Moto Guzzi Singles tour in Italy.

My  friend Tim in Las Vegas sent me this link to a brief snippet out of his friends Patrick Hayes's(San Francisco) diary of a tour in Italy,on Guzzi singles, that he and Larry Lloyd (Las Vegas) went on back in 2008. 
  Although I've never read about it before I remember them going as I had just previously been having helpful emails back and forth between myself and Patrick with advice about mine and Tony's impending USA trip. (We shipped our bikes to New Jersey and had a East to West Coast ride) Sadly we never got meet because of the crossover of our respective trips.
  The first time I met Tim and Larry,a couple of years previous,I remember them telling me of this bunch of Italians who would ship a container full of their bikes over to Nevada and then all ride around on their red bikes in their red overalls. The thought of it made me smile !
  I enjoyed reading it and hope somebody else does too:
LINK ADDRESS SHOULD NOW BE WORKING !
                         http://home.comcast.net/~pehayes/piemonte/PiemonteTour.html

Moto Guzzi cafe racer project ...........number 1

Finally got my grey shock springs and headlamp brackets back today,quickly re-assembled  and fitted them just because I was keen to see how it was all going to look with the same colour disc centres and I am quite happy. I cut the handlebar mounts off and had them welded up to give a smooth finish. Still plenty to do on it though and it has priority over my other project as this one is to sell.

Moto Guzzi Cafe Racer ............project number 2

I was hoping to have some picture updates of my cafe project shown in my last posting. I actually fitted wheels,tyres and discs over a week ago, but I am waiting for the freshly powder coated shock springs etc before I put more pics up. I also had somebody else's Guzzi here for most of last week that I did a little work on.

I believe the line of the sump should be horizontal with the ground so the forks will want dropping slightly.
Plenty of time for all that as this could stay here untouched for some while yet.

It's a John Williams tank which I got from my good friend and excellent engineer  Richard Bailey (B&B engineering,Hitchin,Herts) He was originally going to build a V50 based cafe racer using it.

What I like about these Ohlin shocks is the way the damping reservoir  curves slightly inwards

The motor will eventually be a 1100Sport fitted with Carrillo rods and  balanced.
I bought a complete bike minus carbs a few years back.
There's a picture earlier on in this blog fitted with a Spada III engine and a single seat and I sold it  4 or 5 weeks ago

I hope the Scitsu rev counter works.  I bought it for  £5 at a car boot sale  approximately 4-5years ago.

  Anyway here are some pics of one of my other projects (building for myself to replace the one that went to Australia) As you can see it is only loosely bolted together sitting in the dining area with empty crankcase and gearbox casing partly so as to not take up space in my small garage and also so I can get a rough idea how it should end up looking. I am already liking the lines of the fairing,tank and seat but have hit a snag with the rear disc/caliper mounting. I have had a lot of the parts made for quite some time and the frame was mostly modified 10 -12 months ago with some of the smaller additions (brackets,seat support etc) very recently finished,but got to cut off a lot of the original frame brackets. I bought the second hand Ohlin shocks, FCR carbs tank and some other bits over the past 2+ years so that eases the pain of financing it.

Moto Guzzi Cafe Racer Project........

...........up on the bench with assembly started. I have had to fit one of the S/S bolt on lock stops plates that I had made quite a few years ago. Twice in the past I had a piece welded in only for it to break right off again very quickly hence why I came up with this solution.Fork sliders have got to come off  to strip the paint. Probably will just scotchbrite them as the overall finish is a matt look

Italian Car / Bike Day - Swindon

V7 Sport -same owner for 30years

Griso SE - I like the green and the wire wheels,but as with all of them I couldn't be doing with the way  the rear of the seat is slightly lifted from the tail unit.

Not my cup of tea though I am sure totally capable and superb to ride.
I am not too sure that I had even seen one of these Benelli's before

I loved the red metal flake paint job of this Louigi Moto race bike

I suppose I'd better put a picture of Fran's Guzzi cafe racer up too  or he'll get upset !

Went to the Auto Italia Day in Swindon last Sunday with my friend Fran and although there wasn't too much on display there was still a few things of interest. Only 40+ miles each way on mostly twisty bumpy B roads,but enjoyable all the same with a slightly quicker return journey. Enjoyed it !!

I wish I was clever..................even just a little bit !

My friend Martin sent me a link to this and although I knew it was small I didn't realise just how small  this model engine was until I watched it the second time and noticed in relation to his hand. If you watch this clip take a look at another slightly longer version. I wonder if he'd build a Guzzi one ?
 Martin likes his BMW's and has a old cafe racer BM of mine(from approx 12 years ago) that I thought was great and he has made even better with a full refurb,cosmetics / engine with a lot of his own made parts.
 I'll have to take a picture of it and post it up here

Moto Guzzi V7 racer with a Triumph front end

Ok,so it's only actually half a Guzzi racer,but hopefully David McMillan might send me more photo's in the near future of his re-modified racer. You can always see more pics that are already on the web or at Italianmotor magazines site which featured an article on it in issue 1
 David is not actually racing it anymore and with those forks it wouldn't be eligible in the classic series when he did, although he could still give it go in the BEARS series
   These forks/yokes are actually from a Triumph 955i and I think look great and should work a treat. I actually have a similar pair of Showa's sitting in my garage that I bought 6-8months ago which will get fitted to a future project. Mine are from a mid 90's Honda Fireblade.
 You might also just be able to make out a pair of asymmetric headlamps fitted from a BMW 1150GS.

The Madness on the roads of India

Thanks to Jay for sending me a link to this clip. I have never been,but always had the impression of it being a country of chaos and this does nothing to change my thoughts............MADNESS !!