Went round to see my old Mum the other day. I was delighted to find on the back of my old bedroom cupboard door a MCN clipping, picture of a Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk 1 in silver....what a bike. Of course, the obligatory poster of the tennis player scratching her ass was also there. What are they like to ride ( the Guzzi ) would I be disappointed ? Would they be a reasonable investement or has the value peaked. What would you pay for a nice one, not restored. Is the Mk1 better than the 2 or 3, personally don't like the fairings on the later models. It must have been a dream bike for me when I was 14, don't remember being so into bikes at such a young age..I'm 50 this year, perhaps I should treat myself ?
Silver.....more like a steely blue......... No you wouldn't be disappointed........you would love it.........but they take getting used to (flywheel reaction; braking system; very heavy clutch and very heavy throttle)........very forgiving and very economical to run though. The One is basically the same as the Two.........The One will cost you more (probably a lot more) and there are loads of 'fakes' of both marques out there, so learn about the engine and frame numbers; although there are sometimes visual giveaways. The Three is as nice, just doesn't look the same..........watch out for the Four if it has the smaller front wheel........they handled badly........Personally although I don't much care for the Four or Five in appearance, I would have any of the five marques if they were priced to suit my pocket......... ..........and that's a hard thing to do, because I bought a new Two for £2600 in 1980, and although money values have changed, I'm bl**dy reluctant to part with more than that for a dog rough Two which is all it might get you now. I reckon you would be d*mn lucky to find an unrestored One these days..........Gold dust.
Thanks....... I've found a couple of 1's for sale in dealers ranging from £7.5 to £12k !! I'm going to have to really like ( still ) them to part with that sort of money. A private restored one sold on ebay last week for £8250. Mind you, what are 900SS's going for from the same era ? perhaps Le Mans are about to rocket in value. A nice Black & Gold one on Car and Classic, not seen one before
They are small and Al has pretty much told you all about them. I think if you go for a test ride and your used to the Duc your going to hate it at first. As time passes you'll grow to absolutely love it. They are an acquired taste and take a bit of getting used to. Mk I & 2 roundheads are the pretty ones. III, and especially IV and V (there never was a V it was called a 1000 but everybody calls them Vs) are to my eye a pig in knickers. Very angular styling, although for some reason I think they look good in white. That said all are very very very good bikes and more reliable and simpler than Ducs; think stone axe simplicity. They still have drawbacks and are old bikes but what doesn't. Mileage on a Guzzi is far less a concern than a Duc, there are umpteen that have passed the 100k mark without a strip. I have a Magni based on a V which is nicely styled but I could not afford one now. As Al said be VERY careful if going for a I, a lot of IIs were made to look very like Is and if its done well you'll struggle to know the difference, you need to know the marks to spot the differences and the IIs are worth a lot less than Is. I'd reckon a minter (not concourse but good clean bike) high 8s to low 10s prices have been steadily rising for long time. If you are just looking for a blast from the past get a IV or V a lot cheaper and cafe it. Loads do this and the Guzzi Tonti frame is so amenable to it. You'll get all the old raw feel for a fraction of the price and parts for all of them are still freely available. Guzzi community is a great place with loads of help but you better like home servicing as the dealership is pretty woeful. That said they as sooooo simple to work on. John
Technically there was never a mk1 [pedant mode: off]. £7.5 - £10k seems about right for a good'un, little bit less for a mk2. Now would be a good time to buy a mk3 cos they're not commanding the same sort of money even though they're basically the same bike. MkIV and V worth much less, £2.5k maybe. But they all use basically the same frame and there's only a couple of mph between the 850 and 1000. Mk1-3 have round barrel fins, 4 & 5 have square fins and 1000cc. You will hate it! The bike will try to throw you off the first time you rev it, it'll scare the utter crap out of you at the first bend, the brakes will give you a heart attack and your arms will cramp up within 5 minutes of riding one. Welcome to Guzzi ownership! Then you'll get used to it, then you'll fall head over heels with it. People buy Ducatis for their character, but they have as much character as John Major compared to a Guzzi. But - There is such a thing as a reliable Italian bike. Guzzis will easily reach 6 figure mileages without major work, the bulk of the electrics are German Bosch (the handlebar switches are the only weak point), and spares are plentiful and pretty cheap. You'll pay £25k+ for a 900SS and it will break down every bloody time you ride it.
