1915 Cleveland

Yesterday I went to one of the best motorcycle museums I have ever been to, Motorcyclepedia in Newburgh, New York. I found out about this place from a clipping my mother-in-law sent me a while back. Knowing that we would be visiting the family, I planned an afternoon trip (ok, it’s only thirty minutes away, but in rural New York, it’s still a trip), I wish I planned a day.

Now, I know the other day I wrote I was really more interested in Post War era motorcycles than true antiques, and it’s still true. But…after spending the afternoon at Motorcyclepedia, I think a true antique may be in my not too distant future. We saw all kinds of early 20th century motorcycles, motorcycles we have heard of and some we hadn’t; Rambler, Columbia, Tribune to name a few. There were Thor’s, Ace’s, Flying Merkel’s, Pierces and Cleveland’s.

Today is about Cleveland Motorcycles. Cleveland started in 1902 and made it into the 1920’s. Starting off with a simple single, as most did at that time, and eventually bringing a four cyclinde into the market…as did many others of the time. Cleveland was a fairly generic motorcycle actually manufactured by American Cycle Manufacturing. They had been building bicycles but branched into motorcycles as they become more popular. At the time, many companies were really just kit bikes. You got the same motor that maybe two or three other builders had, the same basic frame, you just added your own touches to it. This is a fascinating time in American motorcycle manufacturing.

This morning I found this very nice condition ‘barn find’ Cleveland on ebay. It looks in really great ‘restorable’ condition. When this simple 2 ½ HP two stroke came out, Cleveland was claiming it would get 75-100 miles per gallon using the Brown and Barlow float feed single jet carburetor. This particular motorcycle doesn’t have the original carburetor. The Cleveland used a Bosch magneto for ignition. An interesting thing about the electrical systems on these motorcycles; there was no battery, no lights, no horn, the magneto only powered the ignition.
The bike had a two speed sliding gear transmission and a very interesting braking system. The rear brake was right side foot operated and what it did was tighten a cork (?) lined metal band around the outside of the drum. Picture an oil filter wrench.

I think this motorcycle is in really great condition to be restored by someone with the time and interest in this era of motorbikes. Click on the pics below for a little more info and a lot more pictures.

1915 Cleveland

’56 Moto Morini Briscola 175 Moto Giro ready

The reason I write this blog is because I love old motorcycles. I can admire a true antique motorcycle, but I really love Vintage (post-war) era bikes. The histories that come with them, especially European motorcycles, is fascinating. The innovations in technology, the design styles and the personalities that built and rode them. In Europe, compared to America, motorbikes were and still are a main form of daily transportation. Motorcycle competitions of all types have their beginnings back on the continent. Road racing, Moto-cross, Trials, Enduro’s and the craziest of them, Speedway, all came from the other side of the pond. Yeah, we can lay claim to Flat Track and Nascar, but the only one that really counts there is Flat Track…don’t get me started on Nascrap.

The original Moto Giro d’ Italia started in 1914. It was a grueling race, riding nine days and hundreds of kilometers on small motorcycles. It was a true test of endurance for the man and the machine. The Moto Giro’s most famous days were in the 1950’s. Italy was rebuilding after the Second World War and working hard at industrial and economic recovery. At this time, if you wanted to see racing you had to go to the circuit. The organizers of the time knew that bringing racing to the people was more valuable to the economy of the motorcycle industry. It was also great marketing for the motorcycle industry outside the major cities.

The Moto Giro is still running today and has grown in popularity over the past few years so that more classes have been added to include motorcycles that don’t fit into the traditional class. The concept has grown as well and now there are three similar events run here in the USA. These events, Moto Giro-USA on the East Coast , Moto Giro California on the West Coast (duh) and the Moto Melee also in California. We’re lucky out here in the west. These events are holding true to the original concept, pre 1958 motorcycles of 175cc’s or smaller. They are multi day events that take you through some of the most beautiful scenery on each coast riding with likeminded nuts. I mean enthusiasts, yeah, that’s the ticket.

So, that brings me to my latest eBay finding, this very nice little Moto Morini Briscola 175. This little bike is in good running and physical shape with only 46,000 miles on its clock. It is typical of Italian styling of the times, smooth, flowing and a bit bulbous where it needs to be. The Briscola model started life in 1953 as a 175cc pushrod OHV single. Built to be reliable most of all and speedy next. In 1956 Moto Morini moved to a new, larger manufacturing facility and that is where this little jewel came from. The little Briscola is ready to ride now. He has started and run it since pulling it out of storage but I think it could still use a bit of going through before taking out on a test ride before the Moto Giro. Also, check out the shape of the tail pipe in the pictures below…pure Italiano. I love it.

