in others . And , to be perfectly honest , all men should , at one time in their lives , own a Moto Guzzi . Sometimes you just gotta taste the crazy , right ? But up until now , licking that popsicle was a bridge too far for most people . It might have been a road you couldn ’ t ever get off . Moto Guzzis have always been hugely idiosyncratic motorcycles – which is known as “ character ” in some circles . The factory , for its part , has built some staggeringly beautiful bikes . And it has also built some munted horrors which have scarred human sensibilities . But it ’ s hardly alone there . I have ridden a bunch of Guzzis over the years . I spent a fair amount of time with two in particular – an early 90s California and a mid-90s Daytona . The first one had a gearbox with 8.6 gears in it , most of them travelling neutrals , and looked far more like a gibbon ’ s idea of a US cruiser than anything an Italian craftsman would make . And the second invariably hated any kind of petrol you ’ d put in it , hunted like a dog , leaked oil , refused to start , and would offer you blue smoke instead of electrical compliance when so moved . But they both handled . Very , very well . Crazy well , in fact . So well , the idiot parts of my brain would whisper maybe I should buy one . Who knew ? it said . Maybe I ’ d get one that wasn ’ t so packed with “ character ” it might actually work properly for more than three days at a time . I didn ’ t listen . I had enough
58 KIWI RIDER