Sky TV/Moto Guzzi show on customizing the V7 II

[rob-mg]

http://www.garagemotoguzzi.com/it/lord-of-the-bikes/

Moto Guzzi has uploaded several excerpts  to its YouTube channel, and it looks like more are to come: https://www.youtube.com/user/motoguzziofficial/videos

[Penderic]

Looked at a couple of the clips. Ugh.

More like a bunch of kids customizing add-on 'Mr Potato Head' type accessories. 



At least it is a change compared to the manditory Harley custom building race against the clock theme.

And maybe others watching will be inspired to do better. 

[Penderic]

Maybe the legal worries of lawsuits makes them restrict the scope of the customization to stick on bits. Pity.

Understandable.

Was hoping to see stories on custom V7II builds that looked somewhat like these other examples:









Not all to everyones taste.
 

[Dogwalker]

Looked at a couple of the clips. Ugh.

More like a bunch of kids customizing add-on 'Mr Potato Head' type accessories. 

The customization was not only aesthetical. The proposed theme was that of an "explorer" bike, and there was a budget limitation, so, many of the pieces (as the entire bodywork of the winner bike, with 35l gas tank , 13l water tank and it's sump guard / showel) had been done by hand by the customizers.

[sib]

Not all to everyones taste.

I like the ape-hangered Guz-Hog

[kevdog3019]

The customization was not only aesthetical. The proposed theme was that of an "explorer" bike, and there was a budget limitation, so, many of the pieces (as the entire bodywork of the winner bike, with 35l gas tank , 13l water tank and it's sump guard / showel) had been done by hand by the customizers.

I can't think of a more unapproachable Guzzi than this.
I did mine on the cheap and a first build.

[Dogwalker]

I can't think of a more unapproachable Guzzi than this.

Is not really so different from a NTX650.

However, complete episode:
First part: http://video.sky.it/skyuno/spettacolo/lord_of_the_bikes_1_episodio_parte_1/v275654.vid
Second part: http://video.sky.it/skyuno/spettacolo/lord_of_the_bikes_1_episodio_parte_2/v275662.vid

[rodekyll]

I think the only thing worse than building an item to a price point rather than a quality point is building it to a time point rather than a completion point.  These 'reality' builds offer the worst of both worlds -- unridable, unsustainable, and probably unstreetlegal.  I spit in their general direction.

[Groover]

Is not really so different from a NTX650.

However, complete episode:
First part: http://video.sky.it/skyuno/spettacolo/lord_of_the_bikes_1_episodio_parte_1/v275654.vid
Second part: http://video.sky.it/skyuno/spettacolo/lord_of_the_bikes_1_episodio_parte_2/v275662.vid

Cool, complete episode links! Thanks! I had posted on another thread some information on this same show, but I wasn't having any luck finding the full episodes. I'll watch those tomorrow.

In regards to the show... it's just another junk TV show (but in Italian); just like tattoo competition shows, costume & mask shows, home flipping shows. Entertainment value only. Most people in their respective hobbies can do a better job, and we've seen a lot of those great skills here on this forum.

Still, I'll take it. I don't think we're ever gonna come across another TV show based on Moto Guzzi anytime soon... Maybe a music Video at Harper's now, but that's probably it 
 

[rodekyll]

I agree that it's cool whenever a guzzi is placed in the public view, and in that respect I can be excited about the program.  I'd even participate in a build involving some of my goofy ideas (not that they'd want me to).  But I'm the kind of guy who builds until I'm satisfied that the job is done, not until it's quitting time on Friday.  These shows with artificial time and cost constraints and WAY artificial 'reality' are literally building movie props -- cartoons, not machines -- if you can call the derivative, tinkertoy-assembly approach to bolting together pre-fabbed modules 'building' something.  There are only so many ways to beat a dead horse.

$0.01

[Penderic]

Some Italian visual inspiration! Happy Days!

https://vimeo.com/144322129

[Dogwalker]

Just a moment. We all know that's only another "competition reality" like thoose made on tatoos, cuisine, pastry, and so on, and the only added value here is it's close relationship with Moto Guzzi.
But the competitors are professionals, not hobbysts. To make things at time and price point is part of the work. You can't say to the customer that the budget doubled, or that you need another month to complete the work, cause you are not "inspired" enough.