Click on the pics below for more info and a number of more pictures. I’ve also added links to the ‘Giro events. I hope to attend one maybe this year if they’ll let me ride my Benelli?

www.motogiro-usa.com
www.motomelee.com
www.motogiroditalia.com

a quick note here, the bike has been pulled from ebay today but I wrote this story and I like the bike. I’m hoping it will come back on. but I hope you will enjoy the pictures, maybe you are the person that owns it or you know who does and maybe it will come up again.

’84 Kawasaki Ninja 900

At this time I was working at a Kawasaki dealership in the LA area, along with a couple of other jobs, and was lucky enough to have a 900 Ninja as a demo bike for about 3 months. The dealership gave me the bike because they knew that my beloved ’72 Kawasaki H2 had recently been stolen and they didn’t like me riding my Honda CB750F to work each day. As a matter of fact, they made me park down the block a ways so our customers wouldn’t see a Kawasaki guy riding a Honda. Some owners are so picky…

The 900 Ninja was as eye opening as my H2 was twelve years earlier. It didn’t have the explosiveness of my H2 but it was light years ahead of the CB750. Smaller and much more compact than even Kawasaki’s own GPZ750 of the time. The 900 Ninja was the first of the liquid cooled 16 valve motors, 115 horsepower and topped out at around 155mph (I can attest to that speed). The engine was really narrow by standards of the time and that allowed Kawasaki to set the motor lower in the frame to help the bike handle better. It also was the first of it’s generation to use the engine as a stressed member. The testament to its speed and handling was a 1,2 finish at 1984 Isle of Man TT. The 900 Ninja was truly a motorcycle designed around that remarkable engine. If the 900 Ninja had an Achilles heel it was the 16″ front wheel. All in all one of the most impressive motorcycles of its time. Actually of any time. Hey, you wouldn’t let Tom Cruise ride just any old motorcycle in Top Gun now would you?!

The Ninja was loved by the moto-journalists at the time and still is. The 900 was soon upstaged by the GPZ1100 in the power arena but the big Ninja was no match for the nimble 900 on tight twisty (our favorite) roads. The original Ninja had what some perceived as an overheating problem, Kawasaki came back with a redo of the temp gauge. Seemed to work as I remember.

I found this very nice, though not completely stock, ’84 900 Ninja on ebay. But…I have a of question. The owner says it’s a Japan import. OK..but why does it have an MPH speedo instead of KPH model? Maybe he is thinking that just because it came from Japan it’s a Japan model? Maybe? The bike does have an aftermarket exhaust but that’s OK, it has been jetted and air filtered to suit the pipe. This is a really nice first generation Ninja. Well worth adding to your collection. Upgrade the tires and ride the daylights out of this classic bike. Click on the pics below for more info.

’84 Kawasaki Ninja 900

’65 Honda CB160 Sport

This is the motorcycle that ruined my life. I can blame a lot of people for ruining my life but I can really only blame one motorcycle…my dad’s Honda CB160. Yes, it is the one I rode right into the back of his new 1966 Chevy Impala, but after picking it up and many apologies I rode it all around the neighborhood with the biggest grin on my face. I knew right then and there that motorcycling would be my life. And, I knew that I would be the coolest kid in High School because I rode a motorcycle. Ok…that part of life didn’t really happen but it was a good dream for a fourteen year old.

Since that time I have always had a small size Honda twin in my stable of fun rides, there are still three Honda 350′s in my barn that are always a blast to ride.

Over the last few years a bunch of lunatics up in the Seattle area have spread the CB160 Roadracer disease. It’s HUGE!!! AHRMA now has a class dedicated to just Honda 160′s. What’s the world coming to? Racing motorcycles that have a smaller motor than my power washer?!

The CB160 was a more influential a motorcycle than a lot of people think. Many a service man brought the little 160 back from their tours of duty in Asia. The CB160 was actually big by standards in that part of the world. It was the bike that started using the engine as a stressed member, Ducati still uses that concept. Ok, I may be wrong about the 160 being the first, but I’m not far off.

So, on my morning cruise of ebay I find this neat little CB160 Sport that has been sitting in a barn for 35 years. My kids will be posting bikes years from now with the title…’barn find…my dad’s collection of old Honda twins…” This little 160 is in great condition for restoration or converting it to, wait for it….a very cool little cafe racer.

