L’impostazione stilistica della Moto trova ispirazione nelle antiche realizzazioni monocilindriche Guzzi. Nel passato, prima dell’avvento del V90, Guzzi realizzò moto come la 500ss, Condor o il Falcone e sperimentò anche un monocilindrico Compresso. In questi veicoli la meccanica era organizzata lungo un asse ideale che collega il mozzo anteriore a quello posteriore; a queste suggestioni se ne aggiungono altre meno tecniche.

Or put it another way.

Inspired by the old Moto Guzzi productions single cylinder bikes’ style, designer Paolo De Giusti has designed three Naked bikes that flaunt their extra good looks and green credentials. Designed to be romantic is the “900 SD Big Mono Naked” that uses diesel/electric engines and comes in the red and the black models. It uses a single cylinder 903 cc with direct injection and turbo diesel engine that makes it ideal for fast riding.

Well I don’t know about the turbo-diesel but it is good to see this bike and it is hard to ignore the heritage of them (there is a similar electric concept).

Ghezzi Brian have been doing a good job with Guzzis for a while now but sadly I feel rather unmoved by the reported Guzzi Clubman. Pastiche is the word that comes to mind.

The bottom line is that design heritage can be drawn upon and improved upon, or it can be plundered.

These are here pretty much as a reminder to myself and to others who know me. Gambalunga (Long Legs – geddit?). The one below is a to-do reminder and the logo is probably the simplest of all Guzzi logos.

Anyway, a tad busy just now, not as much blogging as I would like, but still here…
…and also easily distracted by Guzzis.

Design can take various forms and the often quoted “Form Follows Function” will probably always be a good start to any great design.

Recently I posted some images of the Snaefell. Personally, if the donor Laverda was on the forecourt next to the derivative I would be on two wheels every time. However I might just be found revving the engine and listening to it. This is the point where discussion could deviate to the relative aural delights of the 120° and 180° cranks, but it won’t. Suffice it to say that I am pleased that Snaefells exist

John T Overlander

At the weekend I witnessed the John T Overlander, a bespoke motorbike with a different focus, to travel around the world. John T explained to me that the bike had indeed travelled this journey, in effect 5 times.

Built for Simon Milward’s Millennium Ride the bike still continues to attract attention both for it and Motorcycle Outreach.

On first sight the Overlander is a total shed of a machine, however closer inspection reveals a huge amount of thought in particular the pannier system linked and damped with a steering damper and the dual height suspension. More of this machine can be found here.

Suffice it to say that bikes like this are never going to be things of beauty, they are things of purpose, a true expression of Form Follows Function.

No real reason to show this but if you want the full story have a look here. Laverdas are one of my favourites and I’m sure few would have envisaged this as an evolution of one but, hey?

Yesterday was another trip to the Apple Store to take part in the third MacBook purchase in as many months. This time with someone who had managed to get to his late forties without really using a computer. An interesting experience all round for me when trying to facilitate.

As ever I have in my mind the relatively short time that this technology has been around. A quick look here for an interesting reminder?

As I sit typing I am listening to The Clash, London Calling, having been reminded of it by Zane Lowe recently. This again pre-dates the technology by considerable time..

Anyway first problem for a newbee, no email address. My 9 year old has at least one, possibly many. While we were buying the MacBook she bought another Puffle using one of the AppleStore iMacs. Surely everyone has an email address? Well no, of course not. But it helps if you have one before you even turn the computer on.
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