Return of the Albatross

 I've touched on this bike in previous posts but here's a little more of the story.

My friend Rick bought it about 6 years ago (upon my suggestion). Turns out the motor wasn't quite the fire breathing monster we were led to believe so it sat unloved at my shop for a few years. In the meantime Rick bought another ex race bike which had a lovely motor and a crap everything else (except the tank).

First round of modifications was to make his second bike somewhat race able. On went spare wheels from the 1st bike and some lovely suspension from Maxton. It was still kind of shit handling so I provided one of my de raked, lower frame deleted, race frames and made him a somewhat competent bike. See below:

For my troubles Rick gave me the remnants of the first bike. Smart man that Rick. 

Brief specs: Ex BOT race bike built in 1985/6. Last raced and crashed in 1986. Stockish motor. Crap suspension. Lovely Dr John 2into1 exhaust.

The bike just got in my way and I was thoroughly sick of looking at it. I considered parting it out but couldn't bring myself to doing that to an ex racer. Knowing how much work and money it takes to do a legit racer it sat around unloved until summer 2020. MotoAmerica had announced a vintage superbike race at Laguna Seca and a friend with a soft spot for Guzzis was looking for a ride.

Perfect excuse to build a bike. Guzzi logic !!!!!

See below:

Brief specs: V11 92x80 motor. V11 cam, 40mm carbs, Saches crank fire ignition. 80hp. Just enough power and ridden by Tom Montano and ex pro rider it came in 6th at Laguna (beating me). Video here

Clearly the bike ran well and it was a great feeling building and fielding a bike that did well after a 34 year hiatus. 

The agreement I had with myself was that if I built it it had to go on sale after the race for what I had into it. My labor would be a donation to the Guzzi racing Gods.

Couple of months later and after a track day or two I found a buyer. Rick. Smart man that Rick!

So now it sits ready to go in our shipping container at my shop.

Albatross indeed.