docc

Good to hear, here, from The Wizard of Bungendore! Pete, can you post a price? Will buyers need to also get two new sump gaskets? Thanks for making them available again!

Hi, zagato. Sorry to hear about the tip over. Hope your biological parts are spared! I found the replacement Champion red spark plug paps through ebay.UK: Lambretta parts on eBay and had them really quickly from Welsh Scooter Parts, Newport UK. They may be different form your later Sport (?) The turn signals may be better gotten from a Buell source. That used to be a better option when any HD dealer would have them in stock, but worth trying. Best of luck!

A little snow on the ground, a nice amber color to the ale, a hot tub, and a little toy Guzzi to make motor sounds to . . . I'm havin' trouble feeling sorry for you, Jim . . .

This is a beautiful interview with Ing. Carcano in 2002 by Luca Angerame for AnimaGuzzista. He speaks of building the first V-engine for his Fiat 500, "The car was very brilliant, pleasant and funny; it had a very good acceleration and the maximum speed was almost too much:140 Km/h for such a small car!" And also of the need for the (new) police motorcycle to have the stature of a Norman horse. Very interesting that the original V700 motorcycle was not just born of "form follows function ," but was meant to have PRESENCE. No less so from the fantastic appearance of those imposing cylinders showing striking power and alertness from any angle.

Very interesting that Falloon's account of Ivar de Gier's interview with Carcano puts the first V-twin fan-forced motor in the realm of the engineer hot-rodding his personal Topolino! Only later was it submitted to Fiat (and refused). I had always thought it was prepared for a specification; but, apparently not. Much more romantic (and more correct), I think, to say that the V700 (and therefor the V11) had its beginnings in the chief engineer's personal performance car. A sleeper Fiat 500 . . . what fun!

3x3 Mulo engine designed by Ing. Antonio Micucci: (sorry for such a small image)

OH, MY, NO! Let's not let that mixer business get further on . . . I may have to order Falloon's "bible." (Although, much of the book, page by page, is on that link). I did order a copy of Walker's first Guzzi title from 1986; curious to see if his conclusions changed after the 1990 first English translation of Mario Colombo's (1977) "Complete History."

Seeing the ale next to the cam cover makes me think it was presented during a valve adjustment where the correct temperature is "stone cold." Never heard the hot poker method. See, you can learn something at V11LeMans.com every day!

I must admit that I tire of writers in the magazines and other press throwing out the tractor motor thing. It is a definite misconception; one that has been thrashed about thoroughly in the Moto Guzzi community. The more it is repeated, the more it seems to become the accepted truth. I very much agree with Hubert about the cross pollination of projects, especially within a company. I suppose it irked me to come along believing the Guzzi V-twin really had been in a farm tractor first and grew somewhat indignant when I found this to be very far from the truth. Even the "military tractor" history does not support the relationship well. But, Guzzisti have known this for a rather long time. I posted this thread for a few reasons: 1) To get some searchable posts in our archives that anyone coming to this website can get the 'tractor engine" myth set straight. V11LeMans.com has become a reliable world-wide resource about Moto Guzzi because of the knowledge and superb breadth of our membership. 2) To explore the point at which the "Tractor Myth" began, and perhaps the source. 3) It's winter, the Sport is cold and lonely, and there is only so much beer. Certainly, the neat little Lambretta is very interesting. No telling whether it influenced Moto Guzzi in any way toward the V-twin, but it is a lovely thing. It would be fantastic to stand beside it in Rodano and consider its beauty first hand! I have Falloon's 1999 book, The Moto Guzzi Story, and will sit down this evening to the link above. Thanks, Hubert!

Or for our generation of Moto Guzzi: Ducati cross reference.

Is the 10th digit in the serial number a "1" (2001) or a "2" (2002)?

Field interviewed and quoted both Guilio Carcano and Umberto Todero who designed and executed the V700 engine for the original police specification trials. They both gave clear responses that the V7 had nothing to do with the Mulo V-twin which was designed primarily by Micucci. Field also presents clear photographs of the engines for comparison. Of the origins of the misconception, he said only, "Neither the Fiat 500 nor the Mule engine was used as the basis for the V700 engine, however, and it's somewhat puzzling how the whole misconception got started, given the fact that the Mule engine was designed by Micucci, rather than by Carcano." (emphasis added by today's poster)

That last one looks fantastic! If you have trouble keeping up, I'll PM you my shipping address. Local brewery, Blackstone, in Nashville, does this winter seasonal. Malty, chocolatey, big mouth feel, steak&eggs finish. 6.3%. Available at the grocery and finer filling stations. Wish they did it all year.

Ahh, Ratchet.. Ironic that in 2007 Ratchet couldn't get a search result and now we search and find him! Also ironic that he (rightfully) cast aspersions on Wikipedia as a final source, but was thrilled with Mick Walker. The irony is that it is very likely Walker's writing that perpetrated the whole tractor engine misconception.

While it is widely known that the V700 motorcycle introduced by Moto Guzzi in the 1960s was designed by engineer Guilio Carcano (along with Umberto Todero), the myth that it was derived from "a tractor" (the 3x3 Mulo Meccanico, or mechanical mule) has been so often repeated to have become (wrongly) accepted as fact. Many thanks to Greg Field, Moto Guzzi Big Twins, MBI publishing, 1998, for his outstanding research on this. Beyond that, though, many would say the concept of a shaft drive, longitudinal V-twin dates to the Indian Model 841(military) built in the early 1940s. The architecture is certainly there: Today, though, I came across this Lambretta 250GP from 1953 pictured in Motorcycle Classics magazine, Nov/Dec 2013, in an article about Vittorio Tessera's Museo Scooter & Lambretta in Rodano near Milan. (museoscooter.it). I've never seen this bike before, but the formula is fabulously familiar!

Enjoying this everyday, Jim! But it makes mouth a little dry . . .

Gotcha!

AHA! So the "search function" does work ! !

That is a tough call. Replace it while you've got your hands on it? Or, "It ain't broke, don't fix it?"

Haven't fitted a GT front yet (won't be long), so I am also looking forward to seeing the difference on the edge wear. Left sides typically scrub off quicker here in The States. The improvement in the rear was notable, so I am hoping the front will equally impress!

We play this now at parties. It is a fantastic hit! My son took it back to college and has made new friends! It is even funnier than when Andy York asked me if I had stopped to oil my chain. Come to think of it, he had finished his cigarette and the Coke was long gone . . .

HMB Guzzi in Germany

Somehow my computer overdubbed Clapton playing Have You Ever Loved a Woman? onto the video of the chap revving the 2-stroke. Brilliant!

The vent hose is so nefarious (and so old on this bike) that I suppose I should certainly replace it and watch the leak for a time before bursting the bike to bits . . .

It all came together for me at "bier!"