Finally a find for myself! - column

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Purchasing classics there

Girls and women often melt when they see kittens / puppies or similar fry. I have that with lived, orphaned motorcycles. In addition, I have been riding a private Moto Guzzi (and Ural) for the last quarter of a century. This approach had apparently been noticed by AMK reader PJ from W., whom we call that for privacy reasons. Because nowadays you have to take all kinds of things into account and in the shed in W. there is even more fun than the abandoned Moto Guzzi Florida.

My love for Guzzis and my bewilderment at Italians' bizarre technical solutions had triggered JP. His wife's motorcycle had been waiting for better times in his shed for about fifteen years. PJ had long since disposed of his motorcycle, but the Florida - the extra small version of the California's - was left standing. And was allowed to leave. PJ sent an email to the editors.

The editors sent the email to me. I contacted PJ. We turned out to be pretty aligned. We understood each other. A few pictures came up. And I got the little kitten / puppy feeling.
Because I pay for all kinds of things, what I do is apparently work anyway. And during my work I was there when, after forty years, a shed opened in the outskirts of Arnhem in which some forty classics door to door with flashing headlights saw daylight again for the first time in decades.

In the south of our country I spoke to a widow about the estate of her deceased husband. I looked at more than a hundred restored classics and a few wagon loads of parts plus about 8 cars. In northern France I saw in a shed the Amphicar with Dutch registration that had crossed the Channel. I saw six MV four-pits and eight Bimotas in someone's shed. A Peppie and Kokkie VW that was ready for the press turned out to be a Kübelwagen where only the engine and chassis numbers turned out to be worth 25D $. There have been more of those things like that. But this was the first time that I was allowed to adopt such an authentic Sleeping Beauty / Sleeper myself. Entirely bearing in mind our new national neolibeal approach, it was now my turn: 'Eiges comes first!' Finally! The Guzzi was awarded to me. So the consideration for the adoption was symbolic.

With comrade Ernie and our collective cart we went to W. It again turned out that TomToms that are not regularly upgraded against payment get a kind of Tia's. The calculated route was separate. The TomTom proudly reported: Distance 452 kilometers. Travel time 2 hours and 5 minutes. When we arrived at the same point after a trip through Hengelo (Ov), we decided to continue the ride on our own sense of direction. And so we ended up in W ..

PJ turned out to be just as friendly a person in the wild as via the digital fanfare and telephone. And the Florida didn't look like it, of course. Guzzi is the least prudent of the Italian brands. But 15+ years in a shed with a serious coefficient of rain and wind blown-through also gives a Guzzi a heavy blow to the jaws. But dust, dry leaves and rust can be endearing. The wind was quite out of the tires, which made pushing less. Fortunately, the front brakes were not stuck.

Ernie came along because every joint excursion is always fun and because we have experienced that you need three people to put a motorcycle on a hanger. That could be us. But friend Rob Remmerswaal of Wisper Classics was left with a serious injury when he wanted to put a Goldwing on the trailer together with the ex-owner. It shot the ex in the back while driving up. And so Rob had to learn that it is not a good idea to juggle a Goldwing with one leg on the trailer. The three of us got the job done flawlessly.

And so the most disconsolate Guzzi of all time came to his new home. There he was first allowed to hang against the high-pressure cleaner for a while. The dirt disappeared nicely. It doesn't rust. But there is still a lot to be done in Florida. And there is only 38D on the counter. My V65 has run more. He may now first get used to his new home. In the meantime I will get him some neat mufflers from Teun Beuzel. Because those dampers really cannot be cleaned anymore. This weekend the Ural will be back in order. Then the Chang Jiang goes onto the bridge. Then it is the turn of the Guzzi. Fun!

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23 comments

  1. Beautiful piece.
    Why do I have so few wind-blown barnfind's?

    Simply treat exhausts with farmer's chrome (silver spray can).
    Fits much better with the lived or lived bike.
    Shiny pipes form a bit of the flag on the well-known smelly barge

  2. Yes, absolutely fine, and it is nice that other people also think of others, giving and receiving priceless.
    It will be busy on the parking / street, and already a real workshop planning success.

    regards

  3. Wonderful stuff, congratulations! Just keep thinking in your talking puppy and kitten examples… Experience as a near-farmer shows that the “walkers” are often the most grateful for your effort and the toughest of all!

  4. Wonderful find. Beautiful personal connection. You really want it! A wonderful story.
    And a service as offered is indispensable. Great people how we are united.
    That makes my heart beat faster.

  5. Dear Dolf,

    Wish you good luck with the Italian 2-pitter and thank you again for putting your columns in perspective written à la Peter Mayle (A year in Provence), Renée Vonk and Peter Hooft (Look South - France).

    Best regards ,

    Nicolas

  6. Give dust, cobwebs, etc. a shower, ok. The attempts to make it into a delivery van also seems fine to me. But new exhausts? Here I see a polite motorcycle, which I think is largely in those characterful dampers without letting them speak.
    Responsibly bringing it to good technical condition, so that it can be used as a topic of conversation everywhere on its own, doesn't it seem more in line with scribe U?

    • Hello Michael. For your reassurance. They will not be New Exhausts. But the unsurpassed Teun Beuzel still has neat copies with experience. Because what is now hanging underneath is very sad! But I am very happy with it. Only after 15 years of inactivity a new battery has to be installed. It will be quite an investment process. That will cost me tens of euros!

  7. beautiful, very beautiful, congratulations, I hereby offer you to blast your carburettors externally and to pamper them internally with an ultrasonic cure, pick up and return service included.

  8. Through the rust I see a lot of possibilities and opportunities. Good that she is going to get back on the road. After all, that's what Guzzis belong. Beautiful side cases by the way. Take care of it.

    • Guzzies are tough beasts. My previous Cal left with three tons. The 650 fits the condition of my back better in terms of size and weight. Which I can't get parts for. The (used) parts provision for Guzzies, on the other hand, is fine. I already have a ten-ride ticket to Lochem, to Teun Beuzel. Extra funny: I did the pick up with comrade Ernie. Ernie and the seller used to live around the corner in Amsterdam. On my last visit to Teun Beuzel I met Roelof who I exchanged with a Suzuki T500 racing block for a CB 250 in Rickman trim some forty years ago. As long as you come out from behind your screen, life is a party!

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