectors. The Egli connection is interesting and came about as a result of Slater's involvement with Vincent as a main dealer. A reationship with Fritz Egli naturally followed and eventually it was decided to manufacture Egli frames under licence from Egli and market them in the UK. Graham Binnion was a employee of Slaters and he went off to Switzerland to learn how manufacture the legendary Egli frame under the personal supervison of Fritz Egli. Production then commenced in the UK and the Binnion Egli frames are viewed by some as actually superior to the Swiss items. This is a comment I unearthed on an Egli enthusiast's website;  

Roger Slater started selling Egli Vincents in the United Kingdom in 1970, slotting refurbished Vincent engines in the Swiss-built rolling chassis. But the welding on the Egli frame left a lot to be desired — magazine Cycle World reported that the frames’ gas welds looked like they had been mass produced. They were strong, but not neat or tidy, and certainly not what enthusiasts expected in an era of aerospace metal working techniques. The swingarm also looked unfinished, with many file marks remaining in the metal. So before long Slater was having frames made locally by Graham Binnion, and — because the welding was of a much higher quality — the Brits started supplying Egli with frames.

Regardless of whether Binnion Egli frames are superior to Swiss built examples, what you are looking at is a fabulous racing motorcycle, conceived and constructed from new as a compettion machine and housing one of the most iconic racing engines ever produced .  The bike has a fascinating history; after its racing years with BR-AM it went into private ownership and at one stage was purchased by a member of the British Army's White Helmets Motorcyle Display Team although I don't think it ever took part in official duties! After a few more years around the UK scene it moved to France where it received a comprehensive and thorough rebuild by a French enthusiast before being purchased in the 1990s by a well known Australian racer and collector with a view to being entered in an Australian Classic racing series. The lightweight Egli frame was going to provide the template for building a super competitive SFC specially built for a classic race series. These plans were never realised and the machine ended up back with Richard Slater, the man who actually built the machine back in 1972.

I purchased it from Richard a few years ago and have used it for club racing, parades and road riding ever since.I`ve had some fantastic fun on the machine and as well as being raced by myself it has appeared at top level events at Spa and Mallory Park and has been ridden by a variety of well known personalities from the world of Laverda  [see photo]. With some regret I`ve decided to sell it because I feel it is becoming too valuable  to risk it in the rough and tumble of club racing events . It would be nice to keep it simply for its historical significance but  having two sons at University with a third planning to go next year plus another race project under construction means that I cannot afford the luxury of having it in the garage.

It's road registered and has a  UK V5 and therefore can be used as a very exciting road bike or entered into parades, classic track days or such like. It could of course be raced and would still be very competitive, particularly in classic endurance events but I suspect the next owner will be more interested in preserving this fascinating piece of Laverda racing heritage .

It weighs significantly less than a standard factory SFC and the Egli frame endows it with handling which would put many modern bikes to shame. It benefits from full Maxton suspension. The low weight coupled with the lusty performance of the SFC motor makes for a seriously fast classic motorcycle with superb roadholding.  The motor is still on its original Amal carbs [very few SFCs still retain these units], although they are 38mm items  instead of the more usual 36mm. The Amals lack  refinement compared to Dellortos but come into their own at wide open throttle where they breathe a lot more efficiently than the Dellortos. The bike is fitted with a works cam [6c] and a works 2 into 1 exhaust. It carburates very cleanly throughout the range straight from tickover   .  Being a race bike, the machine has been subjected to a through programme of careful maintenance and runs superbly.

Engine; The motor is the heart of any SFC and there are many horror stories about SFCs changing hands for large sums of money only for the new owner to discover that the engine is a mismatched jumble of production parts. The next owner of this SFC will have no such concerns.  The cam bearings in the head were replaced, [ four hours use since] and have recently stripped the gearbox and fitted a new selector drum to replace the slightly worn original . Everything inside the engine is spotless and exactly as it should be on an 8000 series SFC. The gear train is the correct close ratio unit fitted to 8000 series SFCs and all the gears and dogs are in fine condition.The engine still has the highly polished crank and rods which would have been hand assembled in Laverda's race shop  , there is no discenable wear in the bores or on the high compression pistons and the whole unit feels tight and responsive . The cylinders were carefully checked for ovality and tolerance when it was stripped and all the valves and guides are in first class condition. In summary, there are no issues with this engine, it's in first class order throughout.  As previously mentioned the engine is equipped with the later type 6C cam and a works 2 into 1 exhaust. The noise from this can be quite startling and if I`m ever going out for an early morning ride on the road I push the bike a long way from my house before starting it up ! Needless to say the sound it makes is fantastic, rather like a very exotic sounding Triumph racer , but typically Italian. The engine is of course stamped with proper factory markings clearly identifying the motor as a genuine SFC unit.

