How it began

Ok, where do I start? I luckily came across this bike approx 8 years ago as it languished in the driveway of one of my neighbours. It stood there forlornly for week after week after lonely week. The cover blew off almost every day, and I would religiously walk across the road and put the cover back on.

I did not have a bike at the time, and the Moto Guzzi Le Mans II had been a dream bike of mine way back in the late 70s, when I was just a young rider with stars in my eyes. One day I decided that it was a crime to have it out in the weather, rusting away. It was obvious that the bike was unloved.  I walked across, knocked on the door told my neighbour that I was 'happy' to stick it in my old shed (which was not much better than out in the weather!). He was only too happy to let this happen, and the bike was duly rolled across the road to its new location. That was when I decided that the Guzzi deserved a better fate. It took over two years of trying, but finally I managed to convince him to sell the bike to me at a very reasonable price. The partnership had been consummated!

The day ilRazzo rolled into my shed

Unfortunately, at the time I had little (read: none) mechanical knowledge of bikes and even less on Guzzis. I did manage to get the bike started by cleaning out masses of grunge from the carbs and replacing jets etc. The bike was last registered in 1999. I pulled the fairing lowers off, preferring a more naked look.

I then made the decision to get the mechanicals looked over and took the bike down to a certain well-known mechanic at Bungendore for a look-see. In the end, I decided to have the motor zeroed, Dyna III installed and braided bake lines added. It was ready early in 2007, and once back in Sydney, John at Motociclo in St Peters did pink slip inspection, and the bike was registered in Feb of 2007.

That was the beginning of four years of riding enjoyment that included two runs to Phillip Island MotoGP, Ruptured Budgie and Ragged Fringe rallies, and daily use as a commuter into Sydney CBD.

Posing in front of Opera House

Putty Road

At the Ruptured Budgie rally

Camped at Phillip Island 2007

 

The daily commute

The bike itself ended up looking pretty much ok as you can see from the pics above, but I was hankering for a change. As a result, I decided to take it off the road for a makeover and refurbish. Initially, I intended to do a 750S3 look-alike but happened across a Crossbow Equipe dual-headlight fairing, one I have always admired, and so decided to use that as the basis for the look of the makeover.



I started collecting bits and pieces and now that I have finally moved to my new house with a sizeable and functional garage (a first for me, yay!), I am off and running on the project. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Stay 'tuned' to find out...