Airforce | Motoguzzi Le Mans Mk 2

THEY SAY CONVENIENT IS THE ENEMY OF RIGHT. MR. GIOVANNI RAVELLI, A CO-FOUNDER OF MOTO GUZZI, WAS NOT A MAN TO TAKE THE CONVENIENT PATH. WW1 FIGHTER PILOT, AVIATOR AND MOTORCYCLE RACER, HE WAS SO FAST HE BECAME KNOWN AS ‘THE ITALIAN DEVIL’. WE HOPE HE WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED THE FACT THAT OUR MOTO GUZZI AIRFORCE, BUILT IN HIS MEMORY AND RELEASED ON HIS BIRTHDAY, WAS THE MOST INCONVENIENT THING WE’VE EVER MADE.
FOR GIOVANNI RAVELLI. xiv JANUARY 1887 - xi AUGUST 1919

I showed y'all this wheel several months ago, when nosotros talked close the Bike Shed inwards London together with nosotros called it the Best of Show, thus much thus that nosotros felt the demand to compliment direct amongst Massimiliano Vanoni, an Italian, transferred to the metropolis of London for years, that together amongst James Hilton together with Ray Petty are DMOL.

The number was a friendly telephone substitution of views on this footing together with its work, its workshop deals mainly amongst motorbike restorations of the 70s together with 80s together with the build Death Machines of London is relatively young.

The wheel on that occasion was non all the same complete, missing about details, characteristic of all his work.

The wheel is presented amongst taut lines, which give the feel of speed likewise firm, thus beautiful that it tin live displayed within a museum.

FROM THE HAND FORMED BODYWORK, TO THE AVIATION INSPIRED CHASSIS AND WHEELS, RAVELLI’S INFLUENCE HAS SHAPED AIRFORCE. IN FACT, PRETTY MUCH EVERY DESIGN DECISION BEGAN WITH ‘WHAT WOULD GIOVANNI DO?’.

The donor motorcycle, a 1982 Moto Guzzi LeMans Mk2, was discovered inwards a yard inwards southern Italy, having been involved inwards an declaration amongst a truck. Left outside, it was quietly corroding away inwards the Sun together with salty air.

Despite its status the potential was obvious together with upon delivery dorsum to our plant inwards London, the strip downwards began. The engine was institute to live inwards remarkable condition, amongst no major problems discovered. A total forensic inspection, vapour cleaning & reassembly, along amongst replacement bearings, seals gaskets completed the original engine work. The cylinder heads were subjected to a total refresh, along amongst our signature gas flowing. Carburation is through a pair of modified 36mm pumper Dell’Orto carburettors. The bundle is completed amongst our in-house velocity stacks together with opened upwardly slash cutting headers.

GUZZI’S LEGENDARY ‘TONTI’ FRAME WORKS. THAT IS A FACT.

They handgrip well, y'all alternative a occupation together with they follow it, thus whatsoever modification had to live limited. Our ‘what would Giovanni do?’ version of ‘limited’ was to radically modify, inwards the spirit of those pioneering times of course. Giovanni would receive got approved. As good every bit the obligatory de-lugging together with subframe modifications, a custom in-house caput stock was manufactured, to increase the rake past times iii degrees to 30. The original swing arm was swapped out for a heavily modified Moto Guzzi California swinging arm which was braced together with coupled to a mono stupor cantilevered system. Not something we’ve seen done before.

The frame together with forepart wheel were together with thus coated inwards our custom ‘Airforce Grey’, mixed specifically for this project. The wheels are modified California Hubs, laced to 21x3.00 aluminium rims, the bring upwardly utilising manus spun aluminium disc covers. Tyres are menstruum Firestone items. The forepart cease is a highly customised Aprillia RS250 arrangement, re-valved together with refinished, piece the bring upwardly time out unit of measurement is an aviation-inspired bespoke item courtesy of Hagon.

Braking is taken help of past times a pair of billet 4 pot Brembo calipers, operated remotely via cable to a Brembo RCS original cylinder. Designed together with built inwards house, the 300mm rotors are 1 off DMOL designed steel items.

ENGINEERING THAT HAS MORE IN COMMON WITH WATCHMAKING, THAN WITH MOTORCYCLE BUILDING.

All the controls on Airforce are custom-made: clip-on tubes, grips, together with internal throttle receive got all been fabricated in-house amongst pegs together with controls working on modified Stucchi gear alter linkage. Airforce likewise features our get-go gear upwardly of completely custom levers: the inverse Lever Type IN01. Precision machined from aviation grade aluminium, the IN01’s volition presently live available to purchase every bit a part.

An M-Unit together with custom loom controls the machines electrical functions, amongst a unmarried Xenon projector low-cal working both hey together with depression beam together with an LED bring upwardly low-cal housed inwards our custom cluster. The speedometer has been redesigned together with precision etched inwards nickel silvery together with brass, amongst dimmable radial illumination through a dedicated controller. Now, nosotros know they didn’t receive got electrical guitars together with amps dorsum inwards Giovanni’s day, but nosotros similar to mean value he’d live into his Foo Fighters, thus ignition comes courtesy of a ¼ inch guitar jack amongst a built inwards immobiliser proximity sensor. Because hell yeah.

HAND-BEATEN ALUMINIUM BODYWORK THAT SAYS ONE THING: SPEED.
And travel to that bodywork. Beaten together with welded past times the manus of DMOL’s original craftsman, all the panelling has been built using the classic buck technique, where a woods skeleton is wrapped inwards aluminium - something Giovanni would’ve appreciated. This process, for obvious reasons, leaves imperfections - tiny hammer dents, modest weld holes together with the like. These are unremarkably covered amongst filler together with paintwork, but instead nosotros chose to exit the metallic raw together with but brush it - reminiscent of the WW1 fighter that was our inspiration for the project.

The forepart fairing slots into the side of the fuel tank, creating uninterrupted flowing lines. The lower concave bend of the fuel tank is mirror polished to reverberate the high-gloss pigment goal on the within of the forepart fairing - the only constituent of the bodywork that is given this treatment. The belly-pan is double-skinned, enclosing the exhaust pipes. Finally, the Italian leather topographic point features a hand-stitched pattern based on air-flow to heighten the impression of movement.

Airforce was built inwards 112 days (just inwards fourth dimension for BikeShed 2017). So why did nosotros await thus long to tell anyone close it? Because it needed to live better. There were parts nosotros could’ve left lonely without anyone noticing, except nosotros noticed. It would’ve been far easier to non remake the belly pan or re-engineer alone novel levers. That would’ve been the convenient affair to do. But every bit Mr. Giovanni Ravelli knew: the meek are seldom remembered.

Photography past times Ivo Ivanov