[rodekyll]

Whoa there -- are we talking about that completely hideous thing in the picture above?  The green one with the built in water tank where the seat should be and apparently the pilot sits on the end of the tailpipe with his knees in his jacket pockets to ride out ten gallons of gas (or is that piping the voice trumpet to the engine room)?  The one that got the colostomy bag randomly stuck to the muffler?  With the front fender exactly big enough to add weight without the additional burden of function?  If you supply the donor, I could mash together that mismatched cluster of confusion with a crowbar and half of a falling tree in under two parties.  It would only cost you a six pack and fries, and if the donor cost you anything you will have overpaid.

Anyone who has ever bid a job anywhere or taken on a restoration knows that in reality time and budget double.  Anyone who can't accept that stuff happens and budgets and deadlines get broken is not a professional.  The smart ones don't work under artificial time and money constraints -- it's not a viable business model -- and customers who are serious about custom work don't make arbitrary, stupid demands like that.  That's reality.  Also, the guy who depends on inspiration to work is an artist.  The professional is the guy who thinks about it completely and works dispassionately.  The professional would never say he needs another month because he's not inspired enough.  He'd have plenty of reality-based reasons for the delay.

In reality shows it all happens in neat 1/2-hour installments for exactly the allotted time + commercials.  It's some variation of:  Drama runs high as the designers go nose-to-nose arguing over whether or not the chromium plate on the deaths-head shift knob should be AAAA 'concourse' grade or the more mediocre AAA 'show' grade.  Meanwhile, the bike has no front brake and no plans for one.  The seat is a vertically mounted q-tip, and the tank holds a quart.  The build however is a success, because the main design concept -- that the bike be red -- has been met. 

Now in fairness, I did not watch the videos of this project.  I sampled a couple of the 'oc chopper'-type programs in the past (they also did a guzzi-based 'build') and would rather run over my other foot with a fleet of subarus than watch another.

'night, now

 

[rodekyll]

My first 'build' was a 1948 BSA ZA10GF (650cc pre-unit 'plunger' frame BSA) 'chopper'. 
Extended springer front end.  No rake.  Spool front wheel.  Peanut tank and a bicycle seat.  Z bars.  Couldn't do a U turn on an international runway.  But it was the 60s and my buddy had a barn to hide it in and a gas welder.  In retrospect one should have burned the other down, but somehow we managed to not injure or destroy ourselves, other animals, or structures in the making of the bike.

It was done before I could be licensed to ride it,  so you know about how it looked.  But it ran, and eventually stopped throwing chains.  When I rode it down the power line roads to Morrie's Motorcycle Salvage to show it off to Morrie, Morrie was out.  It was a shame, because I'd ridden my bicycle there a few times every week for a coupe of years and degreased and tagged parts from bins and put them on shelves to pay for the bits I built it out of, dreaming of the day this would happen.  Some new guy was at the counter.  He misunderstood when I asked where Morrie was, and wanted to know if I had a title for the smoking, dripping, hot mess out front.  He thought I was scrapping it.   

Morrie though was uplifting when he saw it.  "Well, boy, you got it all to fit between the wheels.  Good start."    

It was just high enough praise to keep me plugging at it with all sorts of vehicles ever since.


And oddly, it's the only bike I ever had stolen.  Go figure.

[Dogwalker]

Anyone who has ever bid a job anywhere or taken on a restoration knows that in reality time and budget double.  Anyone who can't accept that stuff happens and budgets and deadlines get broken is not a professional.  The smart ones don't work under artificial time and money constraints -- it's not a viable business model -- and customers who are serious about custom work don't make arbitrary, stupid demands like that.

"stupid demands"?
Starting from a new bike?
What happens?
usually, the price of handlebars, shock absorbers, sheet metal and so on, all suddenly double after the budget is made?
All the bolts suddenly become incredibly long to screw and unscrew?

Anyone that take my new V7 to do a certain, programmed, work for a certain, programmed price, and then calls to tell me that the price is doubled, and the bike will be ready a month late, certanly will not see my money.

