Many Laverda enthusiasts have heard rumours about her, but only very few have ever seen her: the HAUER LAVERDA 1200 SC. We are presenting this legend! With pictures and a bit of a story.

At the Vienna Spring Fair 1976 the Kawasaki and Honda dealer Hauer presented a sensation: An extremely lightweight and rigid chassis with tubular frame and boxed swingarm for the engine of the Kawasaki Z900.

Alerted by the race success of the Laverda importer Sulzbacher (Austrian National Champion 1975 with rider Franz Laimböck), the managing director of the Hauer company Gerhard Tempel approached Sulzbacher with an offer: For the purpose of publicity in racing, the Hauer tubular frame should be modified to fit the engine of the Laverda 1000. Consequently, a blank of the frame was given to the Sulzbacher project-leader and race team mechanic Bertram Amorth.

But it would all turn out differently. Contrary to expectations, the success of the previous year couldn't be repeated in 1976 and Bertram Amorth left Sulzbacher. He took the chassis and used it to build the HAUER LAVERDA 1200 SC.

After only a few kilometres the bike was offered for sale in the classifieds of renowned German motorcycle magazine ”Motorrad“ in issue #22 1977 and a guy from Würzburg bought it. The bike was road-tested and registered in Austria in order to allow the new owner to ride it with an Austrian numberplate in Germany. After three years however the owner lost interest and sold the bike again.

The second owner prepared the HAUER LAVERDA to have it road-tested by the German TÜV. This appeared to be very difficult. But in 1980, finally, the HAUER LAVERDA 1200 SC passed the road test at the Würzburg TÜV with all the modifications registered in the papers. The owner rode the bike exactly how Bertram Amorth had set it up, however the joy of riding this unique Laverda was very much dampened by a major engine failure. In 1984 the owner sold the HAUER chassis with some additional parts.

The third owner completely rebuilt the HAUER LAVERDA with many brand-new spare parts. Modern 16' Campagnolo rims with floating 280mm Brembo discs and "Oro" callipers were used. As a true Sulzbacher enthusiast he already owned a Laverda 1000 with a Sulzbacher 1200 SC engine. This engine was built into the frame with all of its components. Unfortunately, even this engine didn't last long and so the HAUER LAVERDA was standing much more in the garage than it was ridden.

Maximilian Volker Mahlmeister bought the bike in 2003 after it had been standing for 15 years. After a thorough assessment the bike was completely disassembled. The frame was stripped of its paint, inspected, measured and rebuilt in a specialist workshop. The HAUER LAVERDA was changed back to its original 18' wheels and the Brembo-Oro components were completed. A friend of Max' stripped the Sulzbacher engine and perfectly rebuilt it. The bike was supposed to be presented to the TÜV in Würzburg in Summer 2007.

As often happens, everything took a bit longer but in August 2022 the HAUER LAVERDA 1200 SC passed the requirements of the German TÜV. Even after only taking a short test ride Max could tell that the engine has a lot of grunt.

Everybody who might be able to contribute pictures or stories related to this bike please contact Gert Schnoegl (mobile +43 676 7705885, e-mail: Gert.Schnoegl@netway.at).

Maximilian-Volker Mahlmeister is a name in the Laverda community. He rebuilds and restores Nippon Denso and Smiths instruments. For this purpose, he even manufactures faces, outer caps, sealing rings and the glass. Custom made faces are also possible.
You can reach Max at phone: +49 9324 982608, mobile: +49 175 4144936, e-mail: Max.Mahlmeister@gmx.de.
You can download his pricelist here: (pricelist PDF).