Parts were sourced from all over the world – Australia, Holland, Spain, USA, Canada, France, Italy, UK and Germany. As I had zero knowledge of mechanicals and was more concerned with aesthetics, I left Pete with the headache of making everything I ordered fit and work properly.
The bike completely stripped. The frame was de-tabbed and sent off to be powder coated in silver. The engine was stripped, cleaned, and completely rebuilt with the original sump replaced by a deeper one from a Guzzi Norge that allows an external oil filter to be installed, making future oil changes much simpler. The original dipstick was replaced by a longer aluminium one from MG Guzzi in the USA. Carbs were upgraded to PHF 36’s and for looks, velocity stacks were attached. The cylinder head guards were custom made for this build by Joe Kenny in the USA. Being a low mileage bike, all that was required for the internals were new piston rings and a quick polish to the pistons. No go-faster upgrades were made to either the engine or clutch as with my limited riding ability, they’d be wasted.
An alloy endurance tank with a Monza cap was sourced from The Tank Shop in Scotland and a custom-made leather seat was commissioned from Glenn Moger seats, that would just about fit a pillion rider.
The original alloy wheels were replaced with Borrani spoked rims sourced from a Guzzi T3 that were brushed rather than polished for a low-key look. These were adorned with beautiful custom-made matching front and rear floating brake discs from Davide Caforio of Ruote Fiere in Italy. The discs were mated to upgraded Brembo 4 pot callipers from a Guzzi Breva. The original 38mm forks were replaced with a beefier set of 45mm forks also from a Breva that had to be shortened by 10cm with modified cartridges to suit. Rubber to tarmac is taken care of by Avon Roadriders.
The cockpit is true modern classic. The headlight is a statement in itself; a 7” CNC brushed aluminium unit from Kompo Tech in Italy with custom-made mounts that contribute to the bikes muscular look. The original clocks were kept, but completely refurbished and reset to zero by specialist, Alan Smith in the UK with custom made mounts designed to fit directly to the top yoke. The top yoke was custom made to incorporate Motogadget Motosign warning lights and the start button. This was hooked into fat bars from ABM with push buttons from Motone. The brake and clutch lever master cylinders for the hydraulic clutch conversion are discontinued Magura 190’s that were mated to custom made reservoirs from Alloy Art in the USA. A quick action throttle, Oberon wing mirrors and bar end indicators hand-made for this build by Mark Atkinson of Speed of Cheese Racing in Utah were the final touch.
Wanting to avoid the bare skeleton look and seeking practicality, a disguised under-seat storage compartment was designed with a hidden switch that releases the magnet that holds the cover in place. The finishing touch to the covers are a pair of stunningly beautiful bronze plaques that were hand-engraved by Gibraltarian artist Christian Lima. With attention to every detail, even the affixing screws were engraved with a similar crosshatch pattern that makes them almost invisible.
A Motogadget M Blue unit takes care of electronics along with a custom-made wiring harness. Other electronic upgrades include the addition of a regulator rectifier, Valeo starter motor, dyna coils, Sasche programmable digital ignition and an under-gearbox battery tray.
Stainless steel exhausts were custom-made by OS exhausts in the UK. Rearsets were also custom-made by Davide at Ruote Fiere. In keeping with the clean look, the mudguards are affixed with ‘invisible’ mountings and the rear one sports a classic styled CNC aluminium taillight from Lanesplitter Garage in Australia.
For the final touch, paint was taken care of by Dave at Wicked Coatings of Poole, who painted it in a beautiful Kia celeste pearl blue with a light touch of metal flake that really works well with the silver theme of the rest of the bike. Dave also airbrushed some beautifully subtle fish scales on the tank as well as the Moto Guzzi logos that were taken from a 1960’s enamel Moto Guzzi Bertoni pin.