This little 160 has everything there, except for a couple of badges. A little freshening up, fluids, battery, tires etc… some elbow grease and you’re going to have one very cool little motorcycle to ride around. There are so many forums and websites dedicated to the CB160 that you will have no problems finding parts and help to bring this little Honda Twin back to life. On top of all thjat, the price is still quite reasonable in todays market. Click on the pic’s below for more info and pictures.

Get the bike, make it into a really cool cafe racer like my friend Guy Webster did or go racing with it. No matter what you do, ride it!! Just not into the back of my dad’s new Impala.

’65 Honda CB160 Sport

Indian Motorcycle book collection

Lately I have gotten very interested in Indian Motorcycles. New, old, American, English (yes, there were English Indian’s…), the mini bikes, it doesn’t matter, it’s where my Vintage bike mind is wandering nowadays.

My first real exposure to Indian motorcycles, other than seeing them in museums or bike shows, came from Roger Herbison of Ojai, California. Roger spent a number of years restoring a 1937 Chief. When he first got it running he brought it by my store with the biggest grin on his mustachioed face (and by the way, his handlebar moustache was almost as big as the handlebars on his Indian??!!). “You want to ride it??” he asked as it was sitting there idling in my parking lot. Before he could regret his offer I had my helmet on, was sitting on the bike and asking if there was anything I needed to know about riding it. “Nope, just have fun.” The next half hour was pure bliss. I spent twenty minutes of that half hour thinking of a way I could convince Roger that a roving band of desperado’s hi-jacked his motorcycle, then I had to think of where I could move to with the Chief where Roger would never find us. Alas, I rode back into the parking lot and gave Roger his Indian back. Little by little the Indian legend and mystique started building in my sub-conscious thanks to that short ride.

Indian Motorcycle simply refused to die. There had been a couple of ownership changes and yeah, at one point they had the ‘look’ of an Indian but were powered by a ‘catalog’ motor…close, but no cigar. Before they (the Indian motorcycle company in Gilroy, California) ran out of money though, they start replicating the Indian ‘Power Plus’ motor. Good looking, plenty of power and truly an Indian.. But, like I said..they ran out of money and Indian again was lost.

Fast forward a few years.

A friend of mine owns a multi-line motorcycle dealership featuring Harley Davidson, Husqvarna, Husaberg and Victory. Paul is a dirt rider at heart but he does love riding his Harley every day. When word came out that Polaris (maker of Victory motorcycles) had bought up Indian Motorcycle. I instantly called Paul and asked if he was excited about the news. He told me that he was already in negotiations for a new building across the street so he could spread out and give Indian a place to live.

This last December, Team Motoworld (myself and staff photographer Heather) went to the Long Beach motorcycle show and got a chance to see the new Indian motorcycles. Truly beautiful. I have never been a ‘Cruiser’ type of person but there was / is something about an Indian motorcycle that makes me want one…badly, (“Dear Santa….”). But, I want an old one. Will my banker (staff photographer Heather) go along with that idea?? I wouldn’t take those odds to Vegas. So, I’ll be content, for the time being, reading about them. That is where I came across these books and magazines about the Chief I would love to own.

Cruising through ebay this morning I found a nice little collection of Indian literature that would help anyone restoring an Indian motorcycle or would just like to know more about America’s first motorcycle. Click on the pics below for more info.

Indian Book Collection

’56 Csepel Danuvia 250

A what??? What, you don’t know Danuvia?? How about Pannonia? maybe Tunde? What about White? Where have you been? Obviously not in Hungary. This is the beauty of the internet, you can find every unusual piece of equipment ever made. I love finding unique motorcycles and this one certainly qualifies.

These motorcycles were produced in Hungary from 1951 through 1975. They were made by the state owned Csepel manufacturing, sold under a variety of names, Csepel, Danuvia, Pannonia, Tunde, and White here in the United States. These were mostly little two stroke singles and twins. Danuvia actually started as a small arms company, like many other motorcycle builders, BSA being the first that comes to mind. At the time most Eastern Bloc companies were state run and as long as they were making money they kept getting funding from the government. Well, in 1975 Danuvia wasn’t making enough money to satisfy the government so funding was cut off and Danuvia, Pannonia, Tunde and White went the way of the Doh-Doh.

