1981 Moto Guzzi Le Mans V850 Mark III Custom
Gannet Design and Vanguard have had an ongoing relationship, with their third creation just being unveiled, with the Moto Guzzi V850 Le Mans custom, which features design cues from Vanguards clothing style department.
This is the third collaboration of a Moto Guzzi custom build based on legendary Le Mans V850 Mark III 1981.
This Moto Guzzi, conceived by Gannet Design, pays homage to the legendary Moto Guzzi V850 Le Mans and the racing heritage of the brand. The custom racer has numerous details referring to the jeans, and vice versa.
Ulfert (Gannet Design)
“The theme is inspired by 80’s long distance racer with a large aluminum fairing, which we left in a rough brushed finish to show the craftsmanship of metal shaping. We designed a new tank with vintage knee pads in quilted leather as well a leather belt to secure the tank in place. The color theme is brushed metal with accents of deep burgundy red of the front fairing and top section of the tank. The custom cafe racer tail section with the signature ‘V’ and two round tail lights underlines the racer style with vintage design language. The exhaust got integrated into the lower fairing and cooled with some shark gills which gives a reference to early days racing body work out of aluminum. The cockpit got heavily inspired by old fighter planes, with gauges and flip switches. Further we integrated key design elements of the jeans into the bike design.”
For instance the colour and stitches of the seat, the V-shaped cut-out around the taillight, the waistband patch in chocolate, the triple highway stitching, the V-shape above the back pocket, and the quirky zipper at the side of the seat.
The Wrench Kings from Bilthoven, headed by Joost and Take, brought the ‘Master of Endurance’ to life and they did an amazing job in metal work with complex detailing.
They dedicated countless hours of metal shaping and created some very special custom parts. The fairing, petrol tank and tail are all completely bespoke and hand made out of aluminium, with custom made tail light lenses from five layers of acrylic with Vanguard logo lasering in it. When you turn on the light the top of the engine is also lit.
All paint and graphics are done by the Wrench Kings together with Van Marcus. The leather work is all real leather with a vintage feel and finish and was made by Jeroen at Silvermachine.
Some modifications on the frame has been made, the rear was chopped and altered to make space for the mounting points of the seat. All old supports for electrics were removed and new bolt-on brackets made to be hidden underneath the tank. The battery is placed underneath the transmission within the lower engine fairing.
The YSS dampers at the back are fully adjustable and also custom made for the low stance of the bike. YSS helped make them specially for this project.
The original calipers are used since they are Brembo already and suit the old school style however to improve the braking all master cylinders are changed for modern Brembo.
The exhaust is full custom stainless steel pipes and are completely open. It’s loud!
‘Master of Endurance’ Road Tour
After the press presentation the Vanguard/Moto Guzzi V850 ‘Master of Endurance’ will go on a promo tour. At several Vanguard dealers, customers can have a close look at the bike to check out the references to the new V850 Rider Jeans.
Also the bike will be displayed at fashion fairs, and it will ride in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in September.
Designed by Gannet Design (link), built by Wrench Kings (link), for Vanguard Clothing (link)
