1981 Moto Guzzi 850 LeMans – $10,000
Moto Guzzi LeMans 850 for sale
SELLER SAYS: This bike started life as a Mk II. I was knocked off it 16 years ago, not a biggie, but wrecked the front end and the tank. Insurance wrote it off, although I’ll swear the frame was not bent. I rebuilt it into a Mk III frame. I wanted better suspension and brakes. It has a Showa upside down front, legs bought new, in custom yokes. A lot of design went into this. They’re 25mm shorter (at any given compression) than stock, steepening the rake by one degree. Wilbers shocks on the rear. 320mm full floating front discs, Gold Brembo four-piston calipers, Borrani wheels, Trispark ignition. Drive train (engine, gearbox, swinging arm, bevel box) is stock 850cc Le Mans II. The dash and handlebar furniture is too, albeit modified. Likewise the mudguards. Staintune exhaust. Tank is a 30-litre polished aluminium work of art. Has one small dent from being knocked over in a servo recently, visible in the photo, but I will pull that out. Ducati SS fairing, LED lighting. Contact John on 0408 320 511 (Greensborough, Victoria).
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: One of history’s most marvellous sports bikes, with modern-day suspension and brakes? Hey; what’s not to love? Moto Guzzi’s LeMans was a game-changer when first released in 1976, bringing superb handling, glorious power and to-die-for styling into a single, exotic package. The very idea of a Moto Guzzi sports bike had its opponents within the company in the late ’60s, but a stand-out performance at (you guessed it) the LeMans 24-hour endurance race in 1971 injected unstoppable momentum to the idea. Ten hours into that race, a bored-out and souped-up V7 Sport had pulled away from the pack and held a commanding lead. A broken rocker arm threw a substantial spanner in the works, and the bike limped back into the pits. The support crew ripped into the engine, replaced the part, and got the bike back onto the track. By then the lead was long gone, but the Guzzi clawed its way back to finish an astonishing third. It took the company five years (hey, what’s the rush?) to finally get a factory LeMans to market, but it was an instant success. The early LeMans, like this Mk2/3 of John’s, were 850s with big round cylinders. I owned a later MkV, with squared-off cylinders and a 1000cc motor. I loved it to bits, but I always yearned for an 850. If I close my eyes, I can imagine this bike at speed with that thundering engine, tucked in behind the SS fairing, setting up for an S-bend with a dab on the brakes. It makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck! Definitely one here for the Guzzi faithful, blending old-world passion with a touch of new-world performance. Very nice.