The motorcycles were popular when they first showed up; well built, (by standards of the time and place), affordable, and relatively stylish???
Csepel motorcycles were raced rather successfully in European trials and enduro’s and here in the US, under the White brand, a few did pretty well in Eastern MX races during the early 1960′s. I don’t ever remember seeing one here in the West. Here in the desert the main Euro’s were CZ and Maico but no White’s.

I found this nice little Danuvia 250 located outside of Las Vegas on ebay today and it’s a neat little bike. It has been completely restored to new condition. The owner considers it a piece of art. Ok…? So, if you’re looking for something quite unique to add to your motorcycle collection or put it in your foyer as a welcoming piece of art, this may be a nice little motorbike to have. Click on the pic below to get the contact info for more pictures. The seller doesn’t provide any information so you’ll need to ask some questions on your own. There is a pretty strong network of owners here in the US so you should be able to find out a lot about this bike.

’56 Csepel Danuvia 250

1952 Triumph Thunderbird frame and engine

I started my motorcycling life on big bikes riding my step dad’s Triumph Thunderbird. I even crashed it once, right in front of him…you can imagine how things were in our house for the next few days, weeks, months…But, it was that motorcycle that infected me with the British bike disease. I have had many Brit bikes since that time and still ride one. I am a sick person.

That Triumph T-Bird taught me more about motorcycling and motorcycle maintenence than just about motorcycle I have ever had. I learned how to rebuild a sprung hub, cut my own cork clutch plates and how to troubleshoot and fix the electrical system (there are a lot of jokes about Lucas electrics that could fit in here but you have already heard them all).

While about as far from home as I was going to get one day, my trusty (?) Triumph 500 decided that it had had enough fun for one day. Over to the side of the road I went and started started staring at the electrical system with a truly blank stare. Now, remember this in the day before cell phones…way before, (as a matter of fact, most houses still had rotary phones?!) and I didn’t bring my carrier pigeon along for the ride that day. I won’t make that mistake again…While sitting there pondering the world of English electrics I heard the rumble of a thundering herd of motorcycles. It was a group of Hells Angels members out for a Sunday ride. When they pulled over near me you can imagine what I was thinking. As it turned out, I was helped by a couple of Hells Angels members that happened to know a lot about my little Triumph. These two guys stayed with me while the others continued on and got my bike running better than it had for quite a while. It was a bit scary at the beginning but these guys were so helpful, we ended up riding the rest of the day together and I bought them lunch to say thanks.

But, I digress. Lets gets back to what I found on ebay…the starting point for a truly rare Vintage Triumph. This is really more than a winter project, probably two or three winters. If you’re lucky. It is really only the engine, trans and frame. But….there is so much you can do with this start. Bring it back to stock (that’s going to be a LOT of work), make it a true old school chopper (a lot of it easier to do than go stock), or a vintage racer (flat track or roadracer), or it’s just another motorcycle project that your wife looks at as ‘another piece of junk taking up space in the garage’ and looks at you with that look of “my mother was right, I should have married Irving Shcnickelfritz, the accountant”.

Now, most importantly, you’re going to need the sprung hub. The hub had what was politely known as a suspension built inside, a couple of springs that gave the rear axle about an inch of travel? It worked after a fashion. But it is correct for this motorcycle to have no matter what route you take to finish it. And I would certainly want the way cool headlight nacelle. That headlight had all the instruments but it was actually made to house the bigger 7″ headlight. And you’re hoping that it stays on when you need it (back to the Lucas jokes). The more I look at it, I would do all I can to make a stock T-Bird again. But…and this is a big but, it would take a lot more than one or even two winters to do that. Ah, what else have you got to do on those cold Minnesota nights?

A couple more little interesting things about the Thunderbird. The T-Bird was born out of the 500cc Speed Twin, it was bumped up 150cc that gave it 8 more horsepower. At that time, post WW2, here in America big twins ruled the roads and to compete the brits had to make their lighter, better handling motorcycles more powerful. Enter the Thunderbird. The bike went from the twin carbs of the 500 to a single SU carb for better fuel economy. One way to tell if you have a genuine Thunderbird is if it has a hole in the downtube behind the engine that connects the carb to the air box. Most of the parts of the bike that we would normally expect to be chomed are painted because metal treatments like that were being saved and used for the Korean war effort machinery.

There are a number of good resources for old Triumph parts here in the US and England. I found four right here in California and two in Australia, my guess is that England is a treasure trove of parts to bring this skeleton back to life.

To get started on your next life long, exasperate the hell out of your wife and friends click on the pics below for more info (not much really…how much can you really say about a frame and engine? But you might want to ask the seller if the dog comes with it?

