New old stock surprise for the Guzzi 750

I've owned my 1975 Guzzi S3 750 for about 22 years by now, and when I first had it, it was my only and everyday transport when I lived in North London. I used to leave it parked out on the road, uncovered, unlocked and it didn't bother me. Now, since the value of it has gone up, I keep it locked away, but I'm still a bit concerned if I leave it somewhere unattended that someone is going to nick one of the sidepanels. Not that the side panels are particularly rare, but the badges on them are, seeing as they only built 950 bikes.

I was very surprised then to see these NOS side panel badges for an S3 appear on Italian Ebay last week - I haven't seen spare ones since I bought the bike, and they could never be got from the usual Guzzi spares sellers, her or in Italy. I was even more amazed that my solitary bid at less than 20 quid won them. One of those purchases that is pointless yet pleasing at the same time - NOS stuff is always enjoyable to get in your hands.

Fresh in from Italy

Just bought this from a friend in Italy - '57 Guzzi Lodola 175 ohc. The idea is to sell it on to make a few quid, but I love the condition of it. Haven't had time to check it over properly yet but I know it runs.
I think the appeal of it, is that's in one big piece, unlike most of my other bikes...

What have I done?

It's like an illness. My shed's now full of shitty Guzzi singles. More soon.

New Guzzi special underway from John W at MOTONERO

This is the current Guzzi special being built by the capable hands of John W at MOTONERO Motorcycles, and it's going to be very nice. John buil the Guzzi cafe' racer that we featured fully in Issue Two of the mag, and we have another of his bikes coming up in Issue 5 soon.

We really like the way he mixes in modern components like the Ohlins remote reservoir shocks and Paioli USD forks, with an old school approach to the look of the rest of the bike - but John just always gets the lines right, whereas so many other Guzzi specials fall flat. 

This one also features 41mm FCR Keihin flatslides too, so we're expecting it to travel fast.

Keep an eye on what John's up to at his blog:  MOTONERO

Elvisly essential workshop timepiece

Purchased for 20p at our local car boot sale. Bargain. And it works. Wonder if the signature is genuine?

Happy Birthday fast lady Lois

A little dickie bird tells me that it's a significant birthday for Lois, so in celebration we've put some pictures of her up. Happy 21st Birthday (again) Lois - from ITALIAN MOTOR magazine.

There can't be many gals around who can jump from mastering a pre- (WW1) war Triumph to racing around on another much more contemporary Triumph, a Street Triple, and can then go from racing MV singles, to thrashing fours, to touring across Europe and beyond on old Italian twins, enjoying old vintage Brits, and most other bikes in between. Being a native of Australia, Lois is one of those people with a strong can-do attitude, and it shows in the way she rides any bike. She also takes a mean photograph, works bloody hard and has to cope with being wife to Dorian too, so she has to have inner strength in spades...

Have a great trip, both of you - and Happy Birthday again Lois!!

Portrait of an Instagram Artist

I don't have an iPhone so don't know much about Instagram - my SLR does everything I need, generally, and my cheap Lumix does the rest. This is funny though....