The Laverda 1000 was unveiled and put into production in 1970. It was an original three-cylinder design with new castings, a new cylinder block shape angled forwards by 20° to decrease the bike's wheelbase, and dual chain-driven camshafts at the centre of the cylinders, between the first and the second from the right. The engine had the unusual feature of the cast iron combustion chamber caps cast into the light alloy of the head, a solution which allowed damage to be minimised in the event of valve breakage. The compression ratio was 9:1, and the bike also featured a multi-disc wet clutch, a five-speed gearbox with front-engaging straight toothed gears and Bosch electronic ignition with the pick-ups mounted behind the flywheel.