1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport

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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport. Of the approximately 8,400 Falcones built from 1950-1968, only a few left the factory as Sport models.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport. Of the approximately 8,400 Falcones built from 1950-1968, only a few left the factory as Sport models.
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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport. Guzzi fans often refer to the old singles as “bacon slicers” in reference to the engine’s exposed flywheel.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport. Guzzi fans often refer to the old singles as “bacon slicers” in reference to the engine’s exposed flywheel.
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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
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Rear suspension on Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport dates to the 1928 Moto Guzzi GT.
Rear suspension on Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport dates to the 1928 Moto Guzzi GT.
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The inverted forks on Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport date to 1947.
The inverted forks on Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport date to 1947.
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Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
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Note the wild shift linkage on Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.
Note the wild shift linkage on Michael Blumber's 1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport.

1963 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport
Years produced:
 1950-1963
Claimed power: 23hp @ 4,500rpm
Top speed: 85mph (est.)
Engine type: 499cc air-cooled OHV single
Weight (dry): 162kg (367lb)
Price then: $900 (approx.)
Price now: $4,000-$12,000
MPG: 50 (approx.)

One of the main attractions of motorcycles — to gear heads like you and me, anyway — is that they wear their insides on the outside. Unlike a car, the motorcycle’s inner workings (its modus operandi, if you will) has — for better or worse — been an integral part of its appearance.

Better or worse? Well, there are those who might consider that some motorcycles are over exposed, and that some of the parts on display would be better hidden. Take the Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport, for example. Is it perhaps a little too naked, maybe wearing too much of its heart on its sleeve? The huge outside flywheel on the engine’s left side, for example? Or the rear suspension’s chrome-plated friction dampers, the positive-stop gearshift mechanism, the clutch actuator and oil pump, all bolted to the outside of the engine?

In the Falcone’s case, this exuberance comes honestly, because the bike’s basic design can be traced back — without fundamental change — to the first Moto Guzzi of 1921 and even to Guzzi’s first design, the Moto Guzzi-Parodi prototype of 1919.

Michael Blumberg’s Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport
Like BSA Rocket Gold Stars, it seems there are more examples of the Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport around now than the factory ever produced. The reason? A few unscrupulous “restorers” have been buying up ex-police and military “Turismo” models, fitting them with alloy rims and other Sport cosmetic items, then selling them as genuine Sport models. It was just such a machine that Michael Blumberg spotted online at a U.K.-based Italian bike dealer’s website.

  • Published on Jun 4, 2009
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