The Ducati 750 SS, Laverda SFC and Moto Guzzi Telaio Rosso. These are all three legendary motorcycles with the biggest agreement that there are now more of them than the respective factories have ever produced. No matter how unclear the Italian production figures are.
The Ducati 750 SS
In Auto Motor Klassiek is an extensive story about the Ducati 750 SS, the engine that took Ducati off the edge of oblivion. Italo enthusiast Hans Smid has written a very nice story about the motorcycles in song 12.
When reading the text, a memory came up. We once stood around such an 750 SS. He was ZGAN and the proud owner was Fred, whose love for his wife's homeland went so far as to drive FIAT and Ducati. And now he had risked everything, even his marriage, by buying his 750 SS.
We stood around it like Japanese four-cylinder drivers and we looked at it. We were only moderately impressed and gave a mild comment. The two flaps were: "The sticker is crooked" and "There is a fly in the polyester of the top half. Desperate because of so much misunderstanding, Fred shouted desperately: "But it is an Italian fly!"
The top ones from then
Engines, rare and successful engines such as the Ducati 750 SS, Laverda SFC and Moto Guzzi Telaio Rosso quickly become legendary and priceless. And just as with the desperate privatization, the tension between supply and demand results in a flexible market. In short: There are Clever Henkies and brave Willie Roots who are going to work to increase the range of Ducati 750 SS, Laverda SFC and Moto Guzzi Telaio Rosso models. Note: This does not only happen with Italian motorcycles.
Up to this point, new and maybe even better than real Norton Command racers are being offered. But they are easier to make because the British did not do details such as special numbering of frames and carters. They can therefore be sold as 'real' faster.
Counterfeiting pays off
Hundreds of De Ducati 750 SS, Laverda SFC and Moto Guzzi Telaio Rosso have been made. And then think of 500 rather than 999 pieces. A 'replica' that is born by hanging a large tank and a set of rears on the frame is of course directly through the basket. But if someone has taken the trouble to adjust the angle where the spark plugs are in the heads of a Laverda SFC by sealing the original spark plug holes and drilling and tapping again? And the fact that most of the red frames from Moto Guzzi's 750 Sports are of ordinary, instead of molybdenum steel? That is also the difference between very expensive and quite expensive.
Such a fake Ducati 750 SS, Laverda SFC or Moto Guzzi Telaio Rosso can be just as beautiful as a real one. You can just enjoy it and enjoy it. But when such a top piece has been purchased for the grand prize and then a counterfeit appears? Then you look at it differently.
I have heard these stories several times in all kinds of variations from different sources. Want to tap something from a different perspective? This way I can also become a writer.
Hi Jan, Apparently three Italian lessons were not enough. But I was still in shock. Just before making the news item, I was knocked down on the parking lot at the shopping center. My Guzzi is fortunately not very damaged. He landed on my leg 🙁
Dolf, it's telaio, which doesn't detract from the story.