Having posted the other day about my barn find Mondial 175, I then started to look at more photos of it and thought I'd post some up here. It's a pushrod 175 Superturismo, so not a glam OHC version, but it's still sporty looking and handsome all the same. The castings are just exquisite, and the lines of the bike from fuel tank to seat to bars to rear light are just perfect.
I actually want to keep the bike unrestored but get it running well. Look at the rusty Santa Rita good luck charm strapped to the top yoke. Or the original decal showing how many race wins Mondial achieved in 1957. And the sadly partly missing original dealer decal on the front mudguard, showing that the bike was supplied by Migliorini of Colle Val D'Elsa, which was 20 miles across the beautiful Tuscan hills from where I lived in Italy, and where the bike ended up in its final resting place.
I don't think I am able to erase these things. What would you do??
6 comments:
I would sell it to you ...
Or strip it into the tiniest pieces? Probably worth more like that...
I agree with you completely - I've got the carb in a box somewhere, and the rear light lens. Seat just needs some stitching, we have a guy near here who has a funny little shop full of piles of leather and all he does is stitch stuff on an old Singer machine. I do need to find some piston rings for it - need to get to a swap meet in Italy ideally. I won't ever break it, it'll be up an running one day..
Absolutely try to leave it as it is, it is like a photograph, a document, a history count and a direct chronicle from the past that difficultly you would recover after a restoration. And it is full of informations that could be useful for any futurer ;)
It needs restoring to its former glory, sell it to me & you can do an article on its restoration
Nice try Mick. I can't even get 2 minutes to work on the other 2 or 3 bikes I currently have in pieces, let alone restore this one!
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