Visitors Gallery

If you have something interesting to show us Italian bike related. Your restoration, your pride and joy, a pile of bits !! or maybe that rally you went on. Pick your best shots ( up too eight) and send them too us and we will put them on this page for the World to enjoy....Don't forget to give us your name and any relevant details that will add interest to your pictures.

Because of the huge number of pictures we have received we have now divided them into three pages to speed things up a little :-)

Hi John
Here are a couple of images of the finished Laverda Mirage wearing a 3C tank, side panels and tail fairing in Laverda racing orange. Super support from Richard Slater and Dream Machine paintwork.

Pauls fantastic 250 Desmo restoration that he bought from us in 2007, also his 900SS owned from new.

The madeinitalymotorcycles annual trip to maison St Georges near Narbonne in the south of France

Hi John - thought you might like these for your visitors gallery

(and if so a link back to <a href="http://www.teambenzina.co.uk/home/">Benzina</a> much appreciated)

A good friend's dad had a Garelli franchise, and he had a blue Reckord in 1975. I stayed on for A levels so could only afford a Puch M2...tragic. Those not of a certain age (or UK residency) might wonder at an obsession for Sports Mopeds so a brief "why?" might help - there was a 1972 act limiting 16 year olds to 50cc bikes with pedals - the government thought folk would ride Mobylettes and Puch Maxis. Of course people like Garelli and Fantic put pedals on their 50cc sports bikes which would do nearly 50mph, and the Japanese soon caught on (albeit with slower bikes - slower being a relative term) In 1977 the law changed again to restrict the bikes to 30mph and removed the need for pedals. Soon 16 year olds rode scooters (bloody Quadrophinia film on mod culture had some influence too), but to UK men of a certain age those sports mopeds are a fond memory , best Greg

------------

( EDIT. Everyone wanted the Reckord but there were few around....guaranteed to blow the FS1E and Puch M50 Sport boys into the weeds...Webmaster )

----------

Laurent from France sent us these lovely shots taken on a visit with his father to Aix-en-Provence

Last Saturday, we went to the "Sainte Victoire" mountain to Aix-en-Provence near Marseille, a real pleasure... the 900SS is the best bike that we can have :-),

Rob Dymoke’s fantastic TT2 that he built, we look forward to seeing the 900 Rob.

Steve Edwards sent us these great period shots taken either the Royal Horticultural Halls Westminster, or Earls Court, about 1975/6

So what do you do if you buy someone's non runner abandoned project bitsa twin-spark 900GTS for spares and then find that it runs? I always liked the Harley XR750......Those who must have their Bevels original had better not look. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bevelduc/2767172387/

Five years ago I bought an abandoned project based I think on a 900GTS. The seller intended to make a Hailwood Replica but gave up. It was a non runner due to rusty tank and no battery, engine covered with white "fur" and I bought it for spares for my 750GT and 900SS.

However, on closer inspection it was better than I thought and after fitting a battery and tank from the GT plus a gear lever it fired up second kick and after a short road test I knew all gears worked as well as the brakes.

Too far gone to consider restoration so I thought maybe I'd build a squarecase Z-Stripe sport using my old steel SS tank and a Sport seat I had. Tank was too narrow, as was the seat, and I already have a single seat clip-on SS. It stayed in the garage for a couple of years while I mulled over the idea of a Flat-tracker. The main elements that distinguish the Harley XR750 are the tank and seat, the curvy high-level exhaust and the clean front end with spool hub. I had no intention of running without brakes but by reversing the fork legs

and having the callipers behind I improved the look enormously. One weekend while my father was staying I made a mock-up XR750 tank and seat out of Cellotex, a polyurethane insulation foam that is really fast to work. Dad sat in the sun drawing the tank graphics and my son helped paint. I liked the result and decided to proceed with certain parameters: I would try to build it as if it came out of the Ducati factory which would determine many of the details and the budget was set at £500 plus tyres and chain. The budget was low because it would always be a bitsa and also because of fear of failure. I wasn't sure it was going to work and I've seen plenty of modified bevels

