Ugly Goose - Moto Guzzi 850T cafe

Rusnak_322

Coast to Coast
DTT BOTM WINNER
Well, I bought the ugliest Moto Guzzi that I have ever seen. Not that I have seen many of them. They are either pretty rare in these parts or blend in so much that I don’t notice them. I have always loved the idea of them since hearing the 1990’s song Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle by Cake.

“Well, your CD collection looks shiny and costly.
How much did you pay for your bad Moto Guzzi?
And how much did you spend on your black leather jacket?
Is it you or your parents in this income tax bracket?”

This bike is the 50th bike owned between my wife and I (including mopeds, three wheelers and a quad). I don’t have 50 now – we are down to 7 if you include a XS400 parts bike that I bought that is complete except for a title.

This Guzzi is going to be my second café bike, but I have to build it alongside a 1980 Yamaha XS400 Brat that my wife wants (will have its own build thread).

The good thing with this Guzzi is that it is complete, running and titled. The bad – well look at it!





That is the WORST tail I have ever seen. The tank is from a Yamaha – don’t know what. I know this, because I can read the Yamaha sticker thru the paint.
BTW: I loathe black. I hate bikes that look like someone took a rattle can to. This will be more show than go. I have a fast bike, so my plan is to make it look as nice as possible for as cheap as possible. See the build thread in my sig – I built that bike for nothing and plan to do the same on this one.
 

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Gues the PO was a truck driver, if you see the bar end blinkers ;D

Good luck with it, and have fun with throwing the rear end away 8)
Ugly dugling projects are always interesting.
 
So - what tank?
I want something that is flat on the bottom. the cool part of the Tonti frame Guzzi is that flat straight line that runs the length of the bike. I also like narrow as it makes the engine look more massive.

Yamaha -


Honda CB360
Honda ??
Guzzi Convert?
The other problem - the tank has to be longer then something like the Honda tanks - otherwise my knees hit the heads. Even moving the pegs back didn't solve that.
 

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Before I bought the bike, I figured that I could just order up a http://www.thetankshop.com/ tank and call it a day.

Didn't realize that they were so much $$.

delivered would be in the range of $800 and worse - 40+ weeks!! That's like 10 months! And you need the tank to work out the tank mounts and seat mounts, so you can't just work around that.
 
I rather like the yamaha tank that it came with. Honda tanks will be too small i think.
 
I agree with japstar above. I like the hard jutting downward angle at the back of the yamaha tank thats on there. It actually kind of looks like it belongs on a Guzzi, and it just about lines up with the frame there which is nice as well.

That tail is/was hilarious. It actually looks like someone put a decent amount of time and effort into it, but man what a monstrosity.
 
Rusnak_322 said:
Before I bought the bike, I figured that I could just order up a http://www.thetankshop.com/ tank and call it a day.

Didn't realize that they were so much $$.

delivered would be in the range of $800 and worse - 40+ weeks!! That's like 10 months! And you need the tank to work out the tank mounts and seat mounts, so you can't just work around that.

I got my alloy tank from TABII within 3 weeks, or you could go for a fibreglass tank, or I've seen a couple of Guzzi 850 specials using a Honda CB200 (CB200T) tank, which looked good. I've got a photo somewhere, will dig it out when I have time. Good luck with the build.

Edit to add photo..
 

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A Guzzi is never ugly - period! Yours just had a bad tin day ;D

Regarding having your knees touching the cylinders, I don think it has anything to do with the tank, rather the handlebars and the footrests. I'm 1,83M (5feet 11) and have a 34inseam, I touch the heads with my clubman handlebar but sat a bit more backwards with a traditional "naked bike handlebar" I had previously.

In real life it doesn't matter, I actually like to have "the touch" of the heads when riding. But I also ride in leather and in cold weather 8)
 
Bevelheadmhr said:
I got my alloy tank from TABII within 3 weeks, or you could go for a fibreglass tank, or I've seen a couple of Guzzi 850 specials using a Honda CB200 (CB200T) tank, which looked good. I've got a photo somewhere, will dig it out when I have time. Good luck with the build.

Edit to add photo..

These looks like small block Guzzi's, I think this tank will look way too tiny on a 850T
 
that yamaha tank is probably an xs500 tank or an xs400s tank....I like it better than the guzzi tank and the cb360 and cb550 tank you have pictured......

all that said, I think a cb750f tank could look really good on there....it will be long but have a shape similar to the 360 tank with a little more style in it.

cb750_custom_cafe_racer.jpg
 
I tried that Yamaha tank on my wifes 1980 XS400 and it wouldn't fit - The tunnel is too narrow. Shame, as I really like the look of the square XS400 tanks vs the teardrop style that she has. The one in the front is the parts bike - I just swapped the wheels and forks - she wanted the mag wheels and the disk front brake.

IMG_0634.jpg
 
Perter said:
These looks like small block Guzzi's, I think this tank will look way too tiny on a 850T

The bike at the back of the photo is an 850, the one at the front a V50.
 
V7 Sport replica. I like that idea. Or early LeMans look for fast road work.

You might see if Tannermatic has anything in say CF that would work http://www.tannermatic.com/
 
I like the V Sport tank, the way the side bulge out and yet it still has the knee indents.

http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=286&products_id=3245&zenid=2bed04b2267859b7eb76330c8a2669cf


But, I don't like how the end is. There is a large gap where it meets the seat unless you have a bulky seat, which I dislike. I especially dislike the seat that wraps the back of the tank.

I take that back, I don't dislike that, I just really don't want to go that route on my bike.

Also, that V Sport tank is not cheap. I have been looking for a few months and have not seen a deal on that tank anywhere. They don't pop up used like a Honda tank. New, looks like it will be well over 1/3 the purchase price of my bike. I need to stay cheap if I want to finish this this season as I am now buying parts for my wifes bike.
 
Have you considered choosing your handlebars before the tank? The reason In my experience, the look of the tank changes with different handlebars too.
I have a SP1 with original tank. With normal bars like yours I think the tank looks ugly but when I added lower clubman bars the look changes too... not to a beauty like a V7 or alloy, more from ugly to acceptable... 8)
 

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I have drag bars and a superbike bend that I bought already. I put the superbike bars on and I like how they sit.
 
I know that a lot of people feel this tank is ubiquitous, but I like it. It isn’t like I encounter a lot of other café bikes in my travels, and I doubt that I will run into another vintage Moto Guzzi with Mojave tank. Hell, I had a hard time finding a picture of one on the interwebs.
$120 for the tank with cap! Not a repo and the inside is clean!


tank_1.jpg
 
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