Most "characters" Guzzi dealer or Indi mechanic you have met.

[John Ulrich]

Anyone recognize the guy who answered the phone with  a 2 letter response,

Cheeze at MG Cycle?

[sdcr]

Who could forget Joe Eish? Call him up, order some parts. He sends them with a bill, you send him back a check. Who does that anymore.
S

Pete

Yes, ordered dozens of parts from them great customer service, and they usually had some of the more obscure Guzzi items.

John

[LowRyter]

One my favorite guys is a mechanic in a local shop.  He's about 5'6" and lost a few teeth, bald  and somewhere between 45 and 60.  The man is a wealth on knowledge about anything and everything.  Funny as hell and will talk your arm off.  He has quite a road racing resume.  Extremely good mechanic, discovered the cage bearing had come apart in my Greenie's gearbox, might've saved my life.   He's had a couple of bad crashes in the last year or so.  His leg and ankle were broken pretty bad and his foot was pointed sideway.   Just after that he wrecked again going to the laundromat, didn't have gear on went down hard, the bike caught fire burned all of his clothes.  I think he spent some time in ICU, he's coworkers had to bring him some clothes.  Anyway, he's back at it.  He didn't miss much worse considering how bad of shape he was in.  He's been working on my Duc and Greenie (hopefully we'll get the SKF tools to disassemble the gearbox soon).  I was there yesterday and he was parting out his Tuono that caught fire.  He was bright, cheerful, talked my ear off and funny as hell.  When I mentioned the shop was waiting for the socket from SKF, he was surprised, made a joke and said he'd just make one.

[Guzzidad]

Eventually, the State condemned the property, turned it into a Kwik Trip, and he moved to Eldorado WI of all places. Did business with him many times for some time before he passed, Joe Eish like he was, write a check, shake of the hand. Old, old school, sorely missed.......

  That's not quite how that went down. That Kwik Trip wanted that property for a long time and Marshal wouldn't sell. The Kwik Trip lawyers located his ex-wife who was quite the looker. They hired her to romance Marshal. One night when he had to close the bar she refused to leave and he had to physically push her out the door to lock up. She fell and "bumped her head". She (They) sued him for everything he had. That's when he was forced to move to Winchester.

[BMCMOTO]

Larry Klien at GT Motors in Lansing Michigan. Very intelligent and very honest. Guzzi drove him out with their bs in 07-08. He then concentrated on service and his growing book business. RIP 2015.

Brian

[PeteS]

I think Manfred Hecht deserves a place here. Not that I have spent a lot of time with him. I dropped off parts at his fortress in Williamsburg and picked them up. Chain smoking, intense, definitely one of the best Guzzi tuners out there.
Maybe a few others have deeper insights.

Pete

[sdcr]

Anyone remember Franz, the first owner of Spare Parts in Philly. The only Moto Guzzi dealer within 200 miles. Only shop to get parts quick back in the day, but you might have too wait outside the shop on Vine street, until he decided to open, irrespective of the posted hours. Pricing was also somewhat subjective. His protege took over a few years ago, and has a great reputation.

[Tkelly]

Larry Klein would bring Italian pastries to the Michigan rallies for dessert at the pasta dinners.Generous guy.

[kennneee]

As a kid fresh out of College I had the fanatasy of riding a motorcyle accross the USA. In the mid 70's it was not an everyday thing and seemed quite exotic to me. Watching Easy Rider probably had something to do with that. I fell in love with a 1965 BMW R50/2 with a blown motor which I bought for $600. Having always tinkered with motors I thought it would be a walk in the park to rebuild it myself. Long story short, it was above my pay grade. I wound up meeting a fellow BMW fanatic, Phil Cheney, and he took me under his wing and helped with the rebuild. Off I went for the better part of a year with $300, a half worn out tire strapped to the rear rack (for when the other half worn out tire was worn out) and had a life changing adventure. When I returned Phil was working at Lindner's Cycle Shop in New Canaan. CT. The owner was an old timer named Gordon Lindner and he had a side kick named Dick Sanderson. They were both still riding in their 70's (seemed ancient  to me then). I wound up hanging around the shop quite a bit since I had become a shop teacher in the same town. Lunch breaks were often spent at the shop . Back then you could grab a part you needed from stock and they would put in on your bill to pay later. They had a small group that did a Sunday ride and I felt privileged to be invited to join in. Over the years this ride grew to become a major event in Danbury Ct. Anyway, not many shops left like Lindner's. I am now in the age group that Gordon and Dick were when we met. How did that happen?!  I feel fortunate to have connected with some great folks at that small old time shop. It was later sold and grew in size and last I heard is now history.
Ken