Alan expressed some concern over the bike’s serial number, which was outside the published range for a genuine Le Mans. Imitations of Guzzi’s top sportster are sometimes fabricated out of 850Ts and other mundane Mandello machinery. Negotiations suffered a downturn, but another two months of back-and-forth finally saw money change hands. Though he’s now determined it is a genuine Le Mans, Alan says, “I didn’t care, really, because it had all the right stuff.”

Life with Le Mans
So what’s the Le Mans like to ride? “I haven’t stopped smiling. It’s fabulous,” Alan says. “You couldn’t ask for a better bike. It goes well and stops well. And the sound it makes is like Luciano Pavarotti on full song.”

Alan says the Le Mans is long-legged, with a “sweet spot” at around 90mph. It’s very stable at speed and relatively easy to ride in stop-go traffic. It can stay with most bikes in the twisties, “but the rider gets a real workout,” Alan notes. He even likes the oft-maligned linked braking system.

“It’s a good feature 99 percent of the time,” he says. “The 1 percent when you’re stopping downhill on a loose surface can be a bit frightening.”

Aesthetically, there’s no question the Le Mans is a hit. “Long, narrow and low with pleasing lines, it has just the right amount of upsweep on the exhaust and curves on the tank. It’s a small bike by today’s standards; when riding beside modern sportbikes with large section tires, it looks like a 250. But mostly, it’s Italian and red,” Alan says. ‘Nuff said. MC  

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