The book that absolutely every Guzziste need to have in his personal library: Moto Guzzi 1921 - 2021

[p6x]

Well, I perused the site, did a search and failed to see any thread about it. But I know you guys are aware of the Moto Guzzi 100 years celebration.

I suggest that you get yourselves one of these, as it looks like an incredible piece of work... I have ordered mine from Amazon.IT; if you do a search on Amazon.com, it does not appear.

note: Amazon.it and Amazon.com are separate entities. I have ordered from Amazon.it in the past, and had to use Amazon.com to meddle.

Here's what is said in Italian:

-Book dedicated to the 100 years of Moto Guzzi. In a large format volume (30 by 23 cm) with hard covers, 160 pages printed on high quality paper.

I paid 68.24 EUR (20.69 shipping charges). The book is not yet available, although released on October 1st, 2020.

I also give another site's URL: mandellofactory.com; there is an option for English language.

 

 

 

[docc]

I do not see an author (?)

Ian Falloon's new book is on its way to me.  Very excited to learn even a single new tidbit about our passion . . .

[Kane]

P6x, let us know how the book is when you get it. Is it in English or Italian? I have just gotten the Falloon book, and it’s pretty nice! Good info and pics of the V11 models.

[docc]

Two absolute tomes for our passion:

[p6x]

1 hour ago, docc said:

I do not see an author (?)

Ian Falloon's new book is on its way to me.  Very excited to learn even a single new tidbit about our passion . . .

 

1 hour ago, Kane said:

P6x, let us know how the book is when you get it. Is it in English or Italian? I have just gotten the Falloon book, and it’s pretty nice! Good info and pics of the V11 models.

Guys,

This book is sold by a company named "motoitaliane"; here's a peak inside the book!

The book is published in both Italian and English. I have cancelled my order with Amazon.it and ordered directly with "motoitaliane". However, I only paid 5 EUR for shipping, which I know is not correct, so I am going to have to contact them directly. There is no author shown in the pictures, so I am guessing it is a compound effort.

Here's what the site says:

Quote

We dedicate this volume to the 100 years of Moto Guzzi: it is a large format book (30x23 cm), complete with hard cover, printed on extremely fine paper, with 160 pages and many pictures. The cost is Euro 49 and Euro 7 for the delivery. It's a limited edition book, it will not be reprinted! You can purchase it via PayPal in a safe mode. We ship worldwide (texts in Italian and English). For further information contact info@motoitaliane.it
Click here to have a preview

And by the way, they also publish a quarterly magazine which you can subscribe to for 24 Euros (yearly). However it is written in Italian. I am going to subscribe because a magazine dedicated to Moto Guzzi is rare enough that they deserve support.

I am going to contact them and make sure the book is still available for purchase. Once I get feed back, I will share it with the forum, should anyone of you be interested.

[Lucky Phil]

2 hours ago, p6x said:

 

Guys,

This book is sold by a company named "motoitaliane"; here's a peak inside the book!

The book is published in both Italian and English. I have cancelled my order with Amazon.it and ordered directly with "motoitaliane". However, I only paid 5 EUR for shipping, which I know is not correct, so I am going to have to contact them directly. There is no author shown in the pictures, so I am guessing it is a compound effort.

Here's what the site says:

And by the way, they also publish a quarterly magazine which you can subscribe to for 24 Euros (yearly). However it is written in Italian. I am going to subscribe because a magazine dedicated to Moto Guzzi is rare enough that they deserve support.

I am going to contact them and make sure the book is still available for purchase. Once I get feed back, I will share it with the forum, should anyone of you be interested.

I've got Falloons new book, it's a bit disappointing. It's basically a coffee table picture book with brief text and there's a couple of howling technical errors which always destroys any confidence I have in a book you may use for reference purposes.

Ciao  

[Twin AH]

Thx for that Phil.

Always on the lookout for new and well done pieces on our beloved Guzzis.

 

Ciao

[p6x]

8 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

I've got Falloons new book, it's a bit disappointing. It's basically a coffee table picture book with brief text and there's a couple of howling technical errors which always destroys any confidence I have in a book you may use for reference purposes.

Ciao  

Ciao,

You are pointing out one of the common issues of new variation over the same theme. Without generalizing, a lot of the new publications just reprise what existed already, without bringing much mode details, if excepted some better pics.

This is of course across the board of paper printing publishing. I own some books about the 70's motorbikes which were published in the 80's. Most of them, they are more accurate in terms of contents and facts.

As I had the chance to work ten years in Italy until 1992, it was easier to speak with people that knew first hand. As I said in a previous post, I met an older guy who owned one of each of the early Moto Guzzi models. My only regret is back then, we did not have phones to take impromptu pictures, and all that I learned and saw only resides in my memory.

