New from Surrey

Morning all, fig here. Just thought I'd join up and see what I could find out about cafe racers. I've got an old Guzzi Le Mans IV that needs a facelift, and I reckon the cafe route is the way to go, but it'll have to be done on a very limited budget, cos I'm skint. I'm hoping you lot can give me some inspiration. Cheers.

hi fig

Hi Fig, love Guzzi's, particularly the Le Mans, can't wait to see some piccies.

Nice story for you, I was at Dunham and Haines in Luton, a reknowned motor cycle dealers back in the year dot, MG had just launched the Le Mans as the ultimate road racer and D&H got local GP legend, Phil Read, along to do some promo shots.

My pal was the workshop mechanic at D&H and he brought the bike out for the aforementioned Mr Read, already warmed up and raring to go. Dave quietly suggested to Phil that he watch the torque reaction as, being a shaft drive, it had a tendancy to twist if given too much welly. Phil sneered and retorted he was a motorcyling 'ace' and knew full well what he was doing!

Mr Read sat astride the bike, and having had his mug shot snapped by numerous local paperazzi, proceded to give the bike a big handful prior to dropping the clutch.

Dunham and Haines had been on the same site in Luton for donkeys years, the road outside was a total grease slick due to decades of old British bikes sitting, dripping oil, whilst their owners had visited the premises for spare parts and biking goodies.

Phil grinned for the cameras, dropped the clutch mid-revs, the bike slammed sideways and skidded off up the road leaving our motorcyling hero sitting on his beam end in the oily sludge that was the roadside. The assembled David Baileys lost no time in snapping away and the local headlines that week sported numerous titles such as "Moto Guzzi too big a handful" and "Phil Read drops a clanger" Oh how we laughed! :-)

I met Phil Read about 15 years ago. I was tooling around on my ZXR750, taking the long way to my favourite pub, when I came up behind a Pan European that was going a little slower than I wanted to go. So I razzed past him at the first opportunity and gave a wave, noticing he had a Phil Read replica lid on, not something you see too often these days.

Straight away the guy on the Pan upped his pace and followed me at pretty close quarters, so I upped mine. He responded instantly, and the race was on. 5 miles later I pulled into the pub car park and the Pan followed me in. I was quite gutted that I couldn't shake off a Pan Euro, until he took his lid off and the grinning face of a multiple world champ came into view!

I bought him a pint and sat with him for 20 mins, but to be honest I found him hard work to talk to, he was friendly but very cagey, answering questions with questions. I've met him agian since, and he was the same then, just his way I guess.

hi Fig and welcome, le Mans.... your half way there