Guzzi single in Featherbed Frame

[mhershon]

Shot in 1953 in the UK, this is a Guzzi single in a Norton Featherbed frame. It was raced as you see it.

[john fish]

That's interesting.  Are the featherbed frame and forks that much better than the Guzzi equivalent?

[nc43bsa]

From what I've heard from constructors of that era, the featherbed was the best handling frame available, and almost every engine available was slotted into it by someone, somewhere.  Probably the most notable combo was the NorVin.

[Frenchfrog]

In terms of British made frames yes....
And this bike was assembled in the UK by a amateur privateer. When you look at the British riders ( Cann, Anderson, Wood,Kavanaugh,Lomas,Sandford,who used Guzzi 's on the Continental Circuit the frames they rode on were Guzzi or beam style Egli .The emphasis was not only rigidity but also lightness and the featherbed cannot compete on that last criteria.

[john fish]

Yeah, it's an interesting idea.  Considering the tuning that Norton did on the International engine, I doubt a privateer would have gotten as much power out of a Guzzi single.  Otoh, the horizontal position and lower center of gravity of the Italian single probably led to better handling than the standard Norton International. 

[PeteS]

Someone with a Falcone would have to comment but its frame doesn’t appear to have much road race cred. Friction dampers and little apparent travel.


Pete

[Frenchfrog]

the Norton, Gold stars, G50 and Gilera Saturnos were  possibly more powerful engines.The racing Guzzi's were not pushrod falcones by then though.
What Guzzi also did  was look for making the bikes as light as possible because they squeezed out as much as possible in terms of hp.
One small way to do this was to simply not put top coats of paint on the fairings of their race bikes  hence the green "tenni " color which was in fact a primer.Every gram saved was a plus !
The racing frames were also more than likely pretty different from the road going ones using lighter materials .
I've seen drawings of a factory horizontal Manx Norton ...from the late 50's or even early sixties perhaps but i don't know if they ever made it to the track.
"In the 1950s, Moto Guzzi, along with the Italian factories of Gilera and Mondial, led the world of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. With durable and lightweight 250 cc and 350 cc bikes designed by Giulio Carcano, the firm dominated the middleweight classes. The factory won five consecutive 350 cc world championships between 1953 and 1957"
That was achieved with the single cylinder engines and then they developed the astounding V 8's in 350 and 500 capacities...but faced reliability problems and then closed the race shop before any further work on those could be done.
If they could have afforded to carry they might well have had a world beater because that engine was so advanced.
A few privateers carried on with the singles and achieved good results for quite  while longer too ...similar to Dr John's achievements in the eighties against Ducatis.

[Muzz]

Did the Falcone ever come out as a DOHC? That one appears to be one; I only ever knew them to be just OHV.

Back in the day (yeah, that's me) the Featherbed frame and later model Roadholder forks were considered the beez kneez as far as handling went.

[moto-uno]

  Interesting this should come up . Back in the early 80's I had an 86 cubic inch XLH that didn't feel all that confidence inspiring anywhere near the ton !
  So that winter I fitted it up into a Norton slimline frame and to reduce weight I also removed the electric starter and it's enormous battery ! Well when my
180lb body could actually start it , what a blast to rocket around on ! Took it to Laconia ,New Hampshire that summer and by the time I returned home to
Ottawa I was ready for a leg replacement ! It went back into the HD frame with electric start and I sold the frame with Roadholder forks and wheels and I
never looked back ! That's my rant :) .

[pehayes]

Did the Falcone ever come out as a DOHC? That one appears to be one; I only ever knew them to be just OHV.

That engine is not a Falcone 500 (which would have been traditional pushrod).  The timing cover, oil pump setup, and carburetor manifold would be all wrong.  The Guzzi single cylinder engine you see here is a "Bialbero" or 'two shaft' for bevel driven overhead cams.  It was produced and raced from 1953 to 1957 in 250cc, 350cc, and 500cc versions with the 350cc being the most successful in racing.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[cliffrod]

  Interesting this should come up . Back in the early 80's I had an 86 cubic inch XLH that didn't feel all that confidence inspiring anywhere near the ton !
  So that winter I fitted it up into a Norton slimline frame and to reduce weight I also removed the electric starter and it's enormous battery ! Well when my
180lb body could actually start it , what a blast to rocket around on ! Took it to Laconia ,New Hampshire that summer and by the time I returned home to
Ottawa I was ready for a leg replacement ! It went back into the HD frame with electric start and I sold the frame with Roadholder forks and wheels and I
never looked back ! That's my rant :) .

I wanted to build one of those in a bad way.  In 02 in VT, I got a lead on a featherbed Norton- owner died while traveling out west, bike supposedly junk from water damage from bad tenants and it not know to have been sold.  Sounded like the perfect donor bike.  Eventually I reached the widow by phone, who said she would sell it. She knew what it was and what it was worth.  When I asked about details and model, she said the last registration card said “1961 Norton Manx”…. Needless to say, the sportster conversion plans went out the window.  I couldn’t wait to get it.

She was correct.  But, when I arrived and found how amazingly & unbelievably rusty it was AND that Manx in this case was simply the VT DMV abbreviation of ManxMan, I came back down to earth.   Never built such a bike. 

[PeteS]

WARNING- THREAD DRIFT

Regarding MOV Registrations in New York motorcycle names must have been limited to 4 letters back in the day.
My ‘71 Norton has always been NORT and the ‘76 LeMans is my MoGu and what I have I referred to them since.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.


Pete

[geoff in almonte]

  Interesting this should come up . Back in the early 80's I had an 86 cubic inch XLH that didn't feel all that confidence inspiring anywhere near the ton !
  So that winter I fitted it up into a Norton slimline frame and to reduce weight I also removed the electric starter and it's enormous battery ! Well when my
180lb body could actually start it , what a blast to rocket around on ! Took it to Laconia ,New Hampshire that summer and by the time I returned home to
Ottawa I was ready for a leg replacement ! It went back into the HD frame with electric start and I sold the frame with Roadholder forks and wheels and I
never looked back ! That's my rant :) .

Hey Pete

I remember that bike and the run to Laconia that year.  By the time we got back to Ottawa we were all exhausted from helping you bump start it.

 

G

[Deno]

Here’s a Suzuki 650 single in a slimline frame. Started by Skeeter at Thunder rd in Conyers, GA. Jim Hamlin got the motor aligned properly and made it road worthy.
It was a blast to ride when my arms and wrists were younger.

[Huzo]

lower center of gravity of the Italian single probably led to better handling

Is that how that works ?
Why ?

[Huzo]

Probably the most notable combo was the NorVin.

’Sounds better than a Toncent…

[Muzz]

Is that how that works ?
Why ?

Certainly makes it more flickable for one.