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Ion's other BEAST!!!

I guess you've seen Ion's 850T3 on the features pages...well, he's got another machine...and, it's also up for sale!

Check out his e-bay auction here: ebay

Ion reckons this is the 1100 Moto Guzzi should have built...what do you think?

Before you make your mind up, let Ion himself explain what he means...Ion, what is it man?

"This is a VERY special Guzzi 1100 sport, 1996 only 11,750 miles (18.850 Km), new MOT (V 1100 V11 Ducati Monster, Buell streetfighter/cafe racer style).

Check out the top specifications; 1064cc push rod 90 degreeV twin, tuned 40 mm Dellorto carb’s, light flywheel, Cr Mo frame, White Power fully adjustable race shock, Marzocchi fully adjustable race forks, Brembo 320mm cast iron race discs & Brembo gold line 4 piston race calipers, Biturbo adjustable steering damper, very rare (& very expensive) Marzoccho risers & supermoto bars, Ducati Monster style headlight, Tommaselli headlight brackets, Megatron ultra light weight race silencers (fabulous deep burble but not anti socially loud).

I’ve owned & worked on my own Moto Guzzi bikes for 20 years, my first bike was a Guzzi T3. Since then I’ve had several Le Mans Mk1s & some very interesting Guzzi specials aswell as various superbikes & supermotos but as a Guzzi lover I’d always wanted an 1100 sport, I always imagined it would be my ideal bike, it would go like a GSXR 1100 slabside (another favourite bike) but have the excellent build quality & quality components of a classic Italian racer (Brembo, Marzocchi, White Power etc) & have the classic appeal, fabulous sound & ease of maintainance of a push rod Guzzi, but when they came out they were way out of my price range. So years later when I found this one with very low mileage & in completely standard & original condition I had to have it.

BUT what a dissappointment! It had an impossibly uncomfortable riding position, far worse than my old Mk1 LeMans & just wouldn’t run at low rev’s, I actually had to slip the clutch to pull away from stand still otherwise it would stall!!! I pulled the carb's apart and they were set up exactly as the book said they should be, so I started the long process of making it run properly & making it comfortable to ride.

NOW I have the bike that Moto Guzzi SHOULD have built! The original beautiful 1100 sport with fantastic easy to service & tune Dellorto race carb’s, BUT with higher wider lighter alloy supermoto bars, no ugly heavy fairing & heavy steel fairing support frame, so the bike is now extremely comfortable.

It still has razor sharp precise steering & great stability, but thanks to the higher wider bars the steering is now easy & light as well & you now get no crippling wrist or neck ache like you had to endure with the original set up, from being stretched out over the bike with all your weight on the original low narrow clip-on (steel) handle bars & having to crane your neck up all the time just to see where you’re going from that stretched out low down racing riding position.

The riding position is now absolutely perfect (I’m 6’3" & still found the original stretch unbearable) you sit up with just enough weight tilted forward over the bars to be able to feel exactly what the front tyre is doing all of the time (including when it's pointing at the sky ;-) but you are upright enough to have no wrist, neck or back ache now there is actually some of your weight on the seat!

Also gone are the horribly heavy original steel silencers which are replaced with much lighter & much better sounding reverse cone Megatron straight through reverse cone megafone silencers (the most efficient style of silencers ever designed, you may have noticed even Moto GP bikes now use reverse cone megafones!).

The carb’s are expertly re-tuned (the jets & needles are all wrong as standard, any Guzzi expert will confirm this, the standard bike runs like a 2 stroke motor rather than an 1100cc 4 stroke v twin!!! No bottom end at all, coughs & splutters & stalls at low rev’s & then takes off like a turbo when revving, whereas NOW with the freer flowing pipes & carb' re-jetting the bike starts easily, ticks over faultlessly, pulls smoothly from tick over, NO coughing or spluttering at all, it wheelies on the throttle & still takes off like a turbo at higher rev’s!)

This bike is in excellent condition with very low mileage, this is obviously genuine as the discs show no wear at all (incidently for anyone who’s never ridden one of these bikes there are THE BEST brakes I’ve EVER felt!

I’ve owned and ridden many modern superbikes & supermotos & I’ve NEVER felt braking like this bike provides, massive power, absolute sensitivity, ultra light, one finger braking from any speed at any rate of deceleration you fancy! Incredible!
Even though these are the same calipers as you get on the top of the range Ducati sports bikes, the Guzzi’s brakes are MUCH more powerful because the gear iron discs are thicker & seem to bike much harder while staying cooler!

The fork stanchions are also like new, there are a few superficial blemishes in the paint but nothing serious (mostly around the rear seat hump from my beloved girlfriend’s hand bag & coat!!!) but it’s pretty good for the year, the only thing that lets the bike down is the white paint on the rear spring has suffered from the lack of hugger mudguard but the shock itself works beautifully & if the cosmetic look of the spring bothers you, you could easily & cheaply have it repainted or better still plastic coated (& then fit a hugger).

The bike is totally reliable, runs beautifully, handles impeccably, is really only just run in, is eligible for very cheap classic insurance & it is a sound true practical classic investment & will only go up in value! All in all I’m completely gutted to have to sell it but I’m rebuilding my house & it’s taking much longer & much more money than I expected so something has to go. I’m desperate or I’d never sell this excellent bike, but I can’t lose my house & that’s how serious the situation is! I’ve already sold my beloved Guzzi LeMans Mk1 & my beloved Guzzi 850 T3 is due to be sold as this one is listed."

Again thanks for the words n' pics Ion, and good luck with the auction! Hell, I think it's great what about you? Use the comment box below to let us know. Do you have a Guzzi you'd like to talk about? e-mail us at info@guzzista.com, we'll be delighted to print your story!



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