Subject: New addition to the fleet - Long
Author: Charlie Mullendore
Date: Jun 14, 2003, 8:41 PM
Post ID: 1713392293
Hi All,
This morning my buddy and I drove down to Fairfax, VA and picked up
another Ambassador, this one a '72. The previous owner, "Andy", had
called me to ask if I could work on it for him. After talking for a
while he decided it would be better to get rid of the bike as he has two
small children he wanted to spend more time with and a demanding job
with Northrop-Grumman. That and his wife was tired of the kids stepping
in the oil it leaked and tracking it through the house! He also didn't
have time to ride the Sportster he already has, much less another bike.
So, "would I want it?" he asked. "Sure, how much?" I asked, thinking
around $500 would be right from his description and hoping it wasn't
more because my funding is still tapped out from the V7 Sport my bro'
brought me home from CA and from buying parts to rebuild the top-end on
the '69 Ambo. Well, when he says "you can just have it - come and haul
it away" I nearly fell off my chair! As if he needs to convince me to
come and get a free Guzzi, he tells me the seat has been recovered, the
tank cleaned and lined inside and that it has a new wiring harness,
ignition switch, headlight/horn switch and starter relay.
When I get there something looks outta' whack. Andy said it was a '71
but it has the Eldo style "waffle" engine case, deep sump rear drive and
Bosch generator and starter. I look at the tag on the front and it says
Oct.'71 production date - ah ha! The title says '72! Neat, I don't have
one of those yet! The bike is a roller with several containers of parts
removed and looks to be in fairly good shape. I learned a long time ago
not to "look a gift horse in the mouth", so it could have been a rusted,
rotting hulk and I'd have been happy! Andy calls from work and says
he'll have to mail me the missing rear fender as it's at a friend's
house and to enjoy the old beast. What a guy! I left a check with his
wife to cover the shipping cost plus some extra.
After we get back to my shop and unload, I have lunch and then plan on
mowing grass the rest of the afternoon. Mother Nature has other ideas
though and a pretty severe thunderstorm rolls through and dumps a bunch
of rain. Okay, plan "B" - do a quicky reassembly of the Ambo so I won't
have boxes of parts laying around. Two hours later it looks like a
complete bike again minus the rear fender and mufflers. I make up a
(surprisingly short) list of what it needs to be a runner and pull a few
parts out of my stash that are missing. Doesn't look like it will be too
big of a task, but it will have to wait until other projects are
finished first. In the meantime, I'll post some pics as soon as I get a
chance. Cheers,
Charlie
p.s. - Ian, the frame and engine numbers are 26330.