that make me shudder. It was quickly obvious that a Harley tank would not fit the Ducati frame but I bought a replica seat base and handlebars from USA and made a wooden buck for the tank. I had a sheet of aluminium, made a sand bag and cut down one of the kids

croquet mallets and started bashing. Then I had to learn how to gas weld aluminium, which was tricky, and weld up the bits. The XR750 has no side panels, the left side is mostly covered by the exhaust and the right is covered by a large racing number plate. The way the frame

tubes go on the Ducati, the sides looked a mess so I decided to make the side panels using shapes from the seat unit as a guide as well as shapes on SS and GT panels. First I had to straighten the kink in the frame tubes that go up from the rear engine mounts because I wanted a slim wasted look and the standard frame would push the exhaust too far out. Something still didn't look right and it took me some time to identify that it was the steering head angle. That was steepened by 5 deg. Footrests are GTS butchered and welded, gearchange fabricated in GT style. I abandoned the brake cross over shaft because it interfered with the new position of the left footrest and made a new brake lever and cable that crosses over under the seat. I really enjoyed making the exhaust. I had loads of old headers to cut up but found I needed a tighter bend under the front cylinder and eventually found a grab handle as used in toilets for the disabled. For the record, I did not steal one! The silencers have cut-outs for the rear shock like the Imola high level

pipes so they sit nice and close to the frame. Heat shields were first bent around an old silencer and then drilled. Tail light is a Cateye bicycle lens on a home made alloy housing. The project was looking good and close to being painted when someone pulled

out of a side road in front of me and I smashed up my SS and broke my right hand which put a stop on everything. My original intention was to run the bike with a daytime only MOT with no lights and a bicycle speedo for the racing XR750 look. (For those outside

the UK, the MOT is an annual official certificate of compliance and they have daytime only option for off road bikes.) The accident changed my mind so I fitted a light and made speedo and tacho housings in the style of the Scrambler "Beer cans". This also meant I had to compromise on the handlebars and fit switches which spoils the clean look somewhat although I ran the wiring through the bars.

I gave the seat pan to Earl who did a lovely job cutting the foam and covering it. Got the tank decals cut and printed on vinyl and sprayed the lot with Harley Racing Orange basecoat and 2K clear lacquer. (My God, do I hate painting!) I didn't like the original plastic ignition housing and with my newfound skills made one from aluminium. Last Thursday I wheeled it out of the garage, put in some fuel, kicked it over a few times with ignition off to get fuel in the cylinders and it started fist kick. Brilliant reward after three years, and the cheap far-eastern silencers sound amazing with a really deep thump.

Hello from New England. Great web site John here are a few pictures of my 1975 750 GT. It was my first motorcycle. I bought it new in June 1975. I still have it today. I finished fixing it up a couple of years ago. Here are a few pictures and some of the changes , 41.7 marzocchi fork with adj. rebound front fender is from a Moto Guzzi v7 sport with custom fender stay rear fender is from Ducati 750 sport, Metmachex engineering swingarm , Ohlin shocks and steering damper, custom wiring harness, Dyna S ignition and Dyna coils, Akront 18 inch rims, custom nickel plated rearsets , rear set bracket is from a 1981 Moto Guzzi 850, completely rebuilt engine ,Carillo rods higher comp pistons, 36 mm Dellortos, headlight unit is from a Ducati Darmah, 280 mm full floating cast iron discs with 4 piston Brembo goldline calipers, custom billet top camp for fork switch gear is from a Ducati monster , white face Veglia guages ,seat done in leather and sewn with marine grade thread Bub exhaust system, colour of the bike is claret Red mica , a Honda car colour of the mid 80's with hand painted pin strips, its a very nice machine

I saw your website and it is one of the very best I've seen to those of us that live, eat, & breath Italian motorcycles.

