I fell in love with Katrien in this famous poster when I was a teen, who wouldn’t. Five years ago I rediscovered the picture on the web and but now that I’m an old fart, I fell for the fabulous Guzzi she was on. It was built by Ben Part her boyfriend at the time and the photographer. He had dedicated his build to Zagato, the famous Italian design house famous for lightweight racing Alfa Romeos and Aston Martins amongst others. The bike is now quite famous amongst Guzzistas. It was this bike that got me into Guzzis and consumed so much of my life for the next three years! Anyway, here is the result. It took me three years to build, my perfect Guzzi. Needless to say, this bike is a tribute to Ben Part’s cafe racer. And I was lucky enough to be invited to the event Kickback Custom bike UK final at Coventry a few weeks ago. Nothing is as it seems. Classic looks but cutting edge technology. Keyless ignition Motogadget micro processor electrical system Original forks with GSXR internals shoehorned in Ducati 916 brakesBrembo RCS brake controls Silent Hektik digital ignition Wireless rear stop n tail lights MV Augusta, Suzuki, Hayter lawnmower, a wire coat hanger and gas fittings go to make up this very personal build. People have had their noses 12” from it and stil been unable to see some subtle features, I love it. I hope that you like it too.
lovely looking bike, a lot of effort seems to have gone into it. Out of curiosity, you mention the wireless stop/tail light, and I was wondering if it is fully e-marked (don't worry, technical curiosity rather than any sort of enforcement agency!) does the stop/tail have it's own battery supply, what protocol does it work on (bluetooth, zigbee, etc), what do the sender units look like and how are they powered? Pete
Wire less stop n tail.. I don’t what other word to use for it. Hers a description.. The stop n tail light is in the seat itself, I used to have a metre long coil of wire between the light and the frame so that when I took the seat off, I could set the seat down on the ground. A socket would have worked but been too fiddly to do one handed. My solution was to find some sprung contacts, I initially thought of car hatch back ones but they were huge. I found tiny connectors and fabricated mounts with SS locating pins, the margin of error was minuscule. Hey presto, after 3 months of drawing trialling and positioning, it works, every time. No wires between the seat and frame.
Looks like you could run a Hi-Fi System and a desktop PC off that equipment Really tidy job. Which engine and frame?
ahh, I see what you mean. I was picturing in my head a microswitch on the brake lever, another on the brake pedal, each with RF sender unit that sent basic signals to a receiver unit in the tail light. A very tidy solution.
It’s a ‘76 T3 base. I also have a Le Mans in the garage, but the T3 was a mess and I didn’t want to chance ruining a cracker. Besides, it’s now 950 cc, ported and flowed, bigger carbs with pumpers on, twin plugged digital ignition handled by a deep spline clutch. It really shifts up to 80 which is where the Le Mans engine keeps pulling strongly, and anyway my eyes start to water with the jet helmet and google’s. That’s enough for me
I thought it might be a T3. Gut feeling said it wasn't a Le Mans (and your registration number) - seemed a fraction too early for a Le Mans. Note: not Le Mans 'MkI' - they didn't exist. I'm pretty familiar with that era Guzzis. Had an early MkII and worked on quite a number of the 850s. I would still like to find mine but there is a slim chance it went to Ozland. Reg No: SHK ***W
Ha ha Attention to detail is my thing. I Must admit, I deliberated long and hard about what the base I’d use. But it goes well enough and handles as it should with the work and the amount the suspension cost me.
IIRC the first Le Mans Series 1 model went into production in 1975; and it was released for sale in 1976. I can't recall the month, but by the end of 1976 there weren't a huge number sold in the UK. I also think production of the Series 1 ceased in September 1976. Series 2 continued until (I think) 1979 when the MkII first version was released (mine was a 1979, registered 1980) then around 1980 the second version appeared. There wasn't a great deal of difference between the first and second versions; better 'bodywork' inside finish; air assisted front suspension; stronger seat base and a few other bits and bobs. Mine gave some trouble with the shaft UJ bearing turning in the swingarm housing. Loctite didn't seem to hold it in place. Bearing was replaced about four times. Eventually solved by welding an M6 nut on the outside of the housing, carefully drilling a hole through the housing until it touched and marked the bearing outer race; then bearing removed and a detent ground into the race where the drill had touched; hole in housing tapped M6 and whole lot re-assembled (still using Loctite). Pointy M6 grubscrew and locknut added from outside. Bearing no longer turned.
@ Mr R Erm, either summit has just flown over my head or may I suggest that you have a re read my friend The first bike inspired the second. The point of the lengthy narration was about how the one picture led to my being three years consumed by Guzzis
Is there one of those little icon things that means “dim rude plonka”, if there is it needs using. What a stunning bike Oldrat, fantastic build.
