As soon as I walked into the shop to pick up spark plugs for my Suzuki , two identical black Guzzi's caught my eye. I asked Burt about them and he said two buddies traded them in for GL1000's. They were the first one's in the shop and they had to have them.
I hope they were more happy with their impulse buy than I was with my CB750.
I pick out my goose, sat on it and said, "Sold!"
Now all I had to do is get my wife on board. No easy task.
When she asked what kind of plugs I bought, I told her Moto Guzzi, and a motorcycle came attached to them.
After a incredulous look, she stammered, "Who the hell makes Moto Guzzi motorcycles?"
"They make their own bikes! They're Italian!", I blurted back.
She threw her hands up in the air and said, "Now we'll have to buy a pickup truck to haul it home when it dies on the road!"
She had friends who owned Italian bikes and heard all the horror stories. She wasn't a happy camper.
A trip down to Burt Ives in Columbia brought her face to face with one of the best bikes I've ever owned. It was beautiful to my eyes: chrome and black pin stripped tank with black pin striped fenders. All she saw was the transverse V-Twin and said, "Don't the Italians know how to mount a motor in a frame?"
Old Burt saw I was in trouble.
With a sparkle in his eye, he ambled over to us and did what he did best. He flirted with her. She warmed up a bit and I knew I was home free.
After a bit of persuasion, I got her to take a test ride with me. Within five miles she wanted this bike. It had a great seat, solid ride and sounded like a 40's flat head Ford when taking it through the gears. It's distinctive sound was enhanced because it had "police" mufflers on it, less restrictive than the standard ones. I liked the rocker shifter, and the light vibration of the bike. It was the right bike for me!
My Guzzi took us on adventures and introduced us to long distance riding. I averaged 24,000 miles a year on her. I have many memories from those days.
One quickly comes to mind:
When I bought the bike, I knew I'd be putting a fairing and hard bags on it. I chose a Wixom, bat wing fairing for the look and Bates "Big Fats" hard bags for storage capacity. If you want to lay down miles, you have to be able to stow stuff. The fairing brings us to my first Guzzi tale.
I was heading home from work at dusk. Just as I passed Munson's Candy Kitchen, Home of Mega Fat Grams, I heard a loud PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS coming from my bike.
"CRAP!"
I rolled off the throttle, eased to the road shoulder and got ready for the familiar wobble to take hold. "What?" The bike didn't wobble. I got off and was relieved to find I didn't have a flat.
"WHAT THE HELL?"
I took off my lid, checked her over and shook my head. I couldn't figure out what happened to my bike. I decided I shouldn't have so many brews at work (I worked at a small auto parts store and my boss liked to knock down a few frosty cold ones before facing his wife). I joined him and discussed the hot topic of the day (IE the red head with big yams that walked past our store).
Well, I put on the skid lid and headed home.
10 miles down the road, in Columbia... PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"WHAT THE HELL?"
I pulled over, got off the bike and checked it out. With the motor off... PSSSSSSSSSSSS. "Man, I got to stop drinking! Period!"
I got on her, lit her up and blasted home.
I pulled into the walkway to my trailer, shut her off and ............. PSSSSSSSSSS!
My wife was at the door and said, "What's that?"
My response, "Thank God you heard it!"
A perplexed look came over her chubby face, then she understood. Both of us were going nuts in our marriage at this time and for all I knew, she was hearing stuff too!
After careful examination, I stuck my hand into the right side of my fairing. She shouted, STOP." Taking a small branch, she probed where my hand was heading.
CHOMP!
After a serious yank, she dislodged a bat from my bat wing fairing. I felt a moment of sincere love for my lady, shook my head, went into the trailer and pulled out a frosty cold one.
This was a truly great day in my life! I found out I didn't have to give up drinking beer after all!
To Be Continued
Ride Safe and Free
Ron
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