Oh, and the Le Mans is leccy start. The 900ss is kickstart only. And the kickstarter will fall off...
Not standard and overpriced, I think........ ....and so is the MkII.............a better buy IMO, but I have seen much better examples go for £1000 less..... I agree with Fig about the 900ss...........When I had my Guzzi, it ran..........and ran........... My mate had one of the first 200 MHRs...........always breaking down; always in the workshop; never ran right... I disagree with Fig about hating it at first........never had that feeling..............I just got on it and rode it without any issues - the flywheel reaction didn't bother me, but it took a while to get used to and realise what you could do actually using the reaction........ Same with the braking system..........because of the way it works, you could bring the bike upright in an easy bend on a wet road so that you didn't overcook things......
There's a different side to every story of course. Some one i used to know also had one of the first 200 hailwood reps. He ran his for years (hard) started to do trackdays on it when they were just an enthusiast thing not the business's they are now. Goodwood in 1985 if i remember the first one and then he graduated through club racing with it right up to Battle of the twins. I dont think the cases were opened until a few years into this and it it just ran and ran.
My MKI now sadly lives in Japan. If I had to sum up Guzzis in a word, it would be, addictive. Regrettably, I had to break my addiction to fund other temptations.
That's the baby !! what year was that model ? why does/did yours have the connecting pipe between the two downpipes ? are those Lanfranconi's ? the heads look a slightly different shape...if I buy one its got to be original.
The exhaust was the Lafranconi Competizione system with the 'propeller' baffles - the exhaust to fit at the time and was as supplied by Lafranconi (see the Made in Italy one, it has the same system http://www.madeinitalymotorcycles.com/10514Guzzi (2).JPG ). The rocker covers might look a bit odd to you because of the little head-saver crash bars fitted to them, but they were the standard rocker covers - so, apart from the exhaust, the bike was fully original. Can't remember now if it was very late '78, or perhaps early '79.
Originality is a bit of a problem with the Le Mans. A mk2 can be very easily made to look just like a mk1, and parts are interchangeable between pretty much all the models. And because they're practical bikes they get used much more than yer average Italian classic, and so parts get changed more. This is why you have to be on top of your game if you're paying top prices. Personally I'd rather ride the things than worry about their value; my crappy mk4 only owes me £1500, but will give as authentic a ride as the mk1.
I do like that Fig, very nice. Rode a mates le mans back in the day (78'ish) it was red and tiny and I loved it, only trouble was my knees kept clouting the cylinder heads, if you're over six foot tall forget it!
Very nice Fig That's what I meant when I said cafe them. Get rid of all that angular plastic crap Guzzi fitted, nice seat and you have one helluva bike for your cash. When I said IVs and Vs were ugly I only meant in factory trim. Not much work and they can be very seductive indeed. Oh here is picture of a (more or less) standard IV , in white for some reason I think they look good in white in factory trim but no other color (not mine)..........................wish it was!!
The zorst balance pipe was standard on the One and the Two......there is another underneath the rear of the engine as well. The Two at made in Italy appears to have the Imola zorsts........basically a race system and bl**dy loud. Not only are Twos made to resemble Ones; T3s are also faked to look like Ones..... The One normally had a polished ally alternator cover, whereas the Two got a nasty black plastic one.......which most owners changed to the ally version...... The really early version of the One had a round-ish tail lamp, but many did end up with the flatter rectangular one fitted to the Two.. One of the bigger giveaways that sometimes gets overlooked, is that the One had brake calipers in front of the forks, but the Two has them behind........Also the oil filler plug on the Two, is extended by a steel tube to give access when the fairing is in place. A point worth mentioning......The OEM seat on the One and Two is bl**dy uncomfortable on a run more than short..........Most people changed it for what was called the 'custom' seat...........which was bl**dy uncomfortable after 200 miles or so.... Also I found I needed to wear a kidney belt because being a shorta*se, I had to lean into the bars, so the strain generally was on the back rather than the wrists. However..........it was the only bike I have ever regretted selling.
