The 1977 Moto Guzzi Le Mans (not yet a MkI, like a World War no-one expected the 2nd, Guzzi eventually got as far as the MkV, let’s hope that we have more sense) was not blessed with a comfortable seat. At that time a compressed foam moulded item was probably considered bleeding edge but time and UV radiation soon rendered it ‘bleeding uncomfortable’. This would have presented me no problems had my replacement saddle, a foam filled after-market replacement from the 1980’s not also succumbed to the passing years and was discarded by me, confident that I could just buy another one. Quality replacement saddles for this bike are thin on the ground.
I was facing the prospect of 10k miles on the wooden original when, as fortune would have it, I visited Peter Boggia of https://motoborgotaro.com/ in Brooklyn with my friend Adam. By chance Peter had an American made leather saddle from Corbin, mildly pre-enjoyed and at the fairest of prices considering that he also gave me a replacement switchgear for the left handlebar.
It appears that, outside of a very hip warehouse in Brooklyn, original switchgear is very hard to come by. Mine had long since ejected it’s horn/flash button to be ‘temporarily’ lashed up with a bent piece of metal that did the job just well enough to satisfy the Ministry of Transport, but not me. I was glad to rebuild it with parts from Peter. With hindsight I would not have attempted to solder wires onto terminals riveted to plastic. The plastic melted along with my aspirations of being a competent electrician, eventually I persuaded the molten mess to hold firm. This is how the contacts should look like:
If at this point you now expect me to post a picture of the after you have been misled, shame prevents me. Here instead is an image of the switch itself, cutting edge in its day but fragile.
Soldering in new wires did have the advantage that I was able to replace the socket into the loom with a new one to the original spec, Guzzi used Molex (TradeMark no doubt) connectors and I duly coughed up for an expensive kit including a proper crimp tool. Let’s hope that my crimping was more proficient than my soldering, up until now it is still soldiering on.
Le Mans man 