Ignore the banter & music. Listen to the sound of these Guzzi's on the road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLGxuiLHNJk&feature=channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLGxuiLHNJk&feature=channel)
Sweet sounds, and even sweeter roads. I hope to make it out that way this May.
that should be a Moto Guzzi commercial!
I'm diggin the sawbone bike but their both sweeet! [thumbsup]
http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/Motorcycle-Reviews/The-Italian-Jobs-1978-Moto-Guzzi-Le-Mans-vs.-1980-Ducati-900-SS.aspx (http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/Motorcycle-Reviews/The-Italian-Jobs-1978-Moto-Guzzi-Le-Mans-vs.-1980-Ducati-900-SS.aspx)
I love the long low look of the 70's Guzzi's and Dukes, one day I will have a Guzzi
Don
Quote from: The Don on January 28, 2009, 04:19:13 PM
I love the long low look of the 70's Guzzi's and Dukes, one day I will have a Guzzi
Don
I had 2 back in the 80's, loved 'em both - if I ever get rid of my ducati, I'll probably try to pick up a mid 90's 1100 Sport.
That takes me back. I spent years in the Blue Ridge chasing or being chased by my Bro-In-Law on his 76 Lemans with the race kit - close ratio trans, and HC pistions, open exhaust and big Dellorto's. I was on my black and gold 80 model 900ss with the race kit, that I bought in the spring of 1979 it had been on stage at the Ducati exhibit at the Daytona Hilton that year and friends Hoffman and McClure brought it back home to Athens, Ga. after the race.
Good times! [thumbsup] [moto]
I remember some people who rode Guzzis back then would shift right where the engine was starting to make decent power - about 5500 rpm and they pulled well 2000 rpm past that. Ridden aggressively, those Guzzis were fast.
And I read the Guzzi / Ducati comparison. If that guy was shifting at 6500 rpm it's no wonder he didn't rate the Ducati higher. I ran mine at 8500 rpm ....... a lot. ;D
I love me some Guzzis.
LA
LA, you've got some cool stories and the bikes to match the stories. Have you ever shown all your bikes to the forum. I'd love to see all the ones listed in your signature if you have the pictures.
I guess you get the Guzzi thing, or you don't. I remember showing off my brand new SP 650 to a friend from the 'hood. When I told him how much I paid for it, he said "WOW! For that you could have gotten a GPZ!"
I think we just stood there staring at each other, dumbfounded - ha-ha.
Quote from: bullet boy on January 29, 2009, 04:14:43 PM
I guess you get the Guzzi thing, or you don't. I remember showing off my brand new SP 650 to a friend from the 'hood. When I told him how much I paid for it, he said "WOW! For that you could have gotten a GPZ!"
I think we just stood there staring at each other, dumbfounded - ha-ha.
I must admit that although I love all Italian motorcycles I never understood the thing with Guzzi's until a few years ago when my brother in-law (an Englishman) introduced me to his Guzzi T3 made into a Cafe racer and now I'm hooked.
Don
Ignore the music? Tom Waits is pretty hard to ignore, and that song's one of my favorites, occupying a place of honor on a "Drive too fast" playlist!
Very cool bikes -- the Sawbone in particular. The guy who sold me my ST2 was paring down to one bike, and the one he kept was an early '70s T3, in very nice but well-used condition -- he says when he bought it, he needed a pair of pruning shears to extract it from the shrub that had engulfed it, and figured that once he'd brought it back to life they were stuck with one another for good.
We're in kind of a Guzzi hotbed here in our little AZ mountain town, with Encore Performance & Fabrication http://www.epfguzzi.com/ (http://www.epfguzzi.com/) just around the corner from downtown. In the "history" section of the shop's webpage, it's not at all surprising to read "Encore Performance & Fabrication could probably be most easily described as "Jim Knaup's illegitimate love child", as it is solely a product of his lust for Moto Guzzi Motorcycles."
While that shop is a fun place to while away an hour or two (and with the only mechanic within 150 miles who isn't completely freaked out by Italian bikes, I find myself killing time there every so often along with other local Duc riders), the really fun place is one of Jim's other businesses, Big Eddy Rafting supply, with everything you'd need to mount a serious month long trip through the Grand Canyon -- and, because it's got a fenced yard out back, row upon row of old Moto Guzzis, Benellis, and assorted two-wheel Italian arcana just waiting for the 20-yard trip into this nicely appointed restoration shop:
(http://www.epfguzzi.com/T21.JPG)
Those V7 Sports are great. If I ever build a cafe racer, it'll be a V7 Sport.
There was a T3 on Ebay last week and the bloke wanted $700.00 US it needed a lot of work but come with a spare set of alloy spoke rims, I wanted it bad but didn't know how i was going to get it to Australia.
Don
Nice video. Those old Guzzis are beautiful. Heck, the new ones are too!
This 1984 V7 cafe conversion was for sale on Ebay a while ago. I fell in love with it.
(http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r462/MarkSidler/Ducati%20Pics/1984GuzziV71.jpg?t=1233409592)
8)
Something about the totally exposed cylinders makes me want to buy a guzzi today and build a 'racer'.
Cool video, thanks.
mitt