I'm sending you the photos of one of my bikes. It is the only one in America. Our EPA has stopped allowing the importation of the bike. If you really want to have your heart broken, U.S. Customs seized the next 2 bikes after mine and they are going to crush them. First they crush our retirements and now they are going after our motorcycles. It makes me mad just thinking about it. Each bike is unique, and this one is mine.

It is a 2009 Vyrus 984 with a 1200cc NCR race engine. It is the identical engine they use in the new NCR "Mike Hailwood". Needless to say, it has the light weight crank, big-bore race pistons, oversize titanium valves, ect ect. The engine was actually assembled by the head of Ducati Corse Moto GP engine development. The brake rotors are Carbon Fiber as is all of the bodywork. We were shooting for 135kw and 135hp. It always sounds like I have a dead battery. With 14.5 compression it really cranks slow. I have to run leaded 110 octane race gas.

The bike draws all kinds of spectators. Most are respectful and appreciate the bike for the master piece it is. A few will make stupid comments about the cost or "what direction is it going". These people have their ignorance on full display for all to see.

You have to order the bike at the factory if you want one. I loved every minute of the process. I imagined it was being built in some small factory up in the hills of Italy and it is. It's just outside of Rimini on the boarder with San Marino. The president (Ascanio) took me on a test ride when I first went to see it. We took off through the streets of San Marino at a speeds I wouldn't dare ride on the roads I ride all the time in Northern California. It was amazing how well the bike handled. We stopped at a small restaurant in the hills that Ascanio meets once a month with Tamberini, Ago, Rossi, and others that are the giants of the Italian motorcycle scene. I can only imagine those meetings. It looks like it should be in the Godfather movie. These guys are all involved with the bike for the love of the sport. They all have contracts with other companies and if it was America, the lawyers would never get done suing everyone. Rossi and Ago live just a few miles from the factory. They both ride the bike from time to time. Can you imagine being out for a Sunday ride and the two of them blowing past you with their knees dragging? It really happens. All these people believe the design is the future of motorcycles. It's their passion to offer their input into building the bike. Vyrus can never advertise this, they just have to rely on word of mouth. After the bike was done, you go over and spend a week riding the back roads of Italy and I meet a guy that told me he has seen them both out riding just like they are one of the guys. I put down a $70000 deposit and the deal was done on a handshake. I didn't get any receipt for the deposit. If you can't handle doing business that way, then you need to visit your local Honda dealer. They take it as an insult that you wouldn't trust them, and it really is. They see it as they are building a work of art that you should be damn grateful your going to be able to even buy one. They are serious craftsmen that I saw working 16 hours a day. However, I must admit, I did get a little nervous when the financial world collapsed a month after I paid them. As part of being in the Vyrus family, I can go to Europe for a GP and Vyrus will have a bike for me to ride. A year later and after hundreds of emails, she was done. I had it painted the same as a special version blue MV Agusta that was given to all the members of the World Champion Italian soccer team. MV didn't make the bike available to the public. Because Rimini is such a tight nit community, the guy that paints the MV special versions, painted mine. The colors are the ones used by the soccer team. I also had them paint a helmet to match the bike when it was first ordered. I just now got the helmet after a year and a half. If you have to explain why we love the Italian motorcycles that are on your website, then you'll never understand. On a rainy winter day, it's a joy to just go out into the garage and give her one more coat of wax. I must admit, it's pretty cool to ride up to a Moto GP and know I'll have the most jaw dropping bike there. Every nut and bolt is titanium. And not the titanium you can order on the internet. If you've ever looked real close at a real GP bike you'll see titanium bolts that look different then the normal stuff. The Vyrus has the same titanium bolts that GP bikes have. I never thought that one titanium bolt could weigh so much less then another titanium bolt that is the same size. Needless to say, an ordinary 6mm bolt cost $30. Vyrus also has the same brake calipers that were being used on a Moto GP bike just a few years ago. I tried to order them for another Ducati I have and was told by every Brembo distributor that they were only sold by Brembo on a case by case basis. When they were building the bike they sent me pictures of the Machinist building the crankshaft. I got pictures of the technician assembling my bike. I then got to meet him when I went to Italy. When did you ever hear of such a thing? When I picked up the bike, the engine builder showed me the valve lifter set-up he used. It is a special titanium set-up that looks completely different from the stock valve adjuster. It is hand made by Ducati Corse and doesn't have a part number. Only hard-core enthusiast that own the kinds of bikes on this website will be able to appreciate this kind of craftsmanship. It does have one downside. I know how much work went into making the bike and I'm always worried I'll drop it and destroy all this hard work. The upside is, I always get the best parking spot on Ducati Island no matter if I have a parking pass or not, and you know how much that is that worth!

