1999 Laverda Formula 750

1999 Laverda Formula 750

I’ve owned a handful of bikes over the years, but none as rare or as interesting as this Laverda. The company is from Italy and has been producing motorcycles since 1873, but if you’ve never heard of them you’re not alone, I hadn’t either. When I came across the bike for sale I just thought it was pretty. Laverda no longer exists, sadly.

It looked great when I got it but didn’t run particularly well….ever. It spent a lot of time just sitting in my garage. I actually had a very difficult time finding someone that would work on it. It probably wasn’t that much different than a Ducati, but most shops just said no.

I don’t have a ton of pictures of this bike. I owned it back in the early 2000’s and digital “snap as many as you can” was sort of a new thing. The girl on the back of the bike in my living room here is Aimee, who I was dating at the time. (BTW - The bike is in the living room because there was a hurricane heading our way.) Aimee and I remained friendly after we stopped seeing each other but didn’t keep in touch after a few years. Some mutual friends informed me last year that she had passed away after battling Cancer. She always liked my motorcycles and eventually bought one of her own. She was a very sweet person and I was sad to hear of her passing.



After years of mostly just collecting dust, I finally sold it. The sad truth is, Houston is a terrible place to ride a motorcycle. I try to avoid them now, but if I ever live somewhere with a few million less people, cooler weather, and maybe some pretty roads, I’d probably think about another bike.