Moto Guzzi Museum
On the way to see Il Lombardia we stopped in Mandello for lunch and to visit the newly re-opened Moto Guzzi museum, just the other side of the lake from Ghisallo where we'd spend the night to see the bike race the next day. Zio had one just like the two in the photo above and raced another one in the Battle of the Twins races in the USA.
After pranzo we headed along the lake to the museum.
The setting here can't be beat! Only in Italy would someone set up a motorcycle factory (and later museum) in a place like this!
And include a WIND TUNNEL! The first photo is the screened part where the air is sucked in by the huge fan in the back. They say the lights dimmed in houses nearby when this thing was running!
These guys were inventors! An internal-combustion powered, self-contained rear wheel for your bicycle maybe? These days we ride bicycles with a similar rear wheel powered by a battery.
Or maybe a "sidewinder" 4 cylinder motorcycle?
The museum has plenty of examples of Moto Guzzi motos from the beginning right up to the modern models produced next door. You can see the assembly line for both engines and the motos through windows if you like. For Zio, the crown jewel was the V8, something he'd seen only in photos and videos.
Overall, the museum rivals Ducati's but wins out with the amazing location. The only omission Zio could think of was one of the famous Reno Leoni 850 LeMans motos raced in the USA's AMA Superbike series by Mike Baldwin. The did have some motos raced in the USA by the Dr. John people but in Zio's opinion it was Leoni and Baldwin who put Guzzi on the map in the USA and inspired him to buy one for himself. For Zio this leave a huge gap in the story, but perhaps it's only him who cares?
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