I am putting together, part darmah, part 860gt. Tank and seat are from a mould I have, 92mm ncr cylinders, flowed heads, intake ports filled with weld and raised. straight cut priamry, 2 into 1 ncr pipe. I should have it running next week!(just need to make throttle cables)

After two long years the restoration of my 1964 MV Agusta 125 GTL (Gran Turismo Lusso) is completed. It starts and idles nicely. For not the snow i would of taken it out today. The main reason why the MV looks so good because I'm very lucky to have a great team helping me. I want to thank Bill Diets, Dr. Sean Dwyer, Mark Bailey, Steve Silverman, John Henry, and Reno Leoni. I couldn't of done it without you guys. Now I'm in the middle of restoring a 1957 MV 175 and again i have my team on board. Here are a few picture of the MV.

She's still going well, rain or shine, just takes longer to clean after the wet rides! but I always thought for a 888 she was quick, even Jonny Baines for Baines Racing at Silverstone thought she was a flyer, so this winter we just had to find out what she really was.

If you can remember I bought it blind from Austria without even sitting on the bike let alone if the engine/transmission was any good, since then we found out it was bought new from Ducati in Bologna by a German gentleman who raced it and after that I'm still searching, maybe someone here might recognise the bike. Anyway, we opened up the engine and to my glee found out she has the Corse 926cc engine and not the corse 888cc with forge race pistons, drill steel pankl rods, 36/31 valves g race cams so putting out a similar output of a 94' Corse race bike, so one happy bunny, all this with the race exhaust system, clutch etc she a bit special.

Gil from France, sent us these shots of his lovely late MHR which he’s just finished restoring.

The Darmah, built in 10/77, was my return to motorbikes after a too- long hiatus, all insprired by the very first Slimey Crud Motorcycle Gang Cafe Racer Run. It has been tweaked here & there, but is essentially stock and
unrestored. The Bimota db-2 is one of 36 tricolores made, and my second one (I totalled the first, which now lives under a salvage title). I bought it to take some of the load off of the Darmah, but I still prefer the older bike. I think
I'm getting too old for the Bimota's riding position, though. The MV 350B came to me from the Isle of Man, bought from a friend who'd found it in a back room in Italy. He needed a new race bike, and the MV was sold to finance the purchase. An Italian bike from the Isle of Man with a Dutch title ...

Best, Gene Rankin, Madison, Wisconsin

Hello there from sweeden!

At the moment it is -17 degees C here in Sweden. Not so nice to ride motorcycles but spring will come! Any way, here is some pictures of my 3 Cagivas. The big one is a Elefant Marathon which has participated in the Paris-Dakar rallye. The other one is a 900 Elefant on which I have enlarged the engine with 985-kit from VeeTwo in Australia. It also has Keihin flatslides and some other trick-parts. The small one is a 650 which at the moment runs on 17" motard-wheels. I also have one Husqvarna SM610 and the work is slowly progressing on a Ducati 750 f1-replica with 900-engine. Italian bikes are fun! I enjoy your site, keep up the good work!!

