Some history courtesy of Gareth Ireland:
The Offroad models: During the 1950s because of their on-road reliability and their race track success, the Laverda 75cc was modified for off-road use by the private enthusiast with enough success to encourage the factory to produce the 125cc Regolarita for the 1960s.
However, because of the development and production of the new 1000cc Triple, and the move into new premises at Breganze, it was the 1970s before the off-road competitor was properly catered for by Laverda
It was at the 1973 Milan Show that Laverda debuted the 250 Chott, a two stroke single of 246.9 cc, this machine boasted as part of it's extensive specification a twin plug head fed by a double electronic ignition set up, a 32mm Dell'orto carburettor and a five speed gearbox. This purposeful machine went into production during 1974.
Other features of the Chott included an adjustable fork angle, (25, 27.5 and 30 degrees), and magnesium crankcases and wheel hubs added strenght and lightness making this a competitive machine out of the crate which was fine for the off-road enthusiast, but for the ever fickle public, the Chott was too focused on competition, they wanted an off road leisure bike which cost less than the highly specified Chott.
In 1976 Laverda started the production of the 250 TR2, based on the Chott but without a speedometer or revcounter, the magnesium engine cases and wheel hubs were absent and the body panels were plastic instead of steel, the TR2 ended up a lighter but less sophisticated bike than the Chott and satisfied the expectations of 1970s Joe and Josephine Public.
Laverda themselves were not satisfied! With extensive success in road racing, particularly endurance events, Laverda wanted to extend this success into the off-road competition. Thus in late 1976, an alliance was formed with off-road racing specialist Husqvarna, they supplied engines and technical expertise while Laverda built bikes around the engine. The short-lived TR2 was gradually phased out to be replaced by two new bikes, the HW125 and HW 250. To develop and race these machines, Laverda engaged a winner of the Italian Motorcross championship, this was Italo Forni who along with Gianni Basso had some good results during national and international off-road events, this Laverda off-road team was mangaged by Giullio Franzan.
During 1985 and despite some serious finacial concerns, Laverda were looking to expand their range with minimum investment, the decision was made to use their existing 500cc twin cylinder motor in a large off-road styled machine. This motor was already a powerful and lightweight unit, but Laverda re-bored it to 600cc, (actually 571.6), fitted different camshafts and a twin carburettor set up to enhance the low and mid range power and torque. This engine kept it's eight valve cylinder head and slightly modified balancer shaft and produced 50 BHP with peak torque at a little less than 4500RPM. The frame and suspension components were among the best available at the time, for example a huge 42mm front fork was complimented by a mono shock rear suspension marketed as Soft Ramble. Unfortunately, the bike was on the heavy side, 157 to 180 kilos depending on model versions and this coupled with a high retail price and the factory's continuing finacial problems saw only 500 or so of the Laverda Atlas being produced between 1986 and 1989.
Original ad in Bike SA:
