Hannes Micheler is a true motorcycle aficionado. In 2004 he discovered his true passion: A silver LAVERDA 1000 3CL. The bike was for sale in Salzburg - with German papers: "In the seventies and eighties my mate Otto used to ride the hottest LAVERDAs far and wide. Together we went to Salzburg to check out the bike and after serious haggling with the owner the beauty became mine. Initially having the bike registered in Austria caused a few problems but in the end everything went smoothly. Through my first phone-conversations with Andy Wagner I slowly came to realise all the precious modifications the previous owner had done to the bike: wire wheels with brake-caliper adapter at the rear, DMC-ignition, stainless steel exhaust system, open bellmouths, clip-ons, rear-sets, hump seat and many more.

Under the theme of "One can't have too many LAVERDAs" in the following years several more bikes were added to the collection so now Hannes has almost every possible size from the small 1956 100 in Corsa-trim to the 1977 Sulzbacher 1200.

"The biggest hurdles I had to take were for my smallest, the "Cento", a LAVERDA 100 Sport. Amongst them were the difficult negotiations with the owner who only spoke Italian, picking up the bike in Bergamo and finally getting it registered in Carinthia, especially given it didn't have any papers. Moreover I bought the "little one" allegedly fully rebuilt, only to realise at home that it had a damaged crankshaft. But such experiences are known to form a particularly strong bond!"

Whenever family and work permit, Hannes takes one of his LAVERDAs out of the garage and seriously lets it roar on the twisty roads of Carinthia: "These bikes are sheer bliss to ride, distinctive and sensational.

This is what could still seriously tempt Hannes and cause him to languish:
· An old 125 LAVERDA with horizontal cylinder
· A nice 250 Chott
· A 1971 750 SF

Contact:
laverda@gmx.at