Moto Guzzi Classics in California

Posted on by admin

Table of contents

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

Moto Guzzi Classics in California

Moto Guzzi Classics in California

Moto Guzzi Classics in California

Moto Guzzi Classics in California

19th pictures

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

1/19
Old-school Guzzi screwdriver Mark Etheridge.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

2/19
One last look at the hodgepodge, then …

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

3/19
He loves simple, straightforward technology, likes engines with two cylinders: welcome to the own world of old-school screwdriver Mark Etheridge in California.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

4/19
The man has a bird! Beaver is the name of the motorbike-loving parrot owned by Mark Etheridge, the head of Moto Guzzi Classics.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

5/19
Techno-Krad: the V 1000 I “Convert” (from 1975) with hydrodynamic torque converter, two-speed gearbox and…

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

6/19
… separate parking brake on the rear wheel. Price? $ 4,000.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

7/19
Charged self-made: 1000 Guzzi V2 in an Ariel frame with Triumph fork and Lambretta seat. Garnished with …

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

8/19
… a compressor, “just to be different”. A friend builds all of this, and Mark gives him advice and action.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

9/19
The beautiful V7 “Ambassador” with a 757 cubic V2 was built especially for the US market in 1969/70. Splendid: chrome-plated tank sides.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

10/19
However, only police machines had that many indicator lights.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

11/19
To put it positively: As is well known, chips fall wherever planing is carried out. So don’t be alarmed at the next picture.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

12/19
In terms of quantity, the stock of spare parts is certainly impressive, …

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

13/19
… qualitatively, there would certainly still be some room for improvement.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

14/19
… we accompany Mark back inside on his 850 Eldorado. Incidentally, the Vietnam veteran usually wears a helmet.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

15/19
Ugh outside, hui inside? At least the machines on display can be seen in contrast to the parts in the backyard.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

16/19
More courage! It doesn’t always have to be a V-twin. The 125cc scrambler is waiting for restoration. Or buyers.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

17/19
More light! Additional headlights in the style of ex-police machines and full regalia like the Vespas of English mods.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

18/19
More steam! The 1962 Plymouth Valiant is Mark’s private passion, heated up to 300 hp for drag strips.

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
Blacksmith

19/19
A “C” fell and the green-white-red faded. does not matter.

Sports & scene

Moto Guzzi Classics in California

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
The Guzzi Whisperer

Content of

He loves simple, straightforward technology, likes engines with two cylinders: Welcome to the world of the old-school Guzzi screwdriver Mark Etheridge in California.

Thomas Schmieder

08/10/2015

The best Guzzi screwdriver in the world? For actor Hannes Jaenicke, who has his second home in California, the Moto Guzzi Classics is in Long Beach. There he had bought an 850 Eldorado, “a former police motorcycle”, as he told me in an interview. “The owner is a little crazy, but the machines he lends a hand on hold great!” Which is why the actor’s 1999 California never causes problems, it “runs reliably like a tractor”. Two years later I’m in Los Angeles myself. And remember Jaenicke’s words about this slightly unconventional Guzzi screwdriver. Yes, my curiosity is aroused.

Buy complete article

Moto Guzzi Classics in California

Moto Guzzi Classics in California
The Guzzi Whisperer

4 pages) as PDF

€ 2.00

Buy now

Long Beach? There the once English Queen Mary from 1936 lies prominently in the harbor as a museum ship, floating hotel and restaurant. On the way to one of the most beautiful ships of all time with the most passengers ever carried Moto Guzzi Classics. First impression of the corrugated iron workshop: Good, the owner must be Italophile, the green, white and red paint in the Italian national colors suggests that. However, the green is quite faded. And the lettering “Moto Guzzi Classics” is missing a “C”. “Unfortunately, my painter has died,” says Mark Etheridge, welcoming me to his Guzzi world. Well, not an everyday greeting, I think.

“I’ve got a lot of shit”

With his slender face and dark blonde hair, Mark, born in 1954, has some resemblance to Clint Eastwood. Without a word, he goes back to his workshop and continues to work on a 1977 Le Mans. I follow him and am amazed. Because here the walls are full of mudguards, tanks, lamps – everything that no longer fits on the overcrowded shelves. Engine housings, cylinders, pistons, painted parts, speedometers, replacement and new parts as well as various filters are stacked in it. “I’ve got a lot of shit,” says Mark, explaining the remains of many slaughtered Guzzis.

The full length of the clutch and throttle cables hang down like curtains. Neatly sorted by type. Next to it posters of film icons, already a little yellowed: Sean Connery, in 1971 while filming “Diamantenfieber”, stylishly dressed in a suit on a Guzzi with “Sheriff” on the panel. Or Marlon Brando on a Triumph Thunderbird in “The Wild One”. Mark has no employed mechanics; his shop is a one-man show. “I like Guzzis because they’re simple to set up and easy to maintain,” he says. Now and then he still screws on two-valve boxers from BMW, but that’s about it.

