Thursday 8 December 2011

Stubby black Guzzi silencers from Italy









For as long as I've owned a 750 Guzzi from the V7 Sport/S/S3 range, and in my opinion the best looking 'modern' Guzzis ever built, I've also been fixated by short, black, stubby silencers for them after seeing photos. Factory and production race machines from the early '70s featured all types of silencers and exhaust systems, from long cigar shape, to yawing open wide cut down black things that always look like they were knocked up that day on the test bench. Bruno Scola's race bikes (above) usually featured matt black silencers and they always, to me, looked the bollocks - purposeful and to the point. 
I found a (now) very rare full Stucchi system from the 1970s in Italy about 20 years ago, you can hear how it sounds on my S3 here:



I've just bought another two sets of nice period stubbies, for a very good price, from a bloke who was advertising one set on Italian Ebay. It is handy to be able to write in Italian to communicate with sellers over there, because it's stuff you just don't really come across here. One set, with the rounded ends, are period piece silencers for the Guzzi 750s of the time. Yeah a bit battered but who cares? I've seen them on various bikes over the years, and they also sound great, deep and different to the Lafranconis. The second set are also short and stubby, and kick up, not quite as pretty as the others, but interesting nonetheless. I now have great choices for my Le Mans 2 special, and will probably end up selling one of the sets if silencers to pay for other bits. The seller Franco also included a sticker in the package, which would originally have gone on the tank of my S3, advertising the fact the bike had (and still does) have linked brakes. Grazie mille Franco!!

6 comments:

ian said...

Nice stuff! This will probably scare your neighbours though...

ITALIAN MOTOR magazine said...

They don't like me anyway as I have a young'un who cries as babies do - so I don't care!!

Aldo said...

Battered = character...love the look of those vintage pipes...seen them on other Guzzi specials as well. Nice addition. cheers, Aldo

Wayzgoosey said...

Aha, so those are Stuccis? I've got a set sat in my garage which have seen better days (they need serious welding) but came on one of my le mans'. I've kept them because they sounded superb, and the "baffles" could be so quickly removed (just 3 screws!). One fine day, they'll get back on a bike!

Anonymous said...

Don't want to sell them do you? I've got a V7 Sport and the standard silencers are knackered. Always fancied some stubby ones and possibly one or two other mild (reversable) mods such as a small fairing and a single seat. Richard

Jorgen Lind said...

In the period of my life when I planned a V7 sport bol d'or replica, I too felt the urge to have a set of Stucchi race exhaust, the ones that go upwards where the most desirable. I heard a pair of them on full song at Monza a an anniversary track day, and that was just frutiest, most hollow bellow ever played. Later i saw a set on a 750 S, where I found out that the original thick downtubes with the thick crosstube above the generator is vital for the right hollow sound. I still have a set of downtubes with screw in the bead nuts for v7sport heads in stock :) Regards Jorgen