Author Topic: 77 Lemans Joins the Herd (Read 5408 times)

Dave Swanson · « **on:** October 02, 2019, 07:56:01 PM »

A couple of weeks ago a 77 Lemans popped up on WG that was available. I contacted Dave and we came to agreement on a fair deal. Yesterday I made the 1000 mile drive to pick it up and back in 15 hours. The bike was represented very honestly by Dave and I am very pleased to finally have a Lemans 1 of my own.

The bike has a cosmetic issue that involves the fairing, which the local painter guru will easily fix and damage to the clocks which I will send to Palo Alto Speedometer service. The brakes will need a complete sorting out. And of course, new rubber. I will probably go through the bike completely as I did with the 1000S I purchased last summer. The bike has been sitting for well over 10 years.

The bike has the factory Lafranconi exhaust option.

It also has Bitubo air adjustable rear shocks. Does anyone know if these Bitubos were a factory option?

I am very happy with the bike and will start a thread in the Rebuild section documenting the bikes journey back to road service.

cliffrod · « **Reply #1 on:** October 02, 2019, 08:05:03 PM »

Hot damn- looks great. Glad it went to a good home. I'll be watching your progress.

s1120 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 03, 2019, 06:25:07 AM »

Looks sweet!! Enjoy the referb!

blackcat · « **Reply #3 on:** October 03, 2019, 06:29:28 AM »

Dave, Looks like a nice project, I’m sure you will do a superb job.

Wildguzzi.com · « **Reply #3 on:** October 03, 2019, 06:29:28 AM »

JJ · « **Reply #4 on:** October 03, 2019, 07:36:23 AM »

Good for you and CONGRATS!

The 850 Le Mans is one of the most iconic Guzzi's around!

Groover · « **Reply #5 on:** October 03, 2019, 07:44:06 AM »

Congrats, looks perfect!

Rough Edge racing · « **Reply #6 on:** October 03, 2019, 08:06:09 AM »

A nice purchase

Dukedesmo · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2019, 08:06:41 AM »

Nice.

Roebling3 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 03, 2019, 11:19:38 AM »

Congratulations, Dave! Best wishes.
I had a cosmetically raggedy '77 that came through Raceco Brooklyn, NY (Manfred Hecht, Amadeo Castelanni), back in the day. It felt quicker and lighter than the Daytona, on country roads. I don't name bikes or believe they have souls, but those 2 Guzzi's can make you yell in your helmet 24/7. Keep safe. R3~

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #9 on:** October 03, 2019, 12:01:31 PM »

Quote from: Roebling3 on October 03, 2019, 11:19:38 AM

Congratulations, Dave! Best wishes.
I had a cosmetically raggedy '77 that came through Raceco Brooklyn, NY (Manfred Hecht, Amadeo Castelanni), back in the day. It felt quicker and lighter than the Daytona, on country roads. I don't name bikes or believe they have souls, but those 2 Guzzi's can make you yell in your helmet 24/7. Keep safe. R3~

Was the Brooklyn dealer known as the Ghost?

Roebling3 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 03, 2019, 12:38:55 PM »

Dave,
Ghost Cycles was/is in Main St. Port Washington, Long Is., NY. Sal DeFeo & Son? 516-883-5300. I'm not certain it still exists.

Raceco, 333 Kent Av. Brooklyn, NY (there are ~6 independent mc shops in the near area).
Manfred sans Amadeo moved to UK, perhaps 30 years ago. Until retiring 2-3 years ago he was still operating as www.raceco.com at Saxmundham, Sussex IP17 1BE UK.
Although still making specialty engine parts for Guzzi's he had a much larger business in Formula Ford performance equipment.

As long as we're here, Dave: Manfred Hecht sold his tooling & equipment for MG transmissions and final drives to Charley Cole. www.zydecoracing.co m Sag Harbor, Long Is., NY. Check out Charley's web site. A greatly talented MG racer and technician. Good fortune, R3~

blackcat · « **Reply #11 on:** October 03, 2019, 04:30:38 PM »

Quote from: Roebling3 on October 03, 2019, 12:38:55 PM

Raceco, 333 Kent Av. Brooklyn, NY (there are ~6 independent mc shops in the near area).

Road by there the other day. Back in the 80’s I ran a business out of a loft that looked over Manfred’s home/shop and I always wondered who the hell lived in that building as it was a bunker. A few years later I bought my first Guzzi and it was pretty cool for me to actually see the inside of that building. The Neighborhood was pretty bad back then and it always smelled like burnt sugar as the Domino sugar plant was the biggest factory in the neighborhood located on the East River where ships would offload the sugar cane and do whatever that do to create sugar. At night, Kent Ave would turn into a cruise strip for prostitutes.

I am guessing at this, but Manfred would not like that neighborhood now.

canuck750 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 04, 2019, 02:15:57 AM »

Nice bike and you will turn it into a stunning beauty

I am enjoying the Italian roads it was designed for, riding the Amalfi coast today.

Jim

speedyg · « **Reply #13 on:** October 04, 2019, 12:13:30 PM »

Dave
Congratulations. You will have no regrets with that purchase.
I owned one back in the eighties and as it went off down the road, after I sold it, I realised my mistake and vowed to get another, which I did 25 years later. Big grins

all round.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2019, 09:19:15 AM »

Here's an update on what I found so far.