Mark doesn’t particularly like Harley riders

Mark doesn’t particularly like Harley riders, “too much money, too much attitude”. And there are too many different types of Japan bikes. So the Vietnam veteran does not turn out to be the grand master of tolerance. He has been working on Guzzis since 1981. Before that, he took care of bodywork on Porsches. But rust treatments and grinding work were not what he was looking for. And so he turned his passion into a profession. “I do basics, not high-end, nothing for thousands of dollars.” Simple mechanics. The old-school screwdriver paints itself, in good quality, and also draws decorative lines by hand. Only the electrics give him little pleasure. Just like now, with the search for the fault in the Le Mans circuit.

Nearby, the Los Angeles Police Department wrote Guzzi history: the police department, which had the largest motorcycle fleet in the world at the time, ordered the first V7 government vehicles in 1968, more than 85 in total. That was an immense image boost for the Italian manufacturer, important for the breakthrough of the new V2 models. Because what was good for US cops, who also drove Guzzis in Seattle, Phoenix / Arizona and Orange County, wanted to move more and more people in the USA and Europe. This wave also reached Mark.

“80 dollars if I like you well”

“In 1976 the Los Angeles Police Department received six converts with a two-speed manual transmission and hydraulic torque converter – it came from you in Germany, from Fichtel & Sachs. Three of the machines ended up with me later. ”Mark knows types, is a walking Guzzi dictionary. “The police machines had different handlebar mounts and triple clamps as well as a siren, driven by friction from the rear wheel.” Mark’s favorites? “The models from the 1960s and early 1970s, without integral brakes and frills.” Like the Eldorado (850 GT in Europe), forerunner of the California, which was produced from 1972 onwards. The upcoming test drive on a specimen for sale for $ 6,500 is a good match.

Mark smokes and chats, puffs and talks. “In 1974 the Eldorado got a disc brake at the front.” But the model from mid-1973 with a double duplex brake would be the most sought-after and most expensive today. “It’s the coolest, only difficult to adjust because of the four brake shoes.” Mark presents a new Eldorado tank: “Costs 1500 dollars with real chrome flanks – if I like you.” But there is a cheaper solution, with vinyl surfaces in a chrome look. Mark calculates his hourly wages unconventionally: “80 dollars if I like you or my work, 100 dollars if I don’t.”

Moto Guzzi V7 Ambassador for $ 8,000

Noble: the fiery red V7 Ambassador, with a 757 cubic V2. “I did a lot on it, the restoration cost $ 12,000, it needed a new frame and completely new wiring.” Now the beauty is available for $ 8,000. “It has a 950 Big Bore kit, looks like a 67, but most of the parts are from 1971.” Anyone who lives and loves machines from Mandello del Lario with heart and soul does their math using the metric system. Mark has a very American hobby: he drives drag races. With a 1962 Plymouth Valiant built by himself. “With a dead weight of less than 1000 kilograms, its sharp six-cylinder with 300 hp is enough to cushion the thick V8.”

Completely crazy: A friend’s dream, realized on a lifting platform, of upgrading a 1000cc Guzzi with a supercharger and cruising with parts from Triumph, Ariel and Lambretta. Perfomance? “We don’t care, it’s not really about speed, it’s just about being different, with a Guzzi that is unique in the world.”

Parrot rides on the handlebars

Out in the courtyard, words are lacking: dozens of engine housings and tanks, frames and wheels, fenders and forks are or are lying around here, half and quarter motorcycles. Eviscerated or waiting for restoration? A treasure trove in itself. But one that is barely protected from the scorching Californian sun and salty air – the ocean is only a good two miles away. Rust and patina are inevitable in this corrosive environment, and plastic tarpaulins hardly protect. Armies of rust-red studs stand, strictly symmetrically interlaced, in a trellis. As a memorial, cemetery – or even an altar for the Guzzi god?

“No, all of this can still be used,” says Mark, “the aluminum becomes like new again with blasting. I sell the spare parts on Ebay, 75 percent to Australia, the rest in the USA and Europe. ”Mark’s dogs Rusty and Dusty (in German: Rusty and Dusty) are original. And his green parrot that can speak whole sentences. He’s already 45, and he’s really keen on motorcycles: “Beaver has already ridden 10,000 miles on handlebars – backwards up to 35 miles per hour, looks and speaks to me, only then does he turn around and look ahead.” Okay, here we are all a little crazy. According to Hannes Jaenicke, the best Guzzi screwdriver in the world is at least the most original.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *