Way back in the day, when I first had the bike, I replaced the standard handlebar grips with aftermarket foam ones. My thinking was that they would reduce vibration to my hands, looked fairly hard core and even, and I’m pushing it here, were a little lighter.
They were glued on. At that time I may have assumed that my life would progress in such a magical meteoric rise that the perished and crumbling consequences of my past actions would not trouble me. Time proved me wrong.
She was always a reluctant starter, sometimes a kick to the solenoid would suffice and sometimes a sweating, panting run down the road followed by a leap of faith onto the saddle would rouse her into life. So it was when I finally gave in to the guilt and hooked up a car battery to turn her over and persuade a little lube around those dry and neglected canals. No joy, so I stripped and rebuilt the starter all to no avail and eventually bought an updated, uprated, replacement.
Old iron
Sometimes it’s hard to make a start on anything and sometimes it’s too easy to make a start on everything and then stall paralysed by the choices. For the Le Mans it the former and even the purchase of a motorcycle lift failed to spur this project into life. I prevaricated over what kind of project it would be, a sympathetic restoration, an oily rag rat bike or a wire wheeled, alloy tanked cafe racer. In my head I would one day find myself with the peace of mind to methodically address each component and, in a pristine well organised workshop meticulously raise each to a zenith of perfection.
I bought my Moto Guzzi Le Mans MK1 in August 1988 when I was 26, you do the math, from a motorcycle electrician who was canny enough to mark the bill of sale “sold as seen”. I was living in an end of terrace house in Charlton, London and already had a Guzzi Monza 500 so figured that I knew a bit about the breed. At the time there was an under-the-arches Moto Guzzi mechanic behind Deptford Market, Moto Mania, run by a lovely man, who’s name I don’t recall, He shared his knowledge and I shared my income in exchange for whatever tuning parts, Agostini rearsets, straight cut timing gears, sump extension, flat top carbs, dynamically balanced crank and pistons, that he recommended. The bike got rebuilt in my front room and I got the satisfaction that comes from learning and improving.
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Le Mans man 