Crossbow Guzzi

One for the Guzzi lovers out there. Ian B came across this photograph whilst printing some old film stock from his time as an aspiring motor sport photographer in the early eighties. According to the negative folder it was taken at Hullavington airfield at the practice session for a North Gloucester club racing season. It's Ian's story...

"I remember the bike as being purple & loud. A telephone conversation with John at Crossbow Calendars revealed that this was an early version of his body kit with the one piece glass fibre tank & seat unit (later outlawed). He couldn't remember too much detail but did remember that the bike belonged to club racer Steve Bateman who, via email, was happy to take up the story for me:

“Yes we built the Crossbow Guzzi in 1980 onto a standard 850 Le Mans. We had a mechanic working with us Graham...? Sorry, forget his surname, who had worked at Sports Motorcycles in Manchester and he built a Guzzi for Roy Armstrong for the TT and we made loads of mods on the bike.
Firstly fitted 1000 barrels and PR cam, PR close ratio gearbox, lightened flywheel, drilled rocker gear to aid draining from the heads, lightened and polished the rocker arms, fitted Lucas Rita ignition Then I fitted the front end from an MV Agusta that was sitting in the firms barn!
It had two steering dampers and I had a fair bit of success at Brands and the airfield circuits. It was a complete animal but it taught me how to race a bike!"
Steve later went on to considerable success with a Peckett & McNab framed Suzuki (there I've done it again- mentioning the unmentionable on this site) but I wonder where the thundering Guzzi is now?"

Ian's also fired up his own blog at rattlingracing.blogspot



Alternative lifestyle

 

Purists look away now - Dave Brown took these pics at the Horsham Piazza Italia shindig, while I sweated it out at Stafford (more anon): that's one hell of an alternative look for a Darmah...

 

Want one

Apro pos the last post on Ducati UK's Art of Corse event Mick wants one of these. No, the Mach 1, not a woman...

Top twenty Ducatis

Ducati UK's upcoming Art of Corse event has left a very brave Mick White charged to curate a collection of "iconic Ducatis through the ages." Mick's a top bloke, handy old-school Ducati racer and a great choice for the job. But I don't envy him - he's predictably been snowed under with offers of 916-series bikes to show: so, given an absolute max of 20 bikes to show, what would you pick? Here's my pop...

Firstly some ground rules - these have to be important and pivotal bikes in Ducati's history, and it's for public consumption: as someone was heard to say at Bristol Auto Italia, "They all look the same," so six types of bevel single isn't a good idea. Even so, let’s get the clichés out of the way first.

Cucciolo (engine only) and a 65 - the first complete Ducati. A 916SP, in the original Tamburini graphics, and of course the only 916cc SP. Then a 999R: the winningest Ducati Superbike, and a very misunderstood bike. I'd stop the collection at that point in time, because everything that follows is effectively in the current range. So that's four down, 6 to go...

A Marianna, (failing that F3 or 175 Sport) - that Giro victory saved Ducati, and these first bevel singles were the how and why. A triple cam 125GP bike if I could persuade an owner to show it: if you don't know why, you're clearly not reading Benzina. Then a 350 twin fuel cap 350: the first Desmo road bike. That leaves 13 bikes: it's going to be tight.

Bevel twins: slightly controversial, but bear in mind the previous public consumption remark: 750GT, and a Mille Hailwood Rep - first and last, and easy to link to the Imola72/Daytona77/IoM78 trinity. After all Smarty's bike had centre-stand lugs, and Mike's NCR had that colourscheme. Plus maybe an NCR racer - all those endurance victories, plus the NCR name needs to be involved. And who wants another bevel single in there?

Ah, me actually: need a Street Scrambler as an example of the stuff that actually kept the production lines rolling, so ditto the Monster in original 904cc, tacho-free set-up: the bike that saved Ducati(again) and still the best seller today. Then an example of a folly - the 125 Regolarita or Six Days: proof Ducati made two-stokes, and the last mass produced Ducati single. And of course the Supermono has to be in there, for Bordi's engineering genius and proof that Pierre Terblanche can style a bike well enough to influence Tamburini's 916. Ok, that leaves just six spaces

Mention Tamburini and the Paso has to get a look in as his first bike for Ducati (now in Cagiva's loving arms)and a world-wide influence all bikes - especially the Honda CBR/Hurricane. And obviously an 851 (Tricolore or SP5?) as the start of the Superbike line, and a statement of Cagiva's commitment to racing.

Four to choose, and I haven't even mentioned Taglioni's Rubber-Ducks. First Pantah and an F1 750 - Fabio's first and last belters. Then there has to be a TT2: another NCR connection - (or is that overblown? More revelations and controversy being unearthed for issue 5) plus genesis - the 500GP racer, as raced by Read. That's twenty bikes and no room left at the Inn. The Apollo? No thanks - a prototypical backwater. The Desmosedici - arrg, go on, we'll never get the 500GP bike.

And I might be persuaded to pull a couple of others in favour of a seventies diesel and an early camera or radio, because without those "sidelines" there'd be no Ducati today. So maybe pull some twins, and slot in the stuff that made the bikes possible instead.

Good luck Mick, who's actually after some of the above, plus an MH900E and a bloody scooter...if you can help get in touch and I'll pass it on

French Leave

Perfect for a late summer weekend in France - the Trofeo Classic on Sunday 18 September is a free festival of Italian motoring, with cars and bikes parading in the morning, then lining up PM in the hope of prizes. The French do this sort of thing brilliantly, and the hotels and restaurants will put on a proper effort rather than just adopting the UK practice of hiking prices and forgetting bookings (as anyone who's been to Chichester during the Goodwood Revival/FoS will know...)


Best of all Clisson's just 120 miles from St Malo, which is where Brittany Ferries run to with their wonderful overnight service from Portsmouth. So tell the other half you've planned a romantic weekend, and practice your "Zut alors!"/look of surprise when Sunday morning sees Clisson city centre rammed with fine Italian metal

What a pair...

Spotted at the Auto Italia street festival in Bristol, the talented Alan Long explained to me these two beutiful Ducatis that he has built.


The green bike started life as a Bimota Mantra (old joke I know but the mantra is : "This bike is sh**..") with a cut & welded Yamaha Diversion fuel tank, & exquisite welding & detailing on the home made subframe etc.

The blue sport classic looks reasonably standard but closer inspection reveals a Harris fairing & yet more home made lovelyness in the fabrication department. The beutiful Italian blue colour is not quite what it seems either - the shade was copied from a label in a box of Adidas training shoes...

We salute you sir:- I'm told ther are more machines where these came from so we need to see inside your workshop!

(With thanks to Ian B)

Guardian Angel

Was riding through Bristol's less than beautiful suburbs on my way to the Bristol Auto Italia event when snap goes the Darmah's clutch cable: we've all been there, with that sinking bugger-there-goes-my-day feeling, as I coasted down a busy hill (it's still the A420 after all)and into a side road. Where to my utter gobsmakedness there's a bunch of bikers hovering outside a small workshop.

My guardian angel was truly on form - the workshop was home to Jim Mclean and Neil O'Dowd's Bike Care, the sort of old school bike shop I thought long gone. Despite a punishing MoT schedule Jim tried to find a suitable cable, but drawing a short straw made me one up. Turns out he's a Gilera and Morini fan, and has an MV 350 just like mine awaiting restoration. The crowd were top fun too - I especially like the Advisory note issued to a turquoise Honda: "Change the colour."

I still can't believe my luck - if the cable had broken a few hundred yards either way I'd have missed this perfect spot, and although I was an hour behind schedule, I've still got a warm and fuzzy feeling about the whole thing 24 hours later.