Regards

Torbjörn, Sweden

Hello John,
Here's a few pics of my 1973 Ducati Sport Desmo Special. Full 750SS engine conversion by Guy Martin, Montreal Canada. V2 dry clutch. National Class Winner Ducati Concorso 2007 USA. Here's me and my 1985 MHR at the Daytona Mike Hailwood 25 yr. celebration of his TT win in 2003. Finally a pic of me and my MV Agusta America "Bold 912" at the track. Thanks for a great site !!!

Only recently discovered your website - sorry! Have spent many an hour perusing it since:- as a former Jota / Darmah / Benelli Sei / Le Mans MK1 owner I'm mightily impressed by the quality and diversity of the bikes that you sell. We are hoping to pay you a visit when the weather improves to see some of the exotica "in the flesh"! I have attached some pics of my Bimota SB8R which you might want to post in your gallery. I purchased it last year - built in 1999, registered in 2002 (on an age-related plate) but only 625 miles on the speedo! Other than the window clutch cover, it is as standard as the day it left the factory, having been in a private collection from 1999 until 2007.

Neil Overtons living room bound, restoration awaiting, 350 SCR enjoying the festive season

Andy Smiths next restoration project, I’ve no idea why anyone would write that on the tank though?

These are some pictures of my classics. A real 916 sps from 1998.
A 900 Super Sport from 1981. (not restored).
A Mike Hailwood from 1982. (not restored).
A Moto Guzzi Le Mans I from 1978. (not restored).
All in perfect condition.

with her dad Andy's fantastic GT750, supplied by us and probably the best we’ve ever seen

Gavin Spencers excellent restoration of one of the first Laverda 3C's
Imported by us many years ago in not such good condition!

Peter must surely have some of the best taste in interior design and decoration in the world, this is his living room. Oh and he has a boat powered by Ducati too.

Darmah cafe racer. Since the picture I made and installed clip ons and built new headlight ears that moved the shell out about an inch. I built the saddle out of glass and carbon fiber over a wooden buck. Bike is in Kalispell ,Montana. Nice long winters to work on bikes.

Pics of my 1977 860 GTS with a so-called Russia-box. The high windscreen is the work of the P.O. The bike is original and un-restored except for the Öhlins rear shocks and the repainted side covers. I have new (NOS) side covers if needed, and the original shocks (ouch) too. Someday I hope it will run on the front cylinder too...

Hi John, Thanks for the Laverda 3C, I am sure I will have some fun on it next year. Attached are some pics ok my 900ss for your visitors gallery, and also some of my friend John's who's I inherited earlier this year, and below some txt if you wish to put that there as well. My 900ss I bought in 1984, and rode on and off for until 1997, it then sat in my garage until late 2006. During 2007 I restored it. about a month after I bought my 900ss in 1994, my best friend also bought one, he rode his for around 4 years, then put it in his garage. It then moved to his house around 1994, where it sat in a barn in his garden for the next 15 years, I tried to buy it from him a few times, but he refused to sell it to me. Early in 2009, he sadly passed away, and his family gave me his 900ss, from the pics you can see there is a lot of work to restore it, but I will start soon and make it my long term project. ....Keron

Here are a few pictures from Rene Waters in Canada. Rene runs an excellent web site ,

Latest up date from Rene and sue in Canada 18/06/10

A couple of pictures of Sue's bike now it's finished

Rene says......Here's a couple of pictures of a Moto Guzzi that I helped a friend restore. Its an early (1972) V7 Sport with the big drum brake and gear driven cam. Its not a talio rosso, but sure looks nice in that paint scheme. When he purchased it the bike was in every single component part, and had been apart for the previous 10 years. It took a couple of months with the parts manual just to identify everything he had. Since completing it in 2007 he's put about 11,000 miles on it, mostly with Sue and myself.

