SELLER SAYS: This bike is totally restored and I have all the receipts to prove it! Contact Lex on 0419 907 592 (Perth, WA)
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: In 1972, respected American bike magazine Cycle had this to say about the Moto Guzzi Eldorado: ““It’s a bike for crossing continents, not states. It’s a bike that can carry 200lb of gear for camping and a passenger at the same time. And, it’s a bike that can eat up 300-mile sections of expressway and leave the rider free from fatigue.” A couple of years earlier, Moto Guzzi sold two V700s to the Los Angeles Police Department for $1 each. And around the same time, Guzzi paid for an LAPD officer to fly to Italy and test ride its bikes. These were audacious, aggressive marketing tactics by a relatively small, foreign motorcycle manufacturer (and one in a not-great financial situation, apparently) — daring to take on Harley-Davidson, perhaps the biggest and most successful motorcycle manufacturer on the planet. And it worked. Truth be told, Harley’s bikes of the early 1970s were not great. Quality control was dodgy, and there was an arrogance at H-D HQ that Americans in general and American police departments in particular, wouldn’t dare buy foreign motorcycles. But they did. The police bought thousands of Guzzis in the early ’70s, and Biker Buddy Average figured if they was good enough for the coppers then they was good enough for me too. A tourer version of the Eldorado was badged the “California” and it went on to be one of the most respected and successful highway bikes of all time. This stunning bike of Lex’s looks like a glorious example and would make a great regular ride or pampered collectible.
