I was not permtted to drive my mother's red Corvair Corsa to say nothing of dad's company cars - frequently test mules. My favorite being a boxy Chevy II with 430HP L88 being developed for the C2 Corvette (the Chevy II and the 'Vette weighed about the same). So I took $100 and bought a period Moto Guzzi - 125cc - about 8HP. Mine was used, already painted British racing green, so I put on flat bars from a Honda Hawk, made a race-style seat from fibreglass and thought I was Giacomo Agostini. It once topped 50 mph with a tailwind.
I sold this wonderful little bike a year later for, of course, something more powerful. I had never seen another one since that day, until in October 2004, Teri (my wife, who often rode pillion on this little Italian treasure) and I visited the Barber Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama. George Barber has collected, restored and displays more than 1,000 motorcyclces in a museum designed especially for them. Not one but two of my Moto Guzzi's are on display.
Photo courtesy of
Scott Larson
More power and more problems than you coud shake a stick at. But wicked (for 1970). This is not my bike but a beautiful unrestored version recently owned by Scott Larson. 30 HP and it would just about crack the ton, on a bit of downhill. The big single cylinder (9.5:1 comp) was kickstart only - cycle the piston to top-dead-center, release cylinder pressure with a small lever that opened the exhaust valve a smidge, and hurtle all your god-given goods onto the start lever. Eventually your right calf became twice the size of your left.
1970 BMW R50/5
"Airhead"
After kneeling on parking lot pavement for countless hours behind my college apartment fixing the failure du jour on the BSA, it was off to J&J Cycle who conveniently sold both BMW's and BSA's. A deal was struck. I became a Zeus of the macadam. 38 HP, all-day crusing speed limited to just 170 kph (they have autobahns, remember). What numbers. And in the 5 years and 58,000 miles we put on this 500cc R50/5, besides regular maintenance, I had only a headlamp bulb fail (in the day, of course).
