If only I had a spare bit of cash.........to think I paid just under £2600 for my MkII in 1980 and sold it with a specification similar to this... Moto Guzzi : 1979 MOTO GUZZI Le Mans Mk1 Sereies2 and this.... http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4184011.htm
The electrics tray is done now, and the rectifier bolted to its underside. I also made a stainless base to bolt to the seat unit, as it needed a bit more support. I still need to make another vertical piece which will bolt to the seat hump. Then the seat needs to be raised about 10mm as its resting on the shock mounts otherwise. I also wanted to mount the coils to the underside of the tray, reusing the orginal mount that I removed from the frame. But its a rusty old thing, and was held together with a a weird putty like glue? Dunno if this is standard, So instead I may locate them roughly where they used to live, using a couple of these clamps, which are normally used for electrical conduit or some such.. Oh, and the new frame I had made for me for my new project is home now, cant do much yet, though I did fit a pair of 340mm YSS shocks, which are excellent vfm..
Always loved those old endurance racers, used to go to a few european races back in the 80s, I have a pic somewhere of a blue Guzzi with reversed heads, taken at the Bol D'or in about 84
Wow what a great story. Can not wait to see it finished now. Well done and thanks for letting us all in on it. Regards Steve
Time to see if the Ironhead engine will go in the Norley frame.. The engine will be tweaked a bit when the dry build is finished.. just the usual..cams, ignition, carb and maybe some head work too, when funds allow Needed an extra pair of hands, but went in without too much swearing.. Though I'm puzzled as to how the oil tank mounts are supposed to fit, there just isnt room. May have to slot one of the frame mounts..
Got a good deal on an S&S Super E carb, so went for it and bought a manifold and velocity stack seperately, it was much cheaper than buying a full kit, and I didnt want the S&S teardrop ait filter anyway. Seems I still need a spacer/insulator block to go between the manifold and carb, wasnt sure, but without it the manifold clamp touches the throttle linkage.. May not go with the velocity stack, its a bit extreme, though be good for sucking in the odd bumble bee, cat, dog, small child .. Old carb had been chromed which was now peeling off.. New carb
Going back a few months, I mentioned my mate Tim (who owns the bikeshop with the dyno), asked me to help him find a bike as the basis for a winter project. Since I have plenty of time on my hands these days, I agreed, though I was surprised when he told me what bike he was looking for... a Harley XL883, as they normally work on modern stuff, even Ducatis. I tracked down a suitable bike, 883 with a 5 speed box and chain drive, ran well and I knew the owner,all for a bargain price. Tim bought it and put it to one side as he was too busy to work on it during the summer. Since he runs a dynoshop, it was no surprise when Tim told me the engine was going to get a big bore kit, cams, carb and so on. He came up with a simple photoshopped picture of how it might look, and added he didnt want to spend too much on it.. well, we'll see I thought to myself, been there, done it and bought the Tshirt lol.. By this time I'd got my old ironhead, and I joked that his 883 may end up more powerfull than mine, but mine would be far cooler .. Tim must have been watching too much Discovery channel, as he suggested we should have our very own mini 'biker build off'.. hardly a fair match I said, you've got a fully equipped workshop and access to parts at wholesale prices.. but then again, why not A change of tank and a RS125 seat, looks really different already.. It didnt take long for his budget to go out of the window, as he's just got a new Metchamex alloy swingarm, gsxr K9 forks and a pair of remote reservoir progressive shocks.. gulp! Then again he's changed his mind about the look, he's now going for a semi flattracker / super motard styley.. with 17inch spoked wheels..