Frame and running gear; The handling on this bike is really what sets it apart from 'standard ' SFCs.  As well as being above 20kgs lighter than a stanbdard bike, the Egli frame is also significantly shorter and this helps sharpen up the handling considerably compared to a 'normal' SFC. A friend of mine , having  returned from riding his own SFC for a few hours, jumped on the Egli and when he came back he said the Egli felt more like a Fireblade than classic bike! Well I probably wouldn't go so far as to campare it with a Fireblade but it certainly enables the rider to carry a lot of corner speed and on track days the corner speed is easily comparable with modern bikes.  If you've never ridden an Egli I can guarantee you are in for a very pleasant surprise. An 8000 series SFC would normally have drum brakes front and  rear. The Egli was upgraded to discs very early in its life as can be seen from the period photo in the picture section. In that particular shot  the bike is racing at Spa and the 38mmm forks and the discs can clearly be seen.For that reason I decided to leave the machine in the specification it used to race . It still has the original Borrani rims and Laverda rear brake and it retains the Laverda swing arm and parallel yokes. Tyres are currently Bridgestone BT45s which have plenty of lfe left in them.

Bodywork;The bike is still fitted with the bodywork it came with when I bought it from Slaters . It's an early series SFC race fairing and a modified SFC seat unit. The side panels are Egli items  specific to this machine . The fuel tank is a very nicely made lightweight aluminium SFC style tank made [I believe] by Graham Binnion. It has twin fillers and fits very snugly around the Egli spine frame so it was obviously made for the job. The alloy filler caps bear the legend 'Made in Wolverhampton' which makes me believe it was the original tank made for the bike.

Summary When I originally bought this bike I was seeking a 5000 or 8000 series SFC and when I came across this in Slater's showroom I felt that it's racing heritage made it a far more interesting proposition than a standard SFC and once I heard it fire up I was completely sold. I was quite nervous about spending a substantial sum of money on a machine I knew nothing about and so I contacted Marnix van der Schalk, the acknowledged world authority on the Laverda SFC. Marnix reassured me that the Egli was well known and genuine . As ever, his advice was correct and ownership of this bike has brought immense pleasure. I`m intending to race in Europe next year and consequently the bike is being sold to fund the rebuild of an F2 Laverda race machine . I know I`m going to regret selling the bike but unfortunately I doubt if I`ll have much opportunity to ride it in the next two or three seasons therefor it's time to move on. The machine is road registered in the UK , which could be an important consideration for overseas users because the UK registration document  could make it much easier to register in a foreign country. The date of first registration is 1974 and its on an 'N' registration [I still have the original pressed alloy numberplate supplied by Dowsons], the year of manufacture is declared as 1972 and therefore the machine is classed as Historic  for taxation purposes in the UK . This is important for two reasons; firstly road tax is free! Secondly , many classic race series and parades have a 1972 cut-off date and this makes the Egli eligible for lots of different events. In future this could significantly add to its value.There is a large file of  correspondece with the bike which includes technical secifications, photographic records of the engine internals all of which builds up into a substantial and interesting history file. The bike is in very good condition throughout but purchasers should be aware that it is a race machine which has acquired a patina of use over the years so it's by no means a concours contender although it could easily be brought up to that standard with a bit of patience .

The bike is being sold at no reserve and potential purchasers can be assured that the auction will run to the end. I would like the successful bidder to pay a deposit of £500 within 7 days of the end of the auction and the balance paid within a two weeks. I'm happy to ship anywhere in the world and will be pleased to provide shipping quotations. As a guideline expect to pay £350 for shipping to Europe and approximately £700 to the US. 

I tried to upload a couple of more pictures today showing the special engine mount detail. Unfortunately I have run out of space to upload pictures, if anybody would like to see this image please email me at bob@windcheetah.co.uk and I`ll send them to you, hopefully before the auction ends!