Here's a couple of shots of Sue on her bike (1978 GTS custom) on the way to, and at, the Motorcycle Speed Trials, Bonneville Salt Flats, this year. Her best speed was not as high as she had hoped due to the bike being jetted for home (2,500 feet lower and 20 degrees cooler) and her wanting to ride it there and back, but a jolly good time was
had by all.

And I thought you might like to see the latest mods to my 1978 GTS. Not much of the GTS left anymore. There's quite a lot of modern Ducati bits incorporated. Maiden voyage was from here in Western Canada to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah a 3,200 kilometre round trip ! Fantastic.

So autumn came and I felt I hadn't done any real miles this year and decided to head for from Berkshire to Scotland via Fenland and miss the A1 by travelling on the back roads to the east in Lincolnshire as far as possible, then over the Humber Bridge. It was a slight shock to realise that once I'd crossed the Humber I still had 220 miles to reach my next stop with old mates on the Scottish border and I was already feeling creaky by then! Andrew

Photos: On the new Bedford River , Fenland. Dutch engineers built this in the
17th century! and at the Humber Bridge 'viewing facility'. These guys are not impressed.

Pierre-Etiennes lovely spondon bevel, now near completion after he bought the rolling chassis from us last year.

Fantastic to see Wolfram Hage still using his SS for summer trips as this lovely shot taken in Northern Italy this summer shows, he's now clocked up 103000 Kms, keep it up Wolfram

Dear John ......and because I'd been a good boy and gone to bed early, Father Christmas was true to his word and dropped of some MVs; a Magni, a Monza and two 750 Sports - one was the only black one ever made by the factory. What fun we had playing with them!'

Hi John
Your excellent website is short of some Gileras. Herewith our 1947 Saturno for your interest. We need a larger front wheel and bumpad otherwise she is in fine fettle Regards David Worthington.

John Montgomery's really lovely 1078SS JHP special-weighs 174kg with a full tank, has 108 bhp and 78ftlbs torque, and his 450RT which was a 'barn find' in Florida, came over to the UK with a friend who did nothing with it. I got it in April 2008 and we got it running and on the road-HUGE fun to ride, and bloody loud.

Hi John, thought you might like to add a couple of bikes to your visitors section (proper V twins not that Ducati rubbish). The red Mk1 is before and after Andy (my husband/mechanic) restored it. The other pic should speek for itself and is the next project. Janine Smith

Vít Kramář from the Czech republic sent us these shots of his excellent 748R and 900FE

Andy Morans absolutely mint belt 900SS, it may be for sale soon, if anyone's interested contact me.

I've been trawling through some if my old stuff and found some photos of old trips, in particular a blast to the Med on my 996. An absolute treat, not a care in the World apart from worrying that the open pipes might cause an avalanche in the Alps!

Hello John !

I have had this bike about six year and all the time I have build it in my own way as a "cafe racer " look.
Specs: Imola cams, Hi pistons, ported heads, 40 mm
Dellortos, Imola tank, 2-1 exhaust, Lucas clip and footrests, Special "endurance fairing and so on.

I live in Finland and visit many kind of biker meetings in Finland.
Yours Juha

MHR. Owned since ‘1984 The bike has done 61 thousand kilometres in its lifetime and has suffered 1 big end failure when I used multigrade oil back in 1987!

The Corsa Vdue I bought back in 2005 and have done 3 TT s, 2 Manx GPs and a few track days after I got it SVA’d and registered. It’s a carb model and runs smooth as you like. It only breaks the bank with the fuel consumption.

This is my 1982 600SL Ducati Pantah that I rescued from Sydney Australia about 5 years ago in a state of dis-repair and neglect not to mention a lot of odd parts from many different bike models. After searching Australia and Italy as well as the USA I tracked down the hard to find parts. It is now back to a suitable condition for me to show this although there are still a few things that need attention, which I will eventually get to.