I was lucky today to be able to borrow a few bits and bobs that will the help the Ironhead project along.. First the alloy petrol tank has some weird old british thread for the fuel tap, which I eventually found out was 1/4 inch BSPT (British standard pipe thread). I was given an old style fuel tap to try out and surprisingly it fit. Though, I'm not sure if its meant to be used on a bike, still at least i know for sure the thread now. I'll be going to the Stafford Classic show in a couple of weeks, and will try to find a better tap there.. Next I 'borrowed' a mint pair of forks from a 900 Hornet, which I can have if I want them..which I do, as they're the right length, and at 43mm not too big or small for what I'm looking for. They're not adjustable, but thats ok, they'll be far better than those fitted to std Sportster, and they can always be tweaked a bit if they prove to be too soft. The forks came without yokes, which I didnt want to use and of course the stem wouldnt fit in anycase.. So I raided my mate Jeffs shed and found a couple of unfinished alloy yokes that looked promising. I wanted something a bit retro looking, nothing too thick or angular. A bonus was that both sets of yokes handnt been drilled for risers yet, as I would be fitting clip ons. The top pair in the photo seemed to work best, so I'll have them, and maybe do a bit more machining to make them more interesting and 'cafe racer-ish'.. I'll need to find/make a suitable stem next and then try to find a suitable pair of spoked wheels.. probably 18 inch front and back.
Slow progress recently, I salvaged a steering stem from an old set of HD Evo Yokes that will fit the bearings in the frame, and handed over the whole lot over to my mate Jeff, to do his machining magic on the yokes to make the evo stem fit. Should be ready soon. In the meantime, I ordered a pair of 43mm clipons (via Amazon of all places) which arrived this week from the China, not bad for £41 incl p&p.
I've really enjoyed reading all that so far, though it's a bit like a book where you are in the thick of the action and the author suddenly veers off on some subplot. What about the Guzzi?? I want to see it finished. Then I'll be only too pleased to see how the Ironhead is coming along. Great stuff. Keep it coming.
Yes I do wander about a bit lol.. Actually I have a couple of other bike projects which arent sports bikes, so I havent mentioned them before. The Guzzi is still being worked on, although I have been concentrating on the Ironhead recently. I'm waiting to get a few parts machined, such as the coil mount, intrument brackets and battery support, they are being done as a favour so can hardly insist on it being done to suite me. The plan is to get all the fab work out of the way by xmas, so I can take advantage of a quiet time at my mates bike shop and get them to sort out the wiring for me.. as I hate wiring. Just to confuse you even more.. heres another projectI'm doing with my mate Jeff.. and this one.. all made in a shed
Excellent read, and really interesting bikes. thanks for the time and effort to record all of this. btw, have used Tim, at Spodmoto, aka hammer n tongs Hammer and Tongs Performance - Spodmoto - Motorbike Performance, manchester, liverpool, north west a good few times, for anything from mot, to rescuing my starter clutch assembly - great bunch, very professional, and helpful, too. keep up the good and interesting work, pete
Yes Tim looks after my bikes, thats my 888 on the dyno in one of the photos on their website. They'll be doing the Guzzi wiring over the winter. They have a FB page with a lot going on and a youtube channel with loads of bikes being dynoed, if thats your thing. Tim is ex REME, you could eat your dinner off their workshop floor, never been to a tidier workshop.
Notice the ex REME ties (a few mates are ex REME, I just failed the medical when I was 16 due to a veruka!) and the general good order of the workshop is a pleasure to see. Need to get my discs, pads etc sorted over the winter, so will take run across to them one lunch next week (now working approx 3mins from them) to put some deposit down on the parts and pick Tim's brain on a few bits, too.
I'm sure they'll be only too happy to help you spend some money :smile: The workshop seem look afrter a lot of Ducatis, heres a pic from a couple of weeks ago in their Dyno room..
Been busy working on the house recently, so not made much progress with the bikes. One job has been to empty all the junk from my loft, surprised the ceilings didnt give with all the stuff up there. I did find a couple of interesting things though.. first the original fairing from my MHR, been gathering dust up there for about twenty years.. wonder if its worth anything these days.. And a small box of spare parts that I was given about ten years ago, they came off a turbo XJR I think. I never really looked at the stuff, just thought, may come in handy one day, and put them away in the loft, then forgot all at about it.. Amongst a few useless bits and bobs, there was a mismatched set of unused LSL rearsets.. turns out there was enough to make up almost a full set, though anodised in different colours. They are nicely made, so I tried the mounting plates on the Norley frame, they dont quite fit, but only by a couple of mm, so with a bit of work they'll go on. I'll see if the anodising will come off ok, and if it does, I'll polish the levers and leave the mounting brackets as they are.
