Rescued

There's a bit of a Guzzi fetish going on at Sideburn, what with Gary's and Ben's caff lovelies and Chris Watson's 1000S. This is my sorely neglected 1973 V7 Sport. I rode it over to Italy in 2003, then, with nowhere to keep it in the stupidly expensive centre of Rome, I put it in the mother-in-law's garden shed (well, a stone shack), and she lives 30 miles south of here. That was seven years ago, in which time it's had precious little attention and apart from some liberal doses of oil down the bores and WD40 here and there, that's it. Not even been started. Oh, the Odyssey battery has been on an Optimate charger/conditioner all this time and still seems pretty decent.

So anyway, yesterday, I went with my mate Francesco and his van (he runs a very good touring/bike hire firm, CIMT) to rescue the poor old thing. I was relieved at how well it's fared and a good clean will have it looking pretty tidy again (can't speak yet for shrivelled oil seals, wrecked chrome bores, nipped-up bearings etc). It now has a new home in a large communal garage where Francesco keeps his hire fleet. He insisted that I parked it where it could be ogled from his office in the corner of the garage, which is fine by me. Now begins the slow process of getting it ready for the road and - more dauntingly - putting it through Italian red tape to register it. But I feel good just having it nearby again. I'm really sorry Guz. It was never through lack of love, just lack of cash. You know that, don't you? MP