UPDATED PICTURES BELOW!!
Fabian in Germany told me of his project to convert a T3 to an S3. Now by rights I shouldn't include this in the site as I had always said that bikes have to have been a genuine 750 when they left the factory, but what the hell, loks like Fabian's bike is going to turn out so well that in this case I'll let it slide. He's building his own bike for himself and that's fine with me. And he also gets the advantage of an 850cc motor..
Just a few pics (BELOW) for now to give an idea but Fabian has promised to send more as things progress - he's having wheel spacer blues at the moment.
And here's a first on this site, text also available in German!! Fabian in his own words...
Project 850-S3
From the beginning of my motorbike career the Guzzi S3 was my favourite. The reason was a friend´s bike. We met almost every Saturday at his garage. He had a S3 and I had a V 35. My first bike ever. The nice design with the wire wheels and the classic sporty look impressed me a lot.
After riding some little Guzzis and a Morini I decided to buy a big Guzzi. But wire-wheels were important to me. I found my original 1977 T3 at a dealer near my hometown. He took my V 50 Mk 3 for a good price and I bought the T3. It was not cheap but it was a good buy as I never had any serious problems with it. So I drove it for 4 years.
But the day came when the bike looked and felt a bit boring to me. What to do? I rememberd the S3 and decided to make one. The basics of the early T3 is very close to the S3. No wonder as they were made at the same time. I had the nice Borrani rims and the Aprilia electric equipment. But many other things are different as you will know. So I looked into Guzzi parts catalogues of different parts dealers. Some things are available but many are missing. I wanted to keep the costs low and didn't want to do it in a hurry. And I decided to keep all original T3-parts. They are a part of my bike and in case of a sale or change of mind it´s good to have them. Those parts are quickly sold. But hard to get when necessary.
It took me about 2 years to get all parts for my project. Some parts were bought at dealers but most came from Ebay. They were not cheap there, but available! All together I think I have spent approximately 1500 euro for all the parts.
Not a bargain for parts. But a bargain for a "new" bike ;-)
These are the necessary parts for a conversion:
upper fork yoke
lower fork yoke
front axle
brake disc spacers
front mudguard
mudguard arms
steering damper knob assembly
headlight holders
clip-ons
upper brake hose
fuel tank
seat
handgrip rails
750-S3 emblems
rear fender
rear fender knob screws
exhaust downpipes
mufflers (lafranconi)
footrests (agostini)
As you can see I changed really all different parts (exept engine, of course) because I wanted to make an exact copy. Not just a "look close to" bike. A difficult thing is to make the "narrow fork". But I think this is important for the sporty look. The wide touring forks with big fender is not the right thing for a "racer".
But you have to decide yourself what is important and what is not. Now I have almost completed my bike and I am really satisfied with the result. A personal dream comes true. But have a look for youself:
fabianstoehr@t-online.de |
