Subject: RE: How did you come by your Loop and why?
Author: JACK-@aol.com
Date: Dec 1, 2003, 1:45 PM
Post ID: 1715374666
After entering the world of Guzzi via purchase of my LeMans 1000 in 1986, I joined MGNOC. Soon I became aware of the loop frames and started looking for one. At Sturgis in 1989, I was in the grandstands for the 1/2 mile races on the last day of the rally. A feature to keep the crowd interested prior to the races was for the announcer to call out each make of motorcycle and those riding that brand to stand up and holler. I was one of two that stood up and cheered when "Moto Guzzi" was called. That led to some discussion with those sitting around me about Guzzis. One fellow mentioned that he knew where there was a pair of loop frames in a field near Sydney, NE. Sounded like an urban legend to me.
I began to check, and after a lot of phone calls I located the bikes and they were for sale. Next was a quick car trip to see them ... "Where the heck is Sydney", said the wife/navigator as she fumbled with the map and we generally drove north and east to the "flatlands".
A friendly Sydney policeman helped with final directions to the house and the field behind with the two loop frame bikes. One was a '73 Eldorado and one a '72 Ambassador. Both were white, complete, and ran, but made such awful noises that I quickly told the owner to shut them off. Clearly these were rolling basket cases, but seemed to be within my capabilities to save. However, we were quite a ways apart on price, so I declined purchase.
That's not the end of the story. The seller was a friendly chap with a small manufacturing company. We talked about his business and I gave him some ideas, since manufacturing is my game. He needed a way to automate the cutting of steel plate and I knew that, at my company, we had an obsolete Linde flame cutter the used optical tracking to make the cut and we were about to scrap this machine. This is now low (or no) tech, but 40 years ago was a big deal! However, it was perfect for his application. Upon return to the office, I asked our mfg. eng. manager to call my Sydney friend to see if he was interested purchasing the old Linde. I was gone for a while on a business trip and when I returned, I was told that the Linde was being sold (for a very small price) to the fellow in Sydney who was driving down to pick it up. I called the Sydney friend and told him that it was a darned shame to bring an empty truck to Colorado Springs. He did the math, made a reduction in his asking price, and I acquired two project loop framers.
After at first thinking the Ambassador was to be a donor bike, I restored both of them. Today the Ambassador is beautiful but seldom used, and I will probably sell it in the spring. The Eldo is my daily rider (primarily because of the luggage and windshield). It has been to the Sturgis rally 6 or 7 times, and on one visit I parked it on the main street, and turned around to find the previous owner (the Sydney seller) standing on the curb looking at me! He loved the restored bike and I had to tell him that it is simply not for sale.
Now, I have a new Moto Guzzi Stone, which is very nice ... but nothing beats the old loop framers in my garage.
Sorry for the band width, but you asked for it!!
Jack Lindberg
Colorado Springs, Colorado
'72 Ambassador, '73 Eldo. '86 LeMans 1000, '03 Stone
.... and a bunch of other bikes.