My kind of Moto Guzzi!

[Moto]

Why not build bits of photoshop bashed together? Its got 1400 cali heads on a small block motor the swingarm looks like its for chain drive, oh and half the reply's to this thread have said they are too old for clipon's. They don't have a  platform for this bike what on earth are you going to base it on? the V85TT? or the V9 roma with its 1970's suspension and geometry?

It is not bits of photoshop bashed together, from what I see.

In particular, the triangulation of the frame looks very much like the visible part of the V85 TT (minus the poop deck in back), in this left-side photo:

[Moto]

Allow me to lay to rest the idea that Bezzi is just photoshopping stuff. I'll use the Buccaneer as my example.

Look at the right side engine cover and the head treatment of Bezzi's prototype:





Now look at the same parts of the production bike, the Buccaneer:





Compare those two with the same parts of Yamaha's Virago-based cafe racer, the 1992 SRV250 (not released in the U.S.):





and the 1992 Virago 250:





I would make two points about this:

1. Bezzi didn't just photoshop the engine of the Yamaha. He redesigned its exterior (he's a designer). First, he followed the practice of some Japanese customizers of the engine by leaving off either of the two cosmetic valve cover covers [sic] that the Virago and SRV250 used.

But he also rejected the appearance of the right side cover, which has a central round protrusion reminiscent of a Harley. He considered what was inside that cover, and designed a new one that has a smaller round protrusion directly over the oil filter, instead of an enlarged cosmetic protrusion offset toward the center of the engine's vee. He also created the larger circular protrusion encasing the clutch, in contrast to the undifferentiated expanse of Yamaha's side cover. He made these changes for aesthetics, but in doing so he was intending to be more "honest" about the underlying mechanics, producing a more functional appearance. He didn't do this by photoshopping someone else's design. He looked at what lay inside the existing side cover and designed a new one that pleased him.

I have done a lot of perusing of custom and production motorcycles based on the Virago 250 engine, and I have not seen Bezzi's side cover on any of them. Yamaha's original Harleyesque cover was good enough for everybody besides him.

2. Bezzi's design was actually incorporated in the production bike, the Buccaneer. It wasn't just an idle exercise on Bezzi's part. Longjia created the die to cast that cover in aluminum, and produced them by the hundreds if not thousands.

So Bezzi redesigned at least one part of the Yamaha engine that no else thought needed redesigning, and got it into production.

That's no photoshopper. That's a designer.

I think that one little detail of the Buccaneer reveals that Bezzi is in fact a professional designer of motorcycles, doing original and interesting work.

Moto

[Turin]

yeah... No.
  I don't think he's had an original thought.
exhibit A

[Kev m]

Working is right.   6/10s to 7/12s currently.  Current project is supposed to be a 58% completion, a month ago was at 24%.  Currently at 43% bench mark is now 63%.  Weather has been hammering us up here.  Even the ducks are tired of the water. Looks like this until August or September.

Hang in there man.

Remember there's more to life than work.

But like I tell Fi and Shay, "You gotta work if you wanna eat."

[Moto]

Turin,

I don't see a drive chain on either of the examples you posted.

These are not even concept drawings. He photoshops bits of bikes and slaps that crap together. I recall one had a Guzzi engine and tranni in a 900RR frame with chain attached.
Two thumbs down.

Moto

[Turin]

I apologize, it was Luca Bar, a different hack. you can see the similar design ethos, so please forgive my mistake.

Anywho, the pics I submitted above are ONE bike, not two examples. I you download a pic of someone else's work and photoshop it, would that be plagiarism?

[Moto]

I apologize, it was Luca Bar, a different hack. you can see the similar design ethos, so please forgive my mistake.

Anywho, the pics I submitted above are ONE bike, not two examples. I you download a pic of someone else's work and photoshop it, would that be plagiarism?

Since it is not Oberdan Bezzi's design after all, your earlier aspersion is now moot.

As for the two other images, I see too many details that are different to believe one is photoshopped from the other. They are different designs based on the same Guzzi model, in my opinion. The one that doesn't have Bezzi's signature looks more like a copy, with suspicious murky areas in the gaps between frame elements. Why do you suppose Bezzi stole from the other one, instead of the reverse?

And I don't see your point anyway. A designer's job is to propose new designs. What would it matter if one or both were based on another image, so long as the results differ, as they do?

Finally, I've already given proof that Bezzi is doing more than photoshopping, in my discussion of his engine treatment above.

Just to be clear about my own position: I don't much like the bulk of Bezzi's designs, and never said otherwise. In particular I don't like his prototype for the Buccaneer. I do like some of his Guzzis including the Lemans V85 and the Monza.

I don't understand your hostility toward him. He's a designer, though minor, with taste you may not like. Leave it at that, and stop pointlessly trashing him. Just because you dislike him doesn't make him a fraud, and you have no basis for calling him one that I have ever seen.

Including, of course, your three recent photos, just discussed.

Moto

[Turin]

Wow. Ok ...uncle.

[gthorpe]

It's a very cool bike.

[JohninVT]

Bezzi is an independent designer who makes his living selling design services to manufacturers, according to every evidence I found on the internet. I believe he did the prototype for the Italjet/Longjia Buccaneer I bought.

My evidence for the latter belief is this series of steps:

1. He posted a design drawing of the prototype in the same portfolio that you dismiss as laughable.

2. A CAD drawing of the same design can be seen on a computer screen in a video of the CEO of Italjet, Massimo Tartarini, apparently in his Italjet office.

3. The same design was built and displayed at EICMA as an Italjet.

So this is one case where there is strong evidence of a Bezzi design being built. It is the only case I investigated.

What about the other designs in his portfolio? Were they all built? Of course not: They are a design portfolio intended to get him new customers.

Has he ever sold his services to major manufactures? Yes: There is a long list of clients in his portfolio [EDIT: in his resume, not the potfolio] several of them major manufacturers.

Did he make up that list of clients? No, because it would be bad for his future business to be caught lying about past clients, and the motorcycle design business is a small world where his lying would soon be known.

Bezzi is clearly in the motorcycle business as an independent designer, as his website says, and as the case history of the Buccaneer demonstrates. We are looking at a design portfolio intended to illustrate his talent, not a manufacturer's product catalog.

What you, or motorcycle ezines, or their other readers make of his portfolio is not his business. Design is his business, and he seems successful at it.

I guess it is pointless to make this argument again. But I see no justification for comparing his work to your posting your child's pictures on Instagram.

I certainly don't go crazy every time I see a new design by Bezzi on the internet. But I recognize him as a professional designer, and give him a little respect for that. So, I think, should you. But of course that is your business.

Do you have any evidence that should change my opinion of Bezzi?

Moto

Being a freelance designer who posts a lot on the internet isn’t the same as being Tamburini or Galluzzi. I think some of his designs, including this one, look good but that doesn’t mean he’s actually working for Guzzi in any capacity.  He posts pictures of motorcycles on the internet.  My 6 year old drew a picture of a motorcycle last week which I posted on the internet.  Neither of them work for Guzzi.  I think I’m going to keep an online portfolio of her work and say she’s a freelance designer. 

I honestly don’t care enough about your opinion one way or the other more than to post this reply.  Tell Bezzi I said hi.

[Moto]

I never said he was more than a minor designer, and didn't say he worked for Guzzi. I said he sells his services to manufacturers and is a professional designer.

Good luck on your child's new career. I'll say hello to Obie for you. 

Ciao