When I saw Squadra Guzzista member Lars' bike I was dumbstruck. I do love a cafe racer but what I liked about this one was the sympathetic manner in which the various components were chosen and arranged. The choice of 36mm carbs, the V7 type seat, the pipes and the general detailing all combine to make this example so believable. It looks like a period bike, almost as if the factory had released it.

The colour, too, is a clever retro touch conjuring images of the jaw-dropping 500cc V8 racer and the most famous Guzzi racer of them all, the awesome 350cc Bialbero which won world chamionships from 1953 to 1957. The story goes that with his obssession to save weight Carcano ordered the Guzzi bikes to take to the track wearing just a coat of protective primer...which just happened to be green. I could go on, but I'll let Lars tell you about his wonderful creation.

"Rocinante" V9,4 Mandello Classico Riserva

"Hello guys, my name is Lars and I live in southern Sweden. I bought a brown, ugly 1974 850T in December 2007 and I then already knew, how the rebuilt bike would look like. The Guzzi was in good condition, had beautiful Borrani rims, double disc brakes, a Le Man 1 engine with 940 barrels and electronic ignition.

As soon as it arrived in my workshop, I immediately start to strip the bike and searched for suitable parts, which I found in Italy, Germany and Sweden. A NOS V7 Sport petrol tank, new replica parts, like 750S seat, V7 Sport rear mudguard, tail light, side panels and Lafranconi Competizione mufflers. NOS 750S clip on, used Le Mans 1 fairing and white Veglia clocks. New 36 mm PHF Dellortos and beautiful machined alloy inlet manifolds and a lot of smaller parts.

The engine worked nicely, the compression was equal on both cylinders, so I only gave it new carbs, starter engine and battery. After polishing the alloy and the chrome parts, lathering the discs and installed new wheel bearings, I mounted and tried out the new parts before painting. The bike now started to take shape and a friend of mine painted the details in Fiat 128 (seventies) green colour and satin clearcoat. My intention was to have a colour like the old Guzzi racers from the fifties and I wrote to Agostini in Mandello, but they couldn’t help me; “The colour factory from those days are long since gone ”. Then I found, in my opinion, a really good looking colour on the web (a photo of a Vespa with sidecar), called “Du Pont surplus green”, but I couldn’t find any colour codes despite hard work, so I choose the Fiat colour. The transfers on the side panels are designed by me and my son Jens made them.

To have the Lafranconi Comp.to fit the exhaust pipes, I have to order a special collector which Moto Schmitz in Germany manufactured (on my behalf) in Stainless steel. They are friendly, helpful and not so expensive. Now the bike is running and I always ride it with a smile in my face. The bike is fast, reliable and easy to ride. The Tonti frame is superb, stable as a rock and even though there isn’t a steering damper on this model, it goes without any wobbling tendencies at any speed.

I really like it. I will buy new tyres for the season, but haven’t decided type or make. I want modern, good grip tyres with a classic look. Anyone who have a tip?

And next thing on my desideratum is a big four leading drumbrake from Fontana or Ceriani, but sorry to say, they are costly. This summer I hope to make many good trips with the bike (I call her Rocinante*) and I really would love to go to Italy with it, but we will see.

I’m a big fan of Italy and have, during the years, visited Italy many times. The factory and the museum in Mandello del Lario, I have visited twice and during the eighties, me (I?) and my friend Stefan, had a spare time business, called Nostalghia Moto. The spelling we took from the film Nostalghia by Tarkovski (because we also are film lovers).

Well, at those days, we bought and sold Italian spares and bikes (small scale) and visited, among many other places, both companies and private garages, Borgo Panigale, the Ducati factory in Bologna, the Laverda factory in Breganze and the MV Augusta museum in Gallarate, at that time already closed but we managed to get a doorman to open it for us.

And there they were, all the bikes, taken so many world champions, and despite that they all were dusty and no lights in the hall, this was a big (holy) moment in my life. Short after this event, the bikes were sold and spread around the world. But this is another story.

Well, this was my short story and if anyone out there would like to comment or have any questions, I will gladly answer".

Best regards
Lars Lindqvist
Sweden

More images of Lars' bike!

1974 850T how it used to look	Looks in pretty good nick for a 34 year old bike
New bits n pieces...	How many headaches at each of these stages?
Colour is designed to ape the famous Guzzi racing scheme	Chuffing hell! Rocking 36mmm breathers
Lovely, the Cali Vintage type rear lamp looks the part	Gorgeous from any angle
The finished product	Classico Riserva...a very fine vintage indeed!

Thank you to Lars for agreeing to feature his bike. Squadra Guzzista is all about real Guzzisti with their real Guzzis and we would love to feature your bike! It doesn't matter what it is...as long as it's a Guzzi, so come on, share your bike with Guzzisti around the world, contact me via e-mail at info@guzzista.com.

Further reading

More featured bikes / Andre's gorgeous cafe racer / Doug's cafe racer / An album of cafe racers / A visit to the Ace Cafe /