This really is one of the best riding areas in Europe, many magazines go there to test there bikes as well as some of the factories, if you fancy it Martin at Maison St George is a fantastic host with loads of local knowledge, try it.

http://www.st-georges-fr.com/Links.htm

Diego Montefusco from Sardinia

sent us these pictures of his two un-restored beauties a 1960 100 Sport and a 1954 98 sport, as he says fantastic Patina.

Hi John, this is my Harris Imola 900. It was sold by Steve Wynne in 1985 to Danmark and came to Germany in 2000. I bought it last year from Rolf Hadeler in Hamburg and changed the engine, complete electric, forks, wheels and dashboard........ Now its running like hell!!

Neil Beeson's ongoing Darmah restoration, as you can see attention to detail is second to none, this really will be a stunner

Hi John, here are the picture of the dash lights.
The bulb holders are from old mercedes door mirror side repeater flashers. If you remove the old bulb & wiring connectors then drill a hole in the light base the new bulb holder can be fitted. now you can just replace the bulb when blown not the whole light unit.

This bike is more than interesting , regarding to its numbers and registration date... I have had these last 2 days some interesting talks with Ian Fallon. He confirmed that this one is a Ducati assembled before June 76, A thing that he wrote was non existing in his bible... Before this, he thought that only one 860 SS prototype was built for European homologation in July 1976 ... 086010 is a master piece in the SS Ducati story !

Uwe Mengels stunning Harris SS, sold to him by us 5 years ago and now restored to all it's former glory.
Well done Uwe.

I look every time for the weight of the parts. All screws I used are titan or 7075 alloy, The mudguards and other parts are out of CFK, the complete exhaust system also is handmade out of titan and have a weight of 3,1 Kg The complete bike with ALL fluids and with a full tank :157 Kg. Many parts in the engine are modified for lighter and more horsepower.

Still very much work in progress, but basically - yes it will look like this. The seat referrers to some old photographs I found showing Ducati engineers in the early 70's that took naked race machines for short test rides right out of the garage. Instead of reassembling all bits each time, they had this kind of simple clip-on seat. The drum brake for a bevel was used only in one presentation by Ducati in late 1971, rather sharp, grabby and even though I would not mind a modern 320mm Brembo setup I decided to keep it this way. lots of bodywork, de-weight and extras done - lots of finishing still to come. Up and running like pure thunder.

This is his Baines Imola done in the style of Old Blue,
which looks simply stunning, well done Noel.

This is Gilbert's 900SS which we sold to him last year, now converted to wire wheels seen here on a ride out with three friends in Brittany.

Simon Brinklow from Chesham in bucks sent these pictures of his recently restored MV 750 America

Steve Robins sent us these two !

The Guzzi is a MK11 Le-Mans of 1980 vintage, in the guise of a MK1. It's covered 800mls since its full restoration.

The Agusta is a 750 four of 1972 vintage. It purports to be one of the mythical half-dozen-or-so tuned 750(SS) models - and is recognised as such by the MV Agusta Owners' Club - but its exact state of tune is unknown to me since I've not had its engine apart. I do know it wears 27mm SS1 Dell Ortos, and it was raced by a chap named Martin Schmidt in some German race series in the early seventies. When I bought it, it was wearing a longer 'works' alloy tank and single seat unit, but these made it uncomfortable to ride on the road. Thus, the 'Sport' tank and seat you see here have been retro-fitted. It's in stunning condition, but it's no 'Garage Queen'. I use it regularly on the local moorland roads - much to the disdain of the local sheep!

John Leonard's lovely Laverda bought from a friend close to Breganze, and some

Just finished restoring this 1975 Cali. Owned one back in the early 80’s (photo 1) and regretted selling it ever since (when son number one was born we needed a car) Always dreamed of owning another and heard about this basket case (photo 2) going for a song Twelve months later the restoration was complete (photo 3) and I took it for the maiden flight in mid January 09 and after a few niggles, we’re both getting along very nicely. Many more miles and smiles to look forward to.