Happy 50th birthday, T3's!

[moto]

Many 850-T3's are turning 50 this year. Mine, number 100727, was built in February, 1975, so this is its birthday month. (Like many, it was titled as a 1976, even though it says "1975 MODEL" on the headstock plate.)

If you see a T3 on the road this year, don't forget wish it a happy birthday.

When I was 16, in the sixties, the idea of anyone riding a 50 year-old motorcycle seemed impossible. I knew that if I ever ran into one, it would be a pitiful old man. Well, there I go, down the road and around the bend.

Keep rolling!

Moto

[testa_di_formaggio]

My first Guzzi, '75 T3 LAPD with Spirit Eagle hack. Now, strictly solo bike. Hack is on disk Eldo.





T d F

[acogoff]

     I am that pitiful old man, I guess. But I have been riding mine only 49 years this coming June.
Its a '77 model, built June 1976. I purchased new at the old Leos, Bloomington, MN. Yours is way, way older.

[Gliderjohn]

Moto's T-3 is one month older than mine. My frame tag is March 1975. Love this bike!



GliderJohn

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I bought this poor mistreated '76 T3 FB on Jan. 28th for $500. At first it didn't look too bad, but a closer inspection and getting a little history from a friend of a former owner kind of changed that.

Not satisfied with using clamps to mount the Windjammer brackets, someone drilled through the front downtubes of the frame and bolted them on. Steering stop is busted off when the bike "knocked down by a left-turning driver". The frame is likely tweaked due to that. Wiring is a rat's nest. Engine needs to come completely apart to investigate a reported rod knock.

On the "good" side, it has a NOS headlight assembly, very nice exhaust, Lester wheels and a clear title.

I have a good replacement frame and main harness (thanks to the late Ron Komoroski), so at some point I may resurrect it.

[twowings]

Moto's T-3 is one month older than mine. My frame tag is March 1975. Love this bike!



GliderJohn

So, cake, ice cream, and fresh oil?

It's a beauty, John...wishing you many happy miles!

[JJ]

Seen at the New Mexico Guzzi Rally in Datil, 2021 & 2023...

[moto]

Moto's T-3 is one month older than mine. My frame tag is March 1975. Love this bike!
...
GliderJohn

Good excuse for adding a pic of my birthday bike! Love is the word.





Also excellent for Rocky Mountain destinations:

[JJ]

Good excuse for adding a pic of my birthday bike! Love is the word.





Also excellent for Rocky Mountain destinations:

Handsome, classic Guzzi...set up very nicely...for interstate touring!!   Well done!

[Pisano]

Happy Birthday to the T3s!!! 

[bigbikerrick]

Beautiful classic Guzzis!  The round head Tonti bikes are some of the best workhorse Guzzis made, IMHO.
Rick.

[ccoli]

I believe my recently acquired T3 was built January 1975 serial number 16. Has about 8k miles. Replaced the OEM tires and installed Gilardoni kits + lot's of other maintenance.


As found



Now.

[twowings]

Windjammer FTW!! 

[Tkelly]

I think of the t3 as the DC3 of Guzziis,not the fastest or coolest but the most faithful workhorse.Ihave a new 78 and that is my third.

[Anomaly]

Good excuse for adding a pic of my birthday bike! Love is the word.





Also excellent for Rocky Mountain destinations:

Sweet!
What screen is that?

[moto]

I believe my recently acquired T3 was built January 1975 serial number 16. Has about 8k miles. Replaced the OEM tires and installed Gilardoni kits + lot's of other maintenance.
...



Now.

Wow. Original pipes? and seat?!! A stunner!

Moto

[moto]

Sweet!
What screen is that?

Thanks! Givi A210, I believe.

[Gliderjohn]

Got in a little over an 80 mile ride this afternoon. Temps in the mid-sixties. Stopping at the entrance to our development to pick up the mail. Always a treat to have rides like this in winter.



GliderJohn

[Turin]

Happy B-day to my late 850T (with filter). At it's age, it's in far better shape than I am.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fS2beOvtkQ

[GuzziNZ]

Good excuse for adding a pic of my birthday bike! Love is the word.





Also excellent for Rocky Mountain destinations:

What colour is that on your T3 MOTO?

[moto]

It is supposed to approximate Legnano green, one of at least two shades of green on early seventies V7 Sports. You can see a good photo of it on a 1972 V7 Sport on page 105 of The Moto Guzzi Story by Ian Falloon, 1st edition, Haynes, 1999.




The old Legnano bicycle company racing frames had an iridescent "lizard green" finish on top of a metal plating. The company's color was well known at the time in Italy, like Ford blue and John Deere green are now in Wisconsin. Legnano green was apparently a similar colloquial descriptor, and not an official Guzzi name.

Specify Subaru Plasma Yellow Pearl to your painter. Tell everyone else it's Legnano green. (lane-yah-no)

[frozengoose]

Moto sez:  Many 850-T3's are turning 50 this year. Mine, number 100727, was built in February, 1975, so this is its birthday month. (Like many, it was titled as a 1976, even though it says "1975 MODEL" on the headstock plate.)

My T was built in October '74 and it's labeled a 1975 model, so I guess T's are '75s and T3s are '76? So is mine a late production T, or did they make them both at the same time. It doesn't have an oil filter. :(

The old Legnano bicycle company racing frames had an iridescent "lizard green" finish on top of a metal plating. The company's color was well known at the time in Italy, like Ford blue and John Deere green are now in Wisconsin. Legnano green was apparently a similar colloquial descriptor, and not an official Guzzi name.


I'd call it puke or bile green, it's like what you see on the bath room floor or out in the dog yard after a hard days night! :)

[moto]

...
My T was built in October '74 and it's labeled a 1975 model, so I guess T's are '75s and T3s are '76? So is mine a late production T, or did they make them both at the same time. It doesn't have an oil filter. :(

Yep, it appears that Ts were made up through the end of 1974 and that T3s started the next January. Some of each were marked "MODEL 1975."

The old Legnano bicycle company racing frames had an iridescent "lizard green" finish on top of a metal plating. The company's color was well known at the time in Italy, like Ford blue and John Deere green are now in Wisconsin. Legnano green was apparently a similar colloquial descriptor, and not an official Guzzi name.


I'd call it puke or bile green, it's like what you see on the bath room floor or out in the dog yard after a hard days night! :)

My wife wanted this color on her new Crosstrek and I acquiesced, even though it looked like puke to me. Two or three months later I realized it is also Legnano green, at which point I began to find it quite attractive, at least on a motorcycle gas tank with the black/white/red stripe I based on another V7 Sport. Go figure.

[frozengoose]

"My wife wanted this color on her new Crosstrek and I acquiesced, even though it looked like puke to me. Two or three months later I realized it is also Legnano green, at which point I began to find it quite attractive, at least on a motorcycle gas tank with the black/white/red stripe I based on another V7 Sport. Go figure.

Well there's no accounting for personal taste, is there. My wife prefers pale green, light blue, and brown, while "deep greens and blues are the colors I choose." I like the stripes on your tank, but it might take a good long while for that Legnano green to grow on me!