’52 Triumph Thunderbird frame and engine

’62 Indian 700cc Chief

You know, Indian motorcycles has probably one of the most convoluted history’s of any motorcycle brand name I can think of. From being the first American motorcycle company, 1901, to little Taiwanese mini bikes and everything in between. There is so much in Indian Motorcycle history available here on the web. Because of my love of vintage and unique motorcycles (I own a fleet of one year only type motorcycles, read; hard to get parts for…), I spend a good deal of time searching the web and talking to riders that have these motorbikes.

Indian went from being the winningest racer on the track in it’s earlier lives, to a British made motor (either Matchless or Royal Enfield), tucked into an Italian frame. Interestingly enough however, other than the Taiwanese mini bikes, Indian motorcycles have always been well received by magazine types but not so much by the motorcycle buying public. Police departments were particularly fond of the various Indian models, including the one we are talking about today.

Indian motorcycle stopped production in the original Springfield Mass.factory. From 1955-1959 Royal Enfield’s were marketed as Indians. Production finally ended in 1960. In 1961 everything went back to Royal Enfield.

The 700cc Indian is actually based on the Royal Enfield Constellation twin was at the time was described as the first ‘Superbike’. In 1959 Indian motorcycle took the ‘Constellation’ and stretched out the frame and built up a much stronger gear box…that’s why the cops loved them so much. Sturdy and steady.

There is so much in Indian history that is so fascinating. Harley Davidson maybe the American ‘Lifestyle’ motorcycle but Indian is truly the iconic American Motorcycle. What is great at this time is that finally Indian Motorcycle has found a home (Polaris Industries, makers of Victory motorcycles) that will give the love and respect that this brand deserves. And maybe, just maybe, Indian will now be with us for another 100 years.

I found this really nice 1962 Indian Chief on ebay the other day and and I think it’s a great bike to add to anybody’s collection. As long as you go out and ride it!! Now, there is an interesting thing I found out about this motorcycle, it is titled as a 1962 but…it is probably a 1959 model? If you remember, back in the late 1950′s and the early 1960′s many motorcycles were titled the year they were sold, not the year they were actually made. This is the model that has the stretched frame and the ‘New and Improved’ gearbox. It only has 5504 miles on the clock and the clock is the optional 150 MPH speedo…a little optimistic but really cool to have. This bike has been stored inside for more than the past twenty years of it’s life…So, it looks it’s age but is in easily restorable / rideable condition. There were only about 800 of this particular produced so it falls into the ‘rare’ category really nicely.
Click on the pics below for more pictures and more info about this really cool motorcycle. This is one the bikes that make me really want a bigger barn. And…a bigger bank account.

’62 Indian 700cc Chief

’64 Ducati Mountaineer 90

From American Motorcycling Magazine August 1963; “Designed and engineered specifically for the sportsman who wants to do a lot of ‘off the road riding’. “The Mountaineer, with it’s rugged construction and knobby 16″ rear wheel will appeal to the hunter”

I love finding odd motorcycles, for this website and for riding myself. The quirkier…the better, that’s my motto. Unlike other stories I have written about bikes that I have personal connections to, this little Ducati is a complete stranger to me, but I really like it.

Come to think of it though, I actually do have a connection to it, rather convoluted however. For a short period of time I had a little Suzuki 90cc trail bike that looks strangely familiar to this Ducati. Besides both having a 90cc 2 stroke motor, look at the styling…imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery.

We only had the Suzuki for about six months but it was a blast to ride around the neighborhood and the really big vacant lot behind our house. I was tempted to ride it in a ‘Family’ Enduro once but that thought quickly passed as I opened the second beer and my step dad was rolling on the floor laughing. If I had had the Ducati Mountaineer, well, maybe he wouldn’t have been laughing so hard?

So this little Ducati is really unique. For one thing most people don’t equate Ducati with small two strokes nor trail bikes, but at that period in time, Ducati made a lot of small displacement motorcycles.

The Mountaineer and it’s street going compatriot the Cadet, were available in two different versions. You had your choice of the basic 5HP model or, the mind bending, arms stretching, neck straining 7HP model. Think of all you can do with 2 extra horsepower. The Mountaineer had a steel Duplex Cradle frame (compared to the Suzuki’s stamped, might as well be tin foil frame), re-inforced handlebars and a dual rear sprocket set up, very reminescent of Honda’s dual ratio set up on the Trail 90. The little Ducati trail bike had a three speed tansmission and weighed in at only 115lbs. With 5 or 7 horsepower, you only need 3 gears!

