Used Bike Guide's review archive - MOTO-GUZZI

Used Motorcycle Guide: Issue 128: Sample Only : To read the FULL Article Order on-line

LEMON TART
Fred Clayson learns to love his Le Mans.

She stood in the darkened alleyway, with just the ethereal glow of a sodium street lamp casting rippling highlights across her twin projections. I reached out with trembling hands and cupped her two beautiful Double D's. She was still warm, inviting…
I straddled her, whispered how much I needed her today, and how I was going to ride her all night. So saying, I couldn't contain my libido any more; fingers shaking, I guided them to my pocket and extracted the precautionary measure; then I arched over her and inserted my… Ignition key, ok?
Emmy - my beautiful Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mark V (or Lemon to you) - was like that, you know: it had taken the best part of two years' courtship to get to know her intimately like this, after an on-off, love-hate relationship that stretched the boundaries of a boy-meets-motorbike love affair.
Sure, I'd owned big Guzzis before: a smattering of T3s had taught me that you either love 'em or hate 'em; there is no middle ground with Guzzis, and you had to ride one to know one - nudge, nudge…
But the T3s had been good/bad; got me round the country - once on one cylinder, without a groan of protest, when I lost an exhaust valve. Some people say that Guzzis run just as well on one cylinder, and after a trip of 300 miles, she seemed hardly affected, speed-wise. Vouch for that, then…
Finish on those early behemoths was tardy by Italian standards that reached a new low; if you ignored the rusting silencers that ate metal from the inside out, and ignored the charge warning light that signalled a problem without actually affecting anything, then you could probably live with Guzzis in them there days, without quibbling too much. Rain caused electric shocks through the handlebars, but a squirt of WD40 into the switchgear generally fixed that, and if you put up with the lurching back end - due to the torque reaction - then you're probably a Guzzi man. Character aplenty, those old

machines. They don't build 'em like that any more. But my heart wanted a Le Mans, and talk of Mark Is and - to a lesser extent, Mark IIs - sent shivers down my spine. And here she was, albeit a lowly Mark V, being advertised on the Internet…£1850 notes was the going price, and a G Reg, low mileage model too. Cautious ponderings bothered me, but the guy was foolish enough to mention cheapness and Moto Guzzi in the same sentence, then went really loopy by publicising his email address. I wrote to him by return of post and got a worryingly- quick response.
Even the photo he mailed me - on my request - gave no indication of any problems; she looked beautiful, parked on his driveway, and I noticed the other two machines in the background, hinting at the possibility he was an enthusiast. Gulping back my misgivings, I arranged a meeting.
I fell in love with her when I saw her, my heart ruling my head, and it was her looks and grace that called to me, so much so that I didn't even bother taking her for a test ride. Big and black and spotless, she started first time and rocked gracefully with torque as I blipped the throttle. I couldn't really fault her.
The owner left me to my devices and I tried my best to find fault, but there was nothing; he'd installed Japanese switchgear, so no problem with rain or dodgy electrics, and aluminium exhausts meant less to rot. Checking the oil, I found it was golden and new, and everything worked as it should.

Just a slightly worn front tyre signalled a possible reduction in the asking price. He knocked £60 off, a fair offer in my books, and money exchanged hands. I rode her home, my daughter on the back, and marvelled at the power and torque of the machine, plus the music from the exhausts that only God could have composed. Just the scare of traffic backing up to me at 90mph told me I was being over-enthusiastic in my riding abilities, but the Brembo brakes were a Godsend and I soon started to act my age. So much power I had never experienced before, having just got shot of my last machine, a humble MZ250.

In truth, this machine was easy to ride, though the sudden onset of power as I twisted the throttle was sometimes enough to scare the pants off me. The heavy throttle was a new experience; seemingly the T3's weren't so heavy to work. But the Le Mans made up for the shortcomings by thrilling me with power on tap and a clutch that was so light, I hardly had to use more than one finger. Up shifting was clutchless anyway, and the gearbox was light and positive to work - possibly a new trend for Guzzis, which are usually agriculturally heavy and clunky. Seems every one is different, but the previous owner had cosseted this little bike.

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