For sale: 1983 Moto Guzzi 850 LeMans
I’m dreaming of an Italian Christmas – one with a 1983 LeMans III. These 1980s Guzzis are very attractive and desireable machines, combining a large V-twin with a stout chassis and brakes (linked, of course). With a long-ish wheelbase and shaft drive, the LeMans is more of a GT than flat-out sportbike – but it gets along quite well all the same!
Fom the seller:
Rare and beautiful classic – ’83 Le Mans
Approximately 21,250 original miles | Dell’Orto PHM 36mm pumpers | New Metzler front tire | New plugs & NGK caps | Running perfectly, fires up immediately, even in the dead of winter | New battery | New clutch and tach cable | All original, matching numbers | New fluids ( trans, axle and engine) oil & filter | Stock except for K&N filters | Nice quality matching bar end models | Bitubo fork inserts | Tomaselli Domino 1/4 turn throttle, stock throttle included | Collector or daily driver
The value of these older Guzzis has definitely been on an upward trend as of recent years. LeMans and V7 Sport models have been the primary beneficiaries of that boost, and this bike should be no different. Clean, nearly original, and in seemingly exceptional condition, I would expect this bike to meet the BIN price of $8500. For your chance to own a classic cafe racer from the Old Country, and jump over to the auction!
MI
Oh what great lines…wich the Big 4 would copy this one.
Too right, Frank D! Honda copied the engine configuration for their CX series bikes, but couldn’t come close to the beautiful proportion of the LeMans series!
Yeah,nice 🙂 My 84 was virtually identical. Well….of course, I HAD to stick the close ratio racing tranny in mine, with the undercut square gears ( what a cool sound that tranny made ), Rennsport racing exhaust and cans ( WHAT a sound ! ) the crankcase rebreather, bigger main jets, pilots, and slide cut-outs, dyna electronic ignition (after I blew up the distributor advance plate chasing Turbo-Bim by Five Rivers on this turbo charged 750 Kawi) The distributor actually is a Fiat part 🙂 I put Koni shocks on the back with more progressive spring rates, and changed to heavier front fork oil to slow down rebound on the front end ( no adjust-ability back then) I put nearly 50,000 miles on it with NO problems (other than the distributor). An honest, air-cooled, 75-80hp at the rear wheel. And despite the fact that it had shaft drive, and required a very precise riding style and smoothness….THAT bike ruled Hwy 34 for the five seasons I owned it, and embarrassed MANY, MANY water-cooled, higher tech Japanese sportbikes of the same era. The really fun thing about it was it’s uniqueness. You rarely saw another one….and quite honestly, they will FLY…IF you can ride around their limitations. I had more than one conversation with vanquished japo-sportbike riders after stopping for gas. The conversation was always a variation of… ” Wow, I didn’t realize those MotoGuzzi’s were SO fast…..!” My standard answer was a smile and, ” Well….they’re NOT really that fast 🙂 “. If you ride a Gixxer, or an R1, CBR1000RR , Duc 1098 etc etc…it’s a ” given ” that you’re are ( supposedly ) a ” Fast ” guy..right? There was something about sneaking along on an air-cooled, antiquated motored, shaft drive, “Weird Harold” sportbike at a good clip that WAS, in many respects, more satisfying than the over the top superbikes we now ride. Yeah…..I’ve got some DANDY cop stories about that bike too, LoL !!! Oh, that memory lane! FM
okay, nice, but what’s the price?