Here’s the really cool thing about this little motorcycle. It had a turbine like fan to cool the motor so that no matter what RPM you were running in any gear, the engine had air running over the cylinder to keep the temperature down. Italian engineering at it’s most creative.

My daily perusing of ebay landed me on this little Ducati and the fun began. The seller has a story to go with this bike, selling it for an estate, the owner had passed away, it’s been sitting for a generation. The seller says it has only 83.7 miles on the odometer. The story attached to that is that the original owner bought it new, rode it around a bit, crashed it into the brush (or something like that), and from there on was afraid to ride it and parked the bike. Ok….look at the pictures. It looks to me that there is more wear than from just one little crash and then sitting through the ‘Summer of Love’, the Vietnam War and dozen Presidential elections. The ad also states the speedo cable is disconnected, Hmmmm. And, was the crash bad enough rip off the front tire? Nonetheless, for somebody looking for a really unique Italian motorbike, this might just fit the bill. You know, this could be a neat little bike for the Moto Giro California next year.

Click on the pics below for more pictures and the full story. A great resource for information about this Ducati would be the Ducati Bevelheads list, I know this isn’t a bevelhead but these guys are knowledgeable about most any vintage Ducati. You can contact them through my friend Steve Allen at www.bevelheaven.com

’64 Ducati Mountaineer 90

’75 Moto Guzzi T3…kinda Le Mans

My good friend Eric (aka The Alien) has a Guzzi T3. He bought it from a fellow back in Maryland, flew out there (met an interesting woman who became his ex-wife, but that’s another story for another time…) and rode back to California. Eric has spent a good deal of his motorcycling life riding schnitzel bikes (read, German) and this was his first foray into pasta styled 2 wheelers. Along the way there were a few hiccups but nothing he couldn’t handle. When he got home to the ranch the Guzzi got parked and he was back on his vintage Beemer.

Fast forward a couple of years and the trusty R100 needs a break. Battery charger goes on the Goose and surprisingly, the next morning it starts right up. ” you know what, I had forgotten why I bought this bike, I really like it”. Eric is still riding his T3 almost daily.

A little info about the T3 here. The T3 designation stands for how many disc brakes are on the bike and, it was Moto Guzzi’s first motorcycle with integrated brake system. Tap the rear brake pedal and you also get one of the front discs slowing you down. It actually works quite well. The T3 was an outgrowth from the 850 California model. It was still designed for traveling and was also used by many Police departments. The T3 is a fine handling motorcycle (by big heavy slow steering rock steady Italian standards), it has been the platform for so many beautiful Cafe’ Racers and Sport Tourers. Guzzi’s of this vintage are found for sale with as litle 15,00 miles to over 150,000 miles on the internet on a regular, well…semi regular, basis. As I researched the Guzzi T3, every owner had almost nothing but good thing to say about, including my friend ‘The Alien’ (I can’t always take his motorcycle reviews all that seriously…he loves Studebakers, showed at my house one evening test driving his new VW van powered by an Oldsmobile V6 and is currently driving an old Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser…the list goes on but I’ll stop here and get back the subject at hand).

I found a really nice ’75 Moto Guzzi that has been seriously tricked out on ebay today. This Moto Guzzi has been completely gone over, through and tweaked. Apparently the owner wanted a LeMans but couldn’t find one he liked so he built his own. After stripping down the T3 he started lining up the garage floor with a LeMans tank,rear fender and seat, a special cafe fairing, forks originally designed for a Ducati, some upgraded Delorto pumper carbs, a factory close ratio transmission and even more including being pumped up to 1000cc’s. A beautiful paint job and a lot of nice details. The owner say’s “it’s not perfectly restored, it’s a hot rod”.

There are some negatives with bike. It does have some small crash damage, gas somehow got underneath the tank bag and damaged the paint on the tank. It’s really not all that bad. It will need some TLC because it has been sitting. Standard stuff…new battery, go through the carbs, etc.

This really is a nice bike but with all the mods it is going to need to be paid attention to on a regular basis. Click on the pics below for a lot more info and more pictures. So far it looks to be at a reasonable price for all you get. This guy has done all the work, you just need to ride it to your favorite Italian restaurant. My suggestion is Guisseppi’s in Pismo Beach California…I can also tell you the best roads to get there.

’75 Moto Guzzi T3 kinda of Le Mans