Moto Guzzi Makeovers

by PAUL CROWE

Moto Guzzi Marrano 1160 by Das Mototec

Italian motorcycles are often recognized for their beautiful styling, but one brand (Ducati) tends to overshadow all of the other smaller marques. When you step outside of the Ducati world and look at the other bikes, there's much to appreciate. Recently, I've been noticing more and more really nice examples of the Moto Guzzi lineup, both current and classic, so I thought I would take a closer look at a few.

Bill Johnson, over at DucCutters, was pointing out another bike on his site, a Ducati of course, but while I was there I spotted this Moto Guzzi, the Marrano 1160 and it just struck me as a beautiful piece of work. It's the blue bike shown above and built by Das Mototec of Germany. It's a really clean makeover.

Moto Guzzi's longitudinal crank V-Twin engine has a unique look. If the styling focuses your attention on the drivetrain, like the one shown above, the bikes look great.

After seeing that I dropped over to Ghezzi Brian, the well known Guzzi aftermarket company, to check out their latest work and they have a couple of kits for modifying your bike, this one is the Sport Monza 1100 for your V11. You can add the parts and pieces in stages, body pieces first, suspension components next and finally, engine parts. It looks lighter and tighter than the stock bike and, as any Guzzi should, it shows off the engine to advantage.

Ghezzi Brian Sport Monza 1100

One custom shop in Japan that I've mentioned before, Ritmo Sereno, does a variety of bikes, but some of their Moto Guzzis are especially impressive. Browsing their custom Guzzis should give anyone a lot of good ideas for starting their own modifications.

Ritmo Sereno Moto Guzzi LeMans 1000 custom

Ritmo Sereno Moto Guzzi LeMans 3 custom

Some are quick to point out that these customs can look good because they don't need to meet the restrictions the manufacturer has to consider and it's a valid point but it takes nothing away from what these builders have done. Also, except for the Ghezzi Brian example, the others are modifications to older models no longer produced.

Moto Guzzi has had a number of interesting models over the years and some that don't get the attention they deserve. The Daytona, originally developed by Moto Guzzi working closely with Dr. John Wittner of Pennsylvania, who campaigned a Guzzi in the USA, the 4 valve sportbike looks good and performs very well, maybe not to the standard of Japanese bikes of early 1990s, but definitely a notch up from any standard Guzzi. Another model, only produced for a few years, the Centauro, which actually evolved from the Daytona, looks good to me and works well as a high performance sport touring machine or an all around ride. Buy one of these and you'll stand out from the crowd on bike night, because there just aren't many around and they have an impressive stance. Occasionally, you'll see one or the other come up for sale, and I think, if you like Guzzis at all, you would be smart to keep your eye out for a well maintained used example. They'll probably appreciate over the years and you'll get a lot of enjoyable riding in the meantime.

Of course, some enthusiasts don't care for Moto Guzzis at all, it's really a matter of personal preference, but to my eye, the engine really makes it. The V-Twin was designed with visual appearance in mind, with cooling fins on the cylinders and ribs cast into the cases, it's a nice piece of mechanical eye candy. The longitudinal mounting allows perfectly symmetrical dual exhausts without any extra curves and bends necessary to get equal length pipes and the shaft drive doesn't require an extra 90 degree turn to get to the rear wheel. Nothing extraordinary in these features but they're a nice little extra compared to conventional V-Twin positioning.

If you're really looking for entertainment, Koehler even makes superchargers for the Moto Guzzi V-Twin which look like a natural fit but they do seem to take up a lot of space so you would need quite a bit of room to install one.

With the new V7 Classic, a retro model bringing back the appeal of the earlier models, a lot of people may get the chance to see why Moto Guzzis are so popular with some owners. I haven't seen any makeovers of this new model yet and some might see no need for it, but there's always room for a little original thinking so we'll have to see what shows up.

If you think a Moto Guzzi might look good in your garage, if you don't already own one, check out the Moto Guzzi for sale page. If you've never really thought about owning one, they're worth considering, a V-Twin that looks better than some, (especially if you're a motorhead that looks at the engine first) sounds good and not on the road everywhere you look, it's a nice combination.

from thekneeslider.com 

HAWK

STEEL BENT CUSTOMS CB750

Michael Mundy’s Steel Bent Customs is now well established as one of the leading custom shops in Florida, if not the whole south east of the USA. Fifteen bikes rolled out of the Tampa workshop last year, and production is now booked out to April 2013.

Mundy is obviously doing something right in the eyes of US custom fans, and this new 1981 CB750 shows why. It’s the epitome of what the market demands at the moment: sleek, dark and stripped of all artifice.

Called ‘the Hoang build,’ this Honda was a commission. “The client requested that we go fully black, and use a tin color similar to an earlier build called ‘Neck Tat’,” says Mundy. The client also requested a seat long enough to accommodate a passenger, and despite the washboard appearance, “it’s more comfortable than it looks.”

The rest of the bike is super clean and minimalist, a signature of Steel Bent’s work. The blacked-out 4-into-1 exhaust system is terminated with a Cone Engineering muffler, and the motor is now running pod filters with the carbs retuned to match. (“A fine growl with an intoxicating powerband,” says Mundy.) Black clubman-style bars add to the dark and glossy vibe, and the battery is now mounted on the swing arm.

The CB750 is now headed 4,500 miles west to the opposite coast of the US, where it’ll join its new owner in California. Even amidst that hotbed of custom culture, it’s sure to stop the traffic.

Images by Erick Runyon of Choppershotz. For commissions, bookings and fine art prints contact Erick here.

from BIKEexif

Making of Extreme Motorcycle Drifting On Ice - Jorian Ponomareff

Nine months later here is the making of from the drifting on ice video to show you what's going on behind the scenes which means a lot of fun during the five days of filming !