Franken Guzzi - hence Frankuzzi - a Desert Guzzi is born

[Desertpistons]

Project 1 Guzzi V65ttR

After playing with multitudes of beemers and building somewhat dakar like replicas, I started tinkering with the idea of building my special guzzi.....

after all aren't we all tired to see all these gummi cows with elongated arms and so on....well I am....... so here the GUZZI project begins.

Deciding on the bike was pretty easy to me, as i wanted something light, yes light...not a panzer for the street but something easy to drive desertwise.

The bike picked to start the metamorphosis is the Guzzi V65tt. It is pretty rare in the US as only 15 were imported. Can you believe it? amazing. How many g/s in the US?

The rarity dint stop me as I was very intrigued to work with and learn something new. As an advantage (in deciding the next steps) I also own a Baja (the bike Guzzi build to attempt the dakar in the 80s) and a prototype with which Guzzi experimented a monoshock swingarm.

So here the picture of the bike that I will begin my work with and post the work pari passo on this thread....ah, I picked Frankuzzi as it sounds better to my native language and reminds me of my friend in the old boot.

Frankuzzi

[Hogslayer]

I have to admit I've never seen one, it actually is a pretty cool looking bike as is.

[Desertpistons]

Yes, It is a nice bike. I agree and fun to ride

First I will list what are the main issues on this bike that i will address in the rebuild

1) Non existing front brake and super wimpy forks

2) Very small swing arm travel

3) very fragile differential and swing arm

4) very, very heavy battery and a very complicated air filter system

5) very high foot pegs mounts

6) the original exhaust is the pit, the one that i have on is an aftermarket sito that works quite good

7) Small fuel autonomy with the stock metal tank

8) very fragile back fender

That is not bad considering that in other bikes i had to change more items to make it to my likelyhood

[Desertpistons]

more pics

[Desertpistons]

Another

[marksbonneville]

Nice bike, I'm looking forward to this build.

[Desertpistons]

another picture -back view

[Assfault]

I saw a Guzzi v65 in the back of a pickup yesterday in El Paso.
I don't remember it being mostly white though.
I think it had an orange tank and chrome fenders.
Anyway, goood luck with your project.
I did something simular with a basketcase weestrom.
Still tweeking the build, but it has been to Mexico and survived.
Guzzi's Rock!

[Desertpistons]

I couldn't stop searching among the many tanks that i have home and see at what could fit Frankuzzi. I found a set that may work. In the mean time, I started taking down few parts to have a better idea on what to do next.

I have also exchanged emails with a good friend of mine which has done all the welding on my bikes and helped me rebuilding few ones. He is an airhead desert rider but he fancied to work on something different. I told him what i had in mind and we all soon realized that the big problem would have been the back swing arm.

Now, when you rebuild a bike for a special purpose, there are many ways of sorting the parts and get the job done. The more talented do everything themselves, other like me do few jobs, and let other professional do it. Welding is not my forte and i rather prefer to see it done by someone who knows what to do and tried on his beemers. I dont want to have a bike cracked in 2 after a jump...i have seen it on a nice beemer

Something that is important to me is to respect the time and age of the bike and therefore my upgrades will follow as best as I can, parts that could be procured on that period even if this means, installing something inferior to more modern components. It doesn't make a difference to me as i will not go any faster anyway and i will appreciate better the authenticity of my creation....as it could have been made 20 year ago....

Enjoy the guzzi with beemers pictures on the wall :)

[Maxacceleration]

Weaknesses? Well it is Italian after all.

It is a real shame if you molest that bike.

Fifteen of them in the US?

I would do fresh shocks & fork oil, Shorai battery and small details after that.
Unless your mods allow it to return to stock.
Collectors don't hack classic bikes.

Its just too rare...

JMHO!

[Desertpistons]

15 in the US, hundreds in Italy and hundreds in Europe. No collector item. trust me.

There have been 2 for sale in the last 2 years, no one wanted to cough good money for this bike.

People will spend it for an r 80g/s but not for such a Guzzi.

Stay tune.....will love the 'Kafka" bike

[Antti]

Originally Posted by Desertpistons

4) very, very heavy battery and a very complicated air filter system

d

Whole bike is built around airfilter.

[Throbbing Missile]

Nice plan, I've wanted to build a small block trail bike like the old TTs and NTXs for a while. V35s and 50s can be had dirt cheap here and would be a fine starting point.
Either that or I use the 1100 Sport motor and Tonti frame that are sitting in the corner of the workshop and make a real beast - a Quota on speed

Tank looks good, what's it from? aftermarket XT500?

[griffo1962]

Boy, I really miss mine. Bought is new in the late '80s, traded it a couple of yrs later for a KLR. Still got the KLR, sometimes wish it was the TT.....

[Precis]

My wife's got a TT; you forgot to mention the crap sidestand (we replaced it with a lengthened 250 kawasaki stand), the fly-apart crap indicators (same as the rubbish on LM3), the sidecovers that crack, the ever-lying neutral light - and the fact you'll get 100,000km easily.
I see you've got a centre-stand -had one on my pox-ridden NTX, but I've never seen one on a TT.
Good luck with the project.