Although I’m going to be hanged for this, in a lot of ways Moto Guzzi has a lot in common with Harley-Davidson. Both have been pushing an ancient architecture air-cooled engine as their mainstay power plant for decades and decades although Harley wins the longevity prize here. Guzzi’s been building a 90-degree V-twin air-cooled pushrod engine (think of it as a slice of a Chevy small block) that, like Harley, has been continually updated at a pace resembling a glacier melting. Hey, when you find a good design to begin with there’s nothing wrong with sticking with a good thing. Even the Eldorado model this bobber is based on had a Harley-look to it with same size chubby front and rear tires like an Electra Glide and FLH-style deeply valanced fenders too. In other words, it was ripe for bobbing which basically gets rid of anything you can other than the drivetrain.
That’s exactly what Tim Scates did. What he ended up saving from the original bike was only the engine, tranny, driveshaft, rear wheel and mainframe of the Eldo while the rest of the stuff hit the road. With the bare necessities spec’d out, he got to work adding a pair of threaded struts where shocks once lived for a completely revamped look to what is normally a very hefty back end with frame tubing, big seat, frame covers, chrome grab handles, etc.
Up front what looks like a Harley springer replaces the fat stock hydraulic forks with only the vintage look in show chrome that a springer has in spades. A traditional 21-inch wheel with a spool hub wearing an equally traditional Avon Speedmaster Mk II ribbed tire is basically along for the ride. Out back, the stock Guzzi high-flange alloy rim wheel with its drum brake sports another Avon, this one a classic block tread like a Firestone Deluxe Champion.
Rolling stock out of the way, the engine not only got a complete rebuild, but a cosmetic makeover too that kept the raw aluminum look of the stock block with some interesting bits of shiny hi-po stuff. The stock carb manifolds were replaced with some one-off ones with velocity stacks instead of Guzzi’s huge stock air box. The belt-driven generator that sits in the Vee of the engine is now enclosed in a chrome cover with a bee hive-style coil mounted prominently on it. My only complaint about it is the unsightly yellow plug wires that do nothing to add anything but needless business to the final look. I don’t even care if they’re some kind of super high performance wires as that’s of no importance to a bobber. Black ones would surely make them disappear like they should. One thing that doesn’t disappear no matter how you might squint is that set of sweeping straight-through pipes situated so you never miss a beat of the V-twin engine.-
Bodywork consists of a small peanut tank to replace the six-gallon stocker. To say what a change that makes is an understatement if there ever was one. Same goes for the tidy ribbed rear fender that now has to do the work of two large ones. It may not fend off road crap, but at least you won’t get any crap for how it looks. There is a big ball mounted on the transmission that looks like it came out of some vintage store that deals in ancient artifacts. It’s strangely attractive and houses all the electric stuff you need to operate this bike but it still looks like it should have a Genie inside or something like that.
After fabbing up a bare pan seat shock saddle and a wicked twisted set of mini-apes, someone whipped out a lathe and made brass handgrips and every peg needed for the foot controls so there’s a nice bit of brass bringing a bit of richness to the build. The paint is ‘70s wild with fish scale and lace patterns in shimmering gold against the black backdrop of the bike. There’s also a good bit of aluminum surface enhancement in the form of engraving on many bits of the bike including those inserts under the top tube.
Overall, the re-do is quite stunning in my opinion and somehow Tim Scates pulled off a Guzzi custom that doesn’t look out of place like an Asian chopper does parked in a pool of Harleys. Even with the driveshaft in place. This is one of those rare dare-to-be-different moments when the stars aligned and out came a snazzy looking bobber that’s got a lot more in common with Harley even if it’s totally different than all those other wannabees. I like it and I’m sticking to it and I’m totally surprised how much I like it.