First a bit of history. I bought this bike from Dave who floated the bike out here on WG for sale. He was only a temporary owner. It had belonged to his long time buddy and fellow air traffic controller named Kyle.

Kyle bought the bike out of Arizona. It had belonged to Alan Trachtman (perhaps someone on the forum knows him). Kyle never transferred the title during his ownership from his time of purchase in 2009 to his recent, untimely death. What Kyle had done is taken it to Joe Eish (my best guess - no receipts) for a thorough going over after he purchased it. Other than being dirty from sitting for the last 10 years the bike has obviously been gone over thoroughly.

The engine/trans cases have all been thoroughly cleaned.

A Dyna III ignition has been installed.

With Dyna coils.

After all of this work I don't believe anymore than very limited miles were put on the bike.

There was a tipover accident that damaged the fairing and clocks. I am sending Harmut at Palo Alto Speedometer Service pictures of them this weekend.

The local motorcycle painter guru already has the fairing to fix.

Roebling3 · « **Reply #15 on:** October 05, 2019, 10:44:06 AM »

Nice to learn Palo Alto is alive and well. Thanx, R3~

Motorad64 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 05, 2019, 11:49:40 AM »

Very cool! Watching with interest as I’m in the home stretch on my ‘78 resto/revival. I don’t think the Bitubos were stock. Great bike!!

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #17 on:** November 08, 2019, 05:33:46 AM »

I received my LM 1.2 seat from Gutsibits. It is very nice!

Groover · « **Reply #18 on:** November 08, 2019, 08:28:43 AM »

The seat looks great, what a unique seat design for sure on those.

steven c · « **Reply #19 on:** November 08, 2019, 08:32:46 PM »

It's a great looking seat but you don't want to sit on it for long!

jas67 · « **Reply #20 on:** November 09, 2019, 06:21:16 AM »

I'll be watching. I'm sure you'll set a good benchmark for me to follow with my own '77.

I think for mine, I'll stray from the stock style seat to this one:

blackcat · « **Reply #21 on:** November 09, 2019, 07:58:45 AM »

I ordered this seat from Gutsibits a few weeks ago. Probably won’t get it for about a month,but that is ok as the bike isn’t finished.

earemike · « **Reply #22 on:** November 09, 2019, 08:09:38 AM »

I have those bitubo’s on my V7 sport - bought as aftermarket. Pretty sure they were not an option but look forward to someone disproving. My ‘78 long gone had koni’s from factory

Tusayan · « **Reply #23 on:** November 09, 2019, 08:35:06 AM »

Quote from: steven c on November 08, 2019, 08:32:46 PM

It's a great looking seat but you don't want to sit on it for long!

I’ve got just around 100K miles on my stock Le Mans seat of that type. I’ve always found it to be quite comfortable, the main thing on the Le Mans that makes the ergos work well for me is that I’m not sitting on the base of my spine, I’m instead resting on the flat seat with my thighs. It works for me, better than most of my other bikes

jas67 · « **Reply #24 on:** November 09, 2019, 10:07:31 AM »

Quote from: Tusayan on November 09, 2019, 08:35:06 AM

I’ve got just around 100K miles on my stock Le Mans seat of that type. I’ve always found it to be quite comfortable, the main thing on the Le Mans that makes the ergos work well for me is that I’m not sitting on the base of my spine, I’m instead resting on the flat seat with my thighs. It works for me, better than most of my other bikes

My issue with the Le Mans ('77) stock ergos is that it needs rearsets to go with the clip-ons. I'm very comfortable with the forward lean, but, feel folded up with my knees in my chest.

Tusayan · « **Reply #25 on:** November 09, 2019, 10:50:50 AM »

Good point, I have rear sets on mine.

moto-uno · « **Reply #26 on:** November 09, 2019, 12:29:04 PM »

I have to agree with "Tusayan" , that stock saddle was near torture after an hour and a half . Got a Corbin remake and it was transformed to armchair comfort . A decade later, my wife replaced it with a brand new Corbin saddle . Painful present , foam had changed completely (looked great) , before the year was out we put the Le Mans aside , just no comfort
at all , 9 years later it looks as new

. Before I had Corbin remake the original I went through two after market seats stocked by the Guzzi importer in Canada . Looked great , but by the time I got back to Ottawa from Montreal I realized they were all show and no go . But jeez they looked pretty . Peter
ps; the importer was a Franco Romanelli .

Kiwi Croc · « **Reply #27 on:** November 09, 2019, 04:27:44 PM »

I have put about 13,000 miles on my Le Mans since i have owned it and must say that the seat is a lot more comfortable than i was expecting. You are supported from your thighs ot your backside so pressure is over a larger area. I'm about 5ft 8' and 210lb..

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #28 on:** November 16, 2019, 06:10:10 AM »

Before and after. Back from Palo Alto Speedometer Service. Hartmut does very nice work!

blackcat · « **Reply #29 on:** November 16, 2019, 06:35:23 AM »

Nice, what cost?

News:

Author Topic: 77 Lemans Joins the Herd (Read 5408 times)

Wildguzzi.com

Rough Edge racing

canuck750