ITALIAN SURVIVOR

I“It’s astounding how well it works,” says Dan Thorsen, who was the owner of this Italian single until his recent sale of the bike to a friend, Danny Aarons.

Thorsen was a well known local racer in the Eighties and Nineties and understands good handling. “It has a neutral track and the slightest input changes direction. It’s good on twisty little roads. Downhill from the Stelvio pass through the Alps would be perfect.”

Mention Moto Guzzi in North America, and people think of big reliable touring bikes and fast sport tourers. But Moto Guzzi is an Italian company, and, like other Italian manufacturers in the Forties, Fifties and Sixties, Moto Guzzi concentrated on small reliable single-cylinder machines for the Italian home market, which demanded beautiful styling and excellent handling as well as economy. The Moto Guzzi Lodola (Italian for lark, as in bird), a stylish, peppy little machine, was built from 1956 to 1965. It was a popular machine in Italy, where, at the time, a 235cc motorcycle was a mid-sized bike. According to writer David Styles [in his book , published by MBI, 2000], about 27,000 were built. Although it is a rarity on this side of the Atlantic, a few may actually have been imported. According to the owner’s manual, there was a Moto