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1956 Moto Guzzi V-8

36K views 72 replies 35 participants last post by  edward44 
#1 ·
Well I don't care what it's worth. If you're not going to run it, it might as well be carved from a block of wood.



No Italian worth his salt would ever let something like this sit silent.
 
#4 ·
A friend of mine shipped his Norton Manx over to Pukekohe, New Zealand from Idaho to compete in a few historic races a couple of years ago. One of the featured attractions was Sammy Miller riding a Moto Guzzi V8 that had been shipped over just for the event. Mike took a bunch of very cool & detailed pics of the bike & engine. He also shot a couple of short movies with audio, which I think you will find more a bit more interesting than the brief audio clip in the article.

Heres a link to a simple little web page I set up for him. Scroll to the bottom & you'll see a couple of hypertext links to the movies.

http://www.onewest.net/~ckirk/Bikes/Pukekohe2003/pukekohe2003.htm

Enjoy - Chris

BTW - Mike won 5 out of 5 of his races on the Manx!
 
#9 ·
Words cannot do the Guzzi V-8 engine justice. The sound of the engine under load reminds me of the Can-Am cars of the late 60s and early 70s. Just raw animal sounds.



The Guzzi V-8 surpasses even the sound of a V-Max with a 4-1 pipe at about 5,000 RPMs. (Listen to a Max with a pipe, you'll understand).



Thank you for the article. I remember reading about the project of the replica bikes a few years ago. (maybe 8 years ago?) The fellow that built them is considered a master machinist, and is kind of a national treasure in vintage racing circles, and if I remember correctly, he built those V-8's with all manual machines, NO CNC equipment of any kind.



It is worth looking up the articles on the replication of the V-8s.



Regards,



Mark
 
#11 ·
Really nice article. Yup, that guy really should run AND ride the Goose....



For MOrons who give a rats rear about heritage, check out "The Superior Sound of Classic Racing Bikes" Red Loft Records, 1997. Methinks -and I may be remembering wrong - but these recordings mostly took place at a Historic Bike Race at Assen in the mid 90's. Stereophiles take note: pretty ok recording, but nowhere near state of the art.



Narrated by Phil Read - hey, you get to hear Phil Read interview Phil Read, nudge nudge.



50 cc Honda & Suzuki twins, Kreidler's. 125cc Honda twin, four & five (!!!), 250 NSU Rennmax, Bianchi's, Jawa's, Gilera's, MV's, the mighty Honda 350 6 cyl, Norton Manx (blat!!), BMW sidecar twins...interviews with Ago.



Pretty cool stuff. Worth a listen if the CD is still current and available.
 
#14 ·
I have to agree with the others that say this thing needs to be ridden. There is an old Ducati/Norton dealership near me that has some really rare stuff. One of two John Player Norton's that raced the Isle of Mann (forget the year) as well as a Wankel Norton racer. Unfortunatley, these just get dusted as well. I suspect the cost (and downright ability) to replace is the driving force, but it is still a shame.



Oh, not to be overly technical but 500cc Divided by 8 cylinders = 62.5cc per cylinder, not 50cc.
 
#17 ·
I can't quite put a finger on it etiher...but you are right about the master machinest thing....actually I think that there are a couple of them. One in England has build a Honda 6 - I think it was in Motorcyclist a few yrs ago. The Britbike Mags such as Classic Bike write about these occasionally....



I also vaguely remember that Sammy Miller has more than a few of the various replicas.



Methinks I'd go mad trying to assemble a Guzzi 8 or Honda RC 148 - a 5 cyl 125 cc!!



I'd go even MADDER trying to shim a 14 speed gearbox from a Suzuki 50 cc twin...the mind boggles!
 
#21 ·
The CanAm cars of the early 1970s were the absolute pinnacle of unrestricted auto racing. The only things that begin to approach the magnificence on display during those races, but which are still pale shadows, are:

1) turbo-era F1 (through the late 1980s)

2) unlimited-class air racing

3) possibly some of the later IMSA GTP offerings (through the early 90s - XJR14, Eagle Mk. III etc.)

4) MotoGP, although I'm not sure which era - some late 500cc probably



cdg
 
#22 ·
That's one of the most interesting motorcycles I've every seen, but I agree with the prior poster - machines are meant to be used and their beauty and elegance can only be realized when they are under way.



It's almost a crime for that guy NOT to occasionally ride that thing. I understand it's a work of art, but the equivalent would be covering a Vermeer - always - and never looking at it for fear of somehow degrading the image with the exposure to light. The artistry only exists when the thing is actually moving.



I imagine that the man in the story is a relatively miserable individual.



The bike though - wow.



One wonders where that creativity is today. Ducati, the Japanese manufacturers, Triumph, Harley - there's very little innovation and a lot of refinement in today's bikes. There are some excetions in the chassis department (Honda's unit pro-link, BMW's Hossack front, and the Buell stuff), but there isn't really any engine novelty out there right now.



cdg
 
#26 ·
Thanks MO. Great story and pics. Man, what a scary sounding bike.



I've got an old record (given to me by John Morton, ex-factory Jaguar racer) that has a recording of a D50 Lancia at Monte Carlo in 1955 (driven by Alberto Ascari shortly before his death at Monza later that year).



Sounds quite similar, like someone ripping a sheet of steel in two.



 
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