[Groover]

Guys, everyone needs to relax and enjoy the ride on this one for what it's worth. I too feel the need to jump in and explain the show a little because of the language barrier, and also defend some of the competitors on the show. A lot of those guys have been in the bike business for decades, they're not just a hipster being in a show. Most have real shops, and a lot have been doing customs and restorations for decades. Now that that is out, it doesn't mean that they are great at it. I'm sure some are, and some will be hacks. Some of the stories of the contestants during the intro described them as obsessive at motorcycle work, where they just don't sleep until the job is done perfectly (that's in their real lives) - I think a lot here can relate.

Here is a wrap-up of the first/intro episode in my own words and what the show is:

- 10 teams to customize a V7II on a weekly theme-based challenge with 3000 euros budget, a new V7II per team to use for the challenge and 15 days to complete it. Only 2 teams per week compete in the 1-1 competition for the given theme.

- Each week, there will be a preliminary challenge kicking off the first part of the 1-hour show that includes all current running teams. Winner of this preliminary challenge gets an extra 1000 euro budget and also get to pick which team to take to the 1-1 competition for that week. Winner of the week's 1-1 competition moves on to the finals, losing team goes home.

- The weekly theme for the 1-1 competition is not revealed until the weekly preliminary challenge is over.

- This week's 1-1 competition was to make an "Explorer Bike" (as Dogwalker already mentioned) out of the V7II that would be capable to ride long distances and in different terrains. The preliminary challenge on the other hand, was to do a sketch/drawing of a bike that represented them (their team) best.

- The winner of this week's 1-1 competition (the green tanker bike) won because it met the criteria of the challenge, not because it was stunning. The other team went with more style (leather accents, etc) but didn't meet the criteria of the challenge as well as the other team. Green tanker bike team advanced, other team went home.

- The judges did speak the truth about the bikes. They pretty much said it how it is, and weren't gawking at the bikes necessarily. The judges are pro-customizers themselves. One has been working for Moto Guzzi as a customizer for years.

- The final 5 get to customize the new V9 instead of the V7 II used in the preliminary phases.

Winners get:

- A new 2016 Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress worth 25k euro

- A contract with Moto Guzzi for the production and marketing of a custom kit (for the V9 I assume) designed by them with their name on it.

- A cover article on a notable motorcycle magazines.

I hope that explains some.

[Waltr]

 Ringo looks like someone that shouldn't be allowed within 200 yards of a schoolyard and I always wondered what happened to Elvira AND Pablo Escobar.   

[Dogwalker]

The judges are pro-customizers themselves. One has been working for Moto Guzzi as a customizer for years.

Filippo Barbacane.
http://www.officinerossopuro.it/moto/

[rob-mg]

Further to my original post, Moto Guzzi upload four more extracts today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4NbFHVqjMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AVpbmP21h8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_xIcXquY3Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-r42CX7wU0

[PJPR01]

 :1: :1: Entertaining clips! 

[Groover]

I'm gonna wait until Dogwalker or someone else posts the full episode links hopefully. I want all the related drama and fluff that's tied to each projects   

I tried finding them on Sky Uno site, but I'm not having any luck.

[Dogwalker]

Unfortunately, it seems that Sky Channel will not upload other complete episodes after the first.

This time, the preliminary test had been to create a maquette of a bodywork in polystyrene.
South Garage ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-r42CX7wU0 ) won, and decided to challenge Team Anvil ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_xIcXquY3Q ). This time had been really two different philosophies clashing.
The theme of the challenge was "a bike for a Quentin Tarantino movie".

Team Anvil made a chopper.
South Garage a caf� racer.

[rob-mg]

Unfortunately, it seems that Sky Channel will not upload other complete episodes after the first.

This time, the preliminary test had been to create a maquette of a bodywork in polystyrene.
South Garage ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-r42CX7wU0 ) won, and decided to challenge Team Anvil ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_xIcXquY3Q ). This time had been really two different philosophies clashing.
The theme of the challenge was "a bike for a Quentin Tarantino movie".

Team Anvil made a chopper.
South Garage a caf� racer.

Any chance of someone who gets Sky TV recording the episodes and uploading them to , say, Dropbox?

[Groover]

I've been following this just on Instagram, and we have a winner:

Silver Knight (V9)





http://www.garagemotoguzzi.com/it/lord-of-the-bikes/

(I'm digging the new add image to post feature. Thanks Luap!)