This is not a recent article I just came across when I searching for some interesting article related to automobile and I thought of sharing it with my blog users. Read the full story of François Knorreck’s, how he turned Laverda and it into a nicely modified sportbike. Although his real job is technician in a hospital at Saint-Etienne in France, he spends all his free time to build, manufacture, modify and tune motorbikes. All sorts of motorbikes, with a neat preference for bikes of character in general, and Laverda in particular. Some jokes or challenges too, like this amphybian motorcycle (Yamaha base) on which he was the first one to cross the Loire River on a motorbike!
François Knorreck, a French motorcyclist with a passion for building things to suit his own vision, bought a Laverda in 1976 and turned it into a nicely modified sportbike. He rode the bike perfectly satisfied until 1993 when he began to conceive the idea of a new project and got the urge to build again, ideas turned to design and led to lots and lots of labor, the result, more than 10 years later, is the Snaefell, a Laverda based sidecar outfit that demonstrates some phenomenal skills in both design and building.
The Snaefell is a completely hand crafted vehicle, the frame, the wiring harness and, of course, the amazing body, which itself used 63 molds for the parts made of polyester or carbon fiber. Some parts were sourced from Renault, Citroen, BMW, VW and Audi. The entire 10,000 hour project comes in around 15,000 Euros, which, at today’s rates, is about $21,000.
Power is from the original 1000cc Laverda triple which gets a matching triple exhaust out the back of the bodywork. The interior, complete with seatbelts, looks like a factory build. The door opens up Lamborghini style. Just stunning work.
Complex projects like these, where the builder does so many things so well, in his spare time, just continue to amaze me every time I see them. Superb work all around.
To see the construction of Snaefell Laverda Sidecar – Click here
More pictures of Snaefell Laverda Sidecar –