Not many people buying books nowadays.

 

[docc]

One the subject of books with Guzzi content, I recalled Lucky Phil speaking of Dave Richardson's writing of how it was dealing with running a motorcycle shop and working with the Italians. I always liked dealing with Moto International and figured there would be further insights to be gained of my long-term Guzzi ownership experience.

Well, to my dismay, I mistakenly ordered his book of stories that did not make the "A" cut book, My Life in Bikes.  It seems the "B" cut stories appear in a book with the same cover, same title, but with the subtitle "The Rest of the Stories."  If you go looking for Richardson's book, be forewarned.

 I did work my way through the "memoirs" and some gave me a smile. I mostly made myself finish it out of respect for Dave, then gave the book away. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to order the book I thought I was getting. 

 

[p6x]

13 hours ago, docc said:

I do not see an author (?)

Here's MotoItaliane narrative about who they are; I am tempted to subscribe to their quarterly magazine, "Bicilindrica", but I will wait to see how the book is. I could ask them why they don't list an author, but I would say it is kind of a concerted effort.

 

 

[Lucky Phil]

6 hours ago, docc said:

One the subject of books with Guzzi content, I recalled Lucky Phil speaking of Dave Richardson's writing of how it was dealing with running a motorcycle shop and working with the Italians. I always liked dealing with Moto International and figured there would be further insights to be gained of my long-term Guzzi ownership experience.

Well, to my dismay, I mistakenly ordered his book of stories that did not make the "A" cut book, My Life in Bikes.  It seems the "B" cut stories appear in a book with the same cover, same title, but with the subtitle "The Rest of the Stories."  If you go looking for Richardson's book, be forewarned.

 I did work my way through the "memoirs" and some gave me a smile. I mostly made myself finish it out of respect for Dave, then gave the book away. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to order the book I thought I was getting. 

 

Bugger docc. The second book "the rest of the stories" is nothing like the "my life in bikes". I wouldn't suggest buying the second book personally unless you are a particular sort of person, its a bit niche.  The primary book is to some extent a reference book which I'd like to keep as such so I'd be happy to post it over to you but the postage costs to the US and back would probably be dearer than buying it. I get most of my books from "The book depository" which is free postage world wide. Dont know if this is the best deal though.

As pointed out most books these days are to a large extent "recycled". Cathcart books have been like this for 25 years.  

Ciao

[pete roper]

17 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

I've got Falloons new book, it's a bit disappointing. It's basically a coffee table picture book with brief text and there's a couple of howling technical errors which always destroys any confidence I have in a book you may use for reference purposes.

Ciao  

I've never read anything by Falloon that wasn't shallow and full of inaccuracies......

[docc]

13 minutes ago, pete roper said:

I've never read anything by Falloon that wasn't shallow and full of inaccuracies......

Could be worse (as in: Mick Walker )

Must agree about the recycled content in these sorts of books. A few new models with a few new pictures in each subsequent edition. This is how the damn "tractor motor" crap got perpetuated.  

 

[p6x]

I got a reply from MotoItaliane yesterday;

They confirmed the sale and will ship the book.

At this point, I would advocate to purchase directly from them rather than Amazon.it. The shipping is only 5 EUR compared to Amazon's 29....

 

[docc]

On 12/27/2020 at 5:22 PM, pete roper said:

I've never read anything by Falloon that wasn't shallow and full of inaccuracies......

So, I received the new Falloon book today. It is nicely printed and large format (much larger than the May 1999 Falloon book I have). A very nice "coffee table book" with large, mostly color images (many that are new to me).

I recall the inaccuracies about the V11 Sport in the 1999 book, but forgave them as it was all new and largely unknown. It is a frank disappointment to read those same inaccuracies twenty years on!  When I read errors about something that I know about, it casts doubt on information about other models I am not familiar with. So, alas, "not a reference book."

The second place (after the early V11 Sport) I look to assess an author's knowledge of Moto Guzzi is their discussion of the development of the big block V-twin. In the 1999 work, I gave credit that Falloon declared Carcano's " . . . Fiat engine can really be considered the predecessor of the V7 . . ."  This 2020 edition states "The engine powering the V7 was descended from the earlier Fiat and 3x3 . . ."

What a load of crap! What absolutely deplorable journalism. This is the kind disinformation that perpetuated the "tractor motor" myth in Mick Walker's, and now Falloon's, series of progressively less accurate books. Thank goodness for Greg Field!!

[Rant over. For now.]  Nice picture book!     

Now I am anxious to hear what @p6x finds in this MotoItaliane pubication . . .