Thursday, October 25, 2012

Eldo-Glide Moto Guzzi



So I picked up the legendary Eldo-Glide from a friend today, and now it's my job to carry the torch. No real plans so far, other than clean up the look a little, do some general maintenance, and maybe polish it up a bit.

Just a background on the bike, from http://mnmotorcycle.com/feature-archives/

"This is the Eldo-glide. A late ’70 Moto Guzzi Eldorado with bits of Harley and Indian here and there. It’s owned by Tom the Tailor (612.721.4557) who has been sticking the odd bits and pieces on it for well over 20 years to get a bike that has a splash of American iron with the fat bob tank perched on the Italian bike. Having roommates at the time with basketcase Indians, Tom was constantly seeing which of their parts would fit on the Guzzi and then going out and finding them at swap meets. The exhaust is custom bent to blend the truck mufflers in nicely with the floorboards. The massive leather bags were made to order by Tom for a customer who decided she’d asked for bags that were way too big. The front fender sports a running light off of an old truck and some stainless steel flames tack welded onto the leading edge. After replacing hundreds of Moto Guzzi throttle cables he threw a Triumph throttle on there which would only break a few dozen times. Tom’s bike is by far the nastiest bike in this group. Everywhere you look there are mismatched nuts & bolts, bits of duct tape, and there isn’t a piece on the thing that still shines except for the crazy whitewall tires, both of which are both fronts. A few years ago Tom rode the Eldo-glide to Sturgis and back with little trouble and the bike was in constant use up until this spring when it was replaced with a brand new Moto Guzzi Jackal. Lord knows what that thing will look like in 24 years."

It's going to take a while to get going, and a great winter project, but should be worth it at the end.

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