THE LITTLE LAVERDA THAT COUKD

IN 1984, Alan Cathcart outclassed the whole field at the Daytona Speedway Battle of The Twins on the Ogier Laverda, causing somewhat of a stir. Race officials demanded the engine be stripped and measured to make sure the Laverda was only at the specified 580cc, not an 800cc bored-out SFC motor. Sure enough, they found nothing out of order.

It was the clever engineering by Maurice (Mo) Ogier, the builder of the bike, and the riding talent of Cathcart which came together to create such an impressive outcome.

Thus the nickname ‘That Bloody Laverda’ was coined by owners of the much more expensive Ducati 750 TT1/TT2s which were left in its wake. It was those accomplishments that planted the seeds for Perth local Mike Nazroo to one day begin the project of taking a 500 Laverda racing again.

Mike, who works