For over twenty years Filippo Barbacane has been turning the longitudinal V twins from Mondello into ever more gorgeous motorcycles. He has on occasion turned his hand to other brands, a scattering of Trumpets, Beemers and Harleys litter his back catalogue but on the whole Officine Rossopuro have been synonymous with the bettering of Moto Guzzis. Filippo’s bikes have until now always been unique masterpieces, but for this project he was taken by the idea of two very dear friends to have a pair of near identical builds that appear as if one motorcycle divided in two. Beautiful twins that only close inspection can separate.
The donor bikes were Nevada 750′s, a great motorcycle according to Filippo, very light, reliable and too often overlooked. He set about the unloved cruisers, key to the transformation was dropping the sloping stance for a flatter profile. The front forks are 40mm Marzocchi units fitted with a single 320 mm Brembo serie Oro disk with a double piston caliper. The new shock absorbers are significantly higher than standard whilst the pegs have been set back from their previous forward home to lend a more dynamic riding position.
“The difficult thing was just to build two identical bodies because I do not work with molds, but in a unique way so it was like starting all over again when you have finished one of the two motorcycles.” Being truly identical was never the primary objective anyway and further differentials were built in as Filippo progressed, “such as the seat, the pinstriping, the istrument, stop, exhaust, handlebars and a few other little things.”.
“I then deleted all that is heavy on Nevada, and I very simplified electrical system so as to make the bike even easier and more reliable.” The weighty original speedometers were amongst the inevitable casualties replaced by a pair of tiny instruments. Replacing the original rubber was more problematic as they searched high and low for an off road styled alternative in the 160 size. The guys eventually found a suitable hoop but claim it as their secret. Educated guesses in the comment section please…
The exhaust system was fabricated to Filippo’s design by Mass Moto, the two into one system is reportedly incredibly light whilst emanating a sound befitting a far larger engine than the Nevada’s cubic capacity.
All of the work is as expected beautifully executed to a factory finish, looking through the pictures trying to separate the machines is a time consuming pleasure akin to a spot the difference puzzle.
Filippo modestly reports “As you can see this is not an extremely complex work, but it does very well understand the potential of a Guzzi that in past years have not been much considered in ‘environment customising.”
“When I started 20 years ago by now, I was mocked because I was working on this strange motorcycle, but I was in love and I could see in her something big.” Well Filippo has certainly had the last laugh with his company leading the way in Guzzi customisation. Now this motorcycle will be on show inside the Moto Guzzi factory, an accolade that rightly fills Filippo with pride. There is an open house weekend at the Factory in Mandello del Lario this weekend so get on down to see the twins in the flesh and to revel in all things Guzzi.
Head over to their website for more details.
via The Bike Shed
