Hot on the back of our Top Ten Engines post, there was one mighty motor I really wanted to add to the list, but just couldn’t find the room. It’s not that it isn’t a brilliant lump, it is, but turning a big Moto Guzzi V-Twin into a usable custom is not as easy as the industry’s best builders make it look. And if there is a true master of the Mandello del Lario made motorcycles, it is without a doubt Filippo Barbacane. From his modest workshop in Pescara, on the Adriatic Sea, he has produced dozens of brilliant customs, all made from a Moto Guzzi, and no two are ever the same. The customer wanted something with a little Brat, so the Officine Rossopuro legend took an SP1000 and beautifully infused the big Italian with a touch of that Japanese style.
A decades-old launch report for the SP1000 from the American magazine Cycle World gives an insight into the difficulties of building a great Guzzi. “Two riders found the interference fit of fairing, cylinder heads, knees and shins infuriating. One of the two adds that he also hated the seat, bars, clutch, brakes and throttle. Seldom have we ridden a better argument for insisting on a trial ride before signing the cheque.” You see most motorcycles with flat bars have simple ergonomics, not the Guzzi, and given the huge cost of having a complete custom bike built, you hardly want your client turning around and telling you they can’t ride the bloody thing.
Enter the brilliance of Barbacane, not only do his Guzzi builds look incredible, but they ride like it too. With plenty of his customers using their high-end one-off machines to tour the Italian countryside in style. But given this bike was destined for the ancient capital of Rome, there was a little more flexibility to get creative. “In this context, I therefore looked for basic and taut lines but still maintaining suitable suspension functionality and above all a reasonably sized saddle, which is often not done in the Brat style,” Filippo tells us.
But before any of that could begin, as he always does, the master stripped down the Guzzi and rebuilt and rewired everything, so that he was essentially starting with a new bike. With this laborious task over, he could let the creative juices flow, “I began to think about a tank with low and taut lines, the result was this tank which takes up the lines of some old tanks from the ’80s, and is completely made of aluminium.” As many of our readers will know, Filippo always fits his builds with a handbuilt alloy tank, and no two are ever built the same, a key aspect in ensuring his bikes are truly unique.
This particular tank not only has those taut lines, but the way it carries its weight down low and then folds up to a slimmer peak, perfectly mirrors the inverse nature of the cylinders. There are also a pair of neat knee dents, which when viewed from behind show how much better he’s made the ergonomics with this singular change. This is further enhanced by new adjustable footpegs, which were fitted after the photoshoot. A set of fat bars gets the hands in the right position and the seat is old-school cool with plenty of padding. The gorgeous looks have then been finished off with a pair of hand rolled aluminium fenders, and uber neat side covers of the same lightweight material.
To get the bike handling and braking at its best, it’s all Italian kit for the patriotic builder. The front forks are restored before being stuffed full of a set of Bitubo cartridges and the rear shocks might look vintage, but they’re fully adjustable Bitubo items. The braking is all Brembo but rebuilt to Filippo’s own specs, lightening the front, adding a bigger rear disc and custom brace, and fitting braided lines. The wheels are straight from Borrani with stainless spokes to lace them to the modified hubs. And the Metzeler tyres are of course from Milan’s Pirelli and Filippo is a big fan. “The ME 77 tyres are a perfect compromise between aesthetics and functionality that I myself have been using on my old 1973 V7 850 GT with excellent results for years.”
Then to show the fact he’s a man who can do everything, it’s into the machine shop to produce some of his signature parts for the build. That rear brake support is a work of art, the handmade instruments look like they’re from a WWII fighter jet, the engine and frame supports add vital rigidity, and the cylinder head protectors are anodised red to match the colour scheme. This has been kept timeless, with the silver tins offset by the black chassis and mechanical components, while the red and custom graphics let you know that this is a truly special machine. Not wanting to disturb any of the stunning new lines, the entire wiring loom is built from scratch too.
Filippo takes the time to replace all of its components with new items, ditching the decades-old coils, adding electronic ignition, and giving the bike the very best in starting and voltage regulation technology. But he can’t leave that mighty motor stock, having spent days meticulously rebuilding the 949cc beast back to its best. The exhaust features a pair of beautifully radiused headers that flow back to reverse cone mufflers, all of it meticulously chromed. And a last-minute change sees the carbs lose their pod filters, for a handbuilt alloy airbox. Yes, it’s a great motor in a brilliant package, but it takes years of dedication to make it all look so effortlessly beautiful.
