21st century Laverda

Classic twin-cylinder Laverdas don’t come much better than this beautifully-crafted and updated Laverda 850 SF special.
 
Built by owner Paul Sharman but with a bigger engine, more modern chassis, suspension and updated electrics. The amount of work that¹s gone into the bike, not to mention the attention to detail, is mind-boggling. Take the frame for example: it¹s a one-off made from nickel-plated alloy tube, by CND (Cloud Nine Developments) based in Yeovil. CND also fabricated the box-section swingarm at the rear end, which has Maxton-Koni shocks fitted. Forks are by Spondon, with one-off yokes and steering stem.
 
The engine is based on the original¹s aircooled, sohc, parallel twin 750, but bored out to 850, with slipper pistons, Nikasil liners and reshaped combustion chambers inside gas-flowed heads. The crankshaft was lightened and balanced, running crank pins from the Laverda 3C triple, with some gears from the 3C also finding their way into the uprated gearbox. The motor breathes via Mikuni flat slide carbs, a high flow oil pump was also fitted to keep things sweet inside the crankcases. The motor had to have bespoke mounting plates made to fit inside that gorgeous frame.
 
All told, Paul¹s bike is probably the ultimate Laverda twin. It¹s just a shame this is a one-off and not being made by the old Breganze factory itself.