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Bringing New Life to my 74 Eldorado

J_C

Just got it firing!
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
9
Location
Kansas
Hey guys. I made a post giving the history of my Eldo from 1976 to present elsewhere online, and folks seemed to like it, so I thought I'd share here, as well.

To start with, it's a '74 Eldorado Police Model. My father bought it in '76, and rode it for about 30 years. It then went into storage for 10 years or so, before he finally gave it to me. It has a one of a kind front fender, made by an old friend of his, 16" wheels imported from Italy, and the mufflers have had the baffles modified and downward pointing tips welded on, but other than that, it's mostly stock. Even still has the original paint and decals, although they're not typical.

Back in the day, he had it fully dressed with fairing, hardbags, tour pack, and some extra customizations, as you'll see in the pics, below (first pic.) Then, around '98, he was riding solo to Sturgis and got into the infamous wobble, which he couldn't get out of. He wound up laying it down in the median to avoid getting run over by a semi, but hit a rut, sending the bike into an airborne barrel roll. Miraculously, he came through with just a few scratches and bruises, after kicking off, mid air, and the bike came through decently, with all of the fiberglass absorbing the damage. The only damage to he bike, itself, are two dimples on either side of the tank, where the fairing impacted it. After that, he sent it to a buddy in Missouri to strip it down and give it an engine and transmission rebuild (mom took off about that time, and he had to sell his shop and parts bikes, so he couldn't do it, himself.) Over the next few years, he only rode it a handful of times, before it went into storage.

When I got it in 2017, it had a huge, custom, King/Queen double seat on it, a 30 year old National Cycle, 3 piece windshield, even older bags, and needed new tires, battery, and fluids (second pic.) However, after replacing the fluids, battery, and tires, she fired up on the first try and purred right along. After that, a quick rebuild of the front break caliper, and it was back on the road. I rode it like that for a couple of seasons, as I got to know the bike, then decided to give her some new life with some fresh dressings. So last weekend, I installed a Cycle Garden solo seat, a Harper's rear rack, a new set of River Road bags (great bags on a budget,) and replaced the windshield top piece and the grips (third pic.) As soon as my dad is back in town from a job he's on, he's going to walk me through retorquing the heads, adjusting the valves, and a few other things, all of which I'll post pics of, here.

So that's my Guzzi adventure, so far. I look forward to posting more updates!

Snapchat 190621751 Snapchat 217249558 Snapchat 10733079822
 
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Great post!
Really appreciate a Guzzi that has stayed in the same family for that long.
Ride safe & have fun.

PS: A '74 Police model was the 3rd Guzzi I owned.
 
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Reactions: J_C
Great post!
Really appreciate a Guzzi that has stayed in the same family for that long.
Ride safe & have fun.

PS: A '74 Police model was the 3rd Guzzi I owned.
Will do! I've always loved this thing. My sister and I grew up touring all over the country on it and in the sidecar of my mom's 80s model MG 1000 5-Speed. I'd been begging dad since I was 10 to please never sell it, so that I could have it, one day, so bringing her back to glory is like a dream come true. Definitely planning on hitting a couple of rallies, this summer.
 
There's already a Loopframe registry on Greg Bender's website: thisoldtractor.com/moto_guzzi_loopframe_loop_list.php
 
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