Back in December 1993 I bought a rough, lightly crashed/scorched 1979 Guzzi 1000SP. I took it apart and started accumulating parts and sending work out (ported big valve heads, Megacycle cam, Carrillo rods, Sudco FCR41 kit (ex-Godfrey), later Guzzi fine spline clutch components, alloy timing gears, new u-joint/drive shaft assembly, etc), and finally about 19 years later, after languishing in storage, I sold it to a friend. He sent the trans and final drive to an East Coast Guzzi racer (Charley Cole) who specialized in working on those (taking the business and all tools/tech over from the US Raceco when they closed) and had them gone through. He bought some other stuff (I just noticed a sump spacer with an external oil filter in the photos below) and assembled the wheels with the flangeless WM4/WM5 Akront rims I'd purchased.
Steve ran into some stumbling blocks and lost interest and today the Guzzi came back to my garage, nearly 28 years after I first purchased it. It is funny how the marbles can be swapped in circles like that.
When I started I was actively racing and wanting to build a semi-cafe racer hotrod. Now, I'm more interested in a solo rider sport tourer (with pumped engine).
I've got a couple of waist-high stacks of tubs filled with parts that I need to inventory. After cleaning up a set of stock small-valve heads from one of those boxes I'll get port molds from them as well as the hotrod heads that need some exhaust manifold fastener rework, just in case I have to replicate the ported heads.
Nothing will happen quickly, but hopefully something may actually happen -- some day. But I've gotten to where having something to fiddle with and do research/planning/CAD etc are entertaining enough to satisfy me even if riding isn't taking place.
cheers,
Michael
From 1993:
Today:
Steve ran into some stumbling blocks and lost interest and today the Guzzi came back to my garage, nearly 28 years after I first purchased it. It is funny how the marbles can be swapped in circles like that.
When I started I was actively racing and wanting to build a semi-cafe racer hotrod. Now, I'm more interested in a solo rider sport tourer (with pumped engine).
I've got a couple of waist-high stacks of tubs filled with parts that I need to inventory. After cleaning up a set of stock small-valve heads from one of those boxes I'll get port molds from them as well as the hotrod heads that need some exhaust manifold fastener rework, just in case I have to replicate the ported heads.
Nothing will happen quickly, but hopefully something may actually happen -- some day. But I've gotten to where having something to fiddle with and do research/planning/CAD etc are entertaining enough to satisfy me even if riding isn't taking place.
cheers,
Michael
From 1993:
Today: