Matt is one of those multi talented bastards cut from similar cloth as crew like Jeff Wright, anything he turns his hand to comes up a winner . . . . from my perspective, epsecially things with two wheels. I have no qualms in stating here and now, when it comes to custom bike design, building and execution, Mr Machine's portfolio of perfectly presented power platforms is second to none in the land downunder, no wuckers . . . .
Guzzis are a tad like Beemers to a lot of people, they either like em or, as is sadly more often the case, detest them. Me, I'm a long time lover, one of my mentors going back more than two decades reinforced the feeling with his '75 S3 in black and green, Borranis, Dell'Orto's, cams and, of course, shaft driven !!!
The jigger under the spotlight in Matt's video [along with No-Tones, roadkill, corro shacks and landscapes] is something else again, the fucking coolest, most purposeful, individual custom rendering of a Guzzi I've come across, if 'Goose' had been riding a Guzzi in Mad Max it would look like this, bloody stunning !!! He clearly has a thing for Italian scoots too, the bugger also has an immaculate round case SS in his stable as well . . . . like I said . . . . bastard !!!
Anyhow* . . . . have a serious squizz at his blog at "Machine" blogspot, check out some of his builds, his obsession with metallurgy and all things motorcycling, you'll dig it as much as I do !!!!
Guzzis are a tad like Beemers to a lot of people, they either like em or, as is sadly more often the case, detest them. Me, I'm a long time lover, one of my mentors going back more than two decades reinforced the feeling with his '75 S3 in black and green, Borranis, Dell'Orto's, cams and, of course, shaft driven !!!
The jigger under the spotlight in Matt's video [along with No-Tones, roadkill, corro shacks and landscapes] is something else again, the fucking coolest, most purposeful, individual custom rendering of a Guzzi I've come across, if 'Goose' had been riding a Guzzi in Mad Max it would look like this, bloody stunning !!! He clearly has a thing for Italian scoots too, the bugger also has an immaculate round case SS in his stable as well . . . . like I said . . . . bastard !!!
Anyhow* . . . . have a serious squizz at his blog at "Machine" blogspot, check out some of his builds, his obsession with metallurgy and all things motorcycling, you'll dig it as much as I do !!!!
Tremendous video, complete with awesome Guzzi cafe racer and dingo roadkill.
ReplyDeleteMy good friend Bruce is a Guzzi freak, he has several in his stable including one with a torque converter style no-shift trans.
I asked him how he got interested in Guzzis, and he said he owed it all to his uncle Wayne. He asked if I wanted to ride over to Wayne's place to see some old Guzzis. I said "Hell yeah."
Uncle Wayne is in his eighties, but still a hardcore badass. He once refused to talk to Bruce for over a year because Bruce lost a hard-to-find spring on a Guzzi carb.
Bruce introduced me, and Wayne grunted something, then looked at my rigid Sportie with disdain.
"He hates Harleys." Bruce informed me.
Wayne had a garage full of Guzzi's in various states of repair, mostly with side hacks because his legs are bad and he can't ride on two wheels anymore.
After a while, Wayne warmed up a little, but it was obvious he would never fully trust a Harley rider, especially one stupid enough to pull an engine from a perfectly good swingarm frame and put it in a rigid.
Wayne finally got a smile on his face when we started talking about his beloved Indian motorcycles. The beer flowed and Wayne's stories about post-war cars and bikes were incredible. Drag racing in the street, hopped up motors, broken bones and brushes with the law. I wish I could have taped the conversation.
Wayne used to run around with Rollie Free, another Indian rider, when Free owned a shop in Indianapolis right after the war.
When Indian went under, Wayne couldn't bring himself to switch to Milwaukee iron so he started riding Guzzis, and still does to this day.
Hermit, thanks for the tremendous yarn, wow, what a trip . . . and Rollie Free into the bargain as well !!!! If you don't ming mate, I'm gonna turn it into a post, this sort of stuff needs to be shared, all credit to you of course, love ya work man, really cool !!!!
ReplyDeleteGo for it W.P.
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