Unicorn Sighting: 2001 Ghezzi-Brian Supertwin for Sale

Guzzi is one of the oldest and most storied motorcycle manufacturers in existence, but they’ve drifted pretty far from their sporting roots in recent years, owing to their purchase by Piaggio, a move that has kept them afloat, but forever relegated to building vintage-styled and cruisers to prevent them competing with more sports-oriented bikes from sister-company Aprilia. Really though, the downward slide began long before that, as Guzzi just couldn’t keep pace with the ruthless development of modern sportbikes from Japan. Luckily, there’ve been a few bright spots along the way, like this Ghezzi-Brian Supertwin that point out just how much life is still left in Moto Guzzi’s v-twin package.

If you’re not familiar with bikes produced by Giuseppe Ghezzi and Bruno Saturno aka: “Ghezzi-Brian” you might remember the very exotic MGS-01 that they developed from Guzzi’s seemingly obsolete shaft-drive v-twin platform. A race-replica designed around Ghezzi’s successful racing machine, the Supertwin features quality suspension at both ends and clever engineering designed to reduce weight.

The slim bodywork reveals the iconic longitudinal v-twin and contrasts nicely with the hulking mechanicals. The huge perimeter front brakes look incredibly trick and should offer up excellent stopping power to go with the increased straight-line performance that comes mostly from a huge weight reduction: the Supertwin weighs in at a claimed 427lbs dry, down 55lbs from the largely stock V11 Sport that donates its engine. Power is an modest 91hp but the 1064cc motor puts out impressive torque to match the amazing soundtrack. The gearbox unfortunately is the earlier Sport 1100’s five-speed unit, which is as disappointing here as it is in the original application.

From the original eBay listing: 2001 Ghezzi-Brian Racing Edition Supertwin for Sale

Super bike extremely rare and mint, 7,499 kilometers from new, needs nothing, OZ Racing wheels made just for this model bike! Wide rear wheel, larger exhaust ports, under bike exhaust, sold on a bill of sale. The bike sounds incredible, bike has a factory race program in its CPU, much more special than the regular edition Ghezzi-Brian normal production Super Twin. These motorcycles never come up for sale.

“These motorcycles never come up for sale” is very much an understatement. These are extremely rare here in the USA and I’ve only seen a couple being offered. New in 2001, you were looking at about $15,000 for a Supertwin, but I’m not sure what kind of premium the “Racing” edition might carry: these bikes . Current bidding is up to just $7,600 with the Reserve Not Met, although keep in mind that this bike doesn’t appear to have a current title, which will affect the price somewhat. Certainly any Ghezzi-Brian is collectible, but they’re very good on the road, so it’s a shame this one may end up just sitting under a dust-cover somewhere.

-tad