he best custom builders often go to lengths that seem dotty to the rest of us, and so it is with Massimo Rinchiuso. When he couldn’t find wheels to suit his
Guzzi 1000 SP build, he decided to make his own. Bike calls his
workshop in Ravenna, Italy to double-check we’ve got that right…
º Bike: You actually made your own wheels?!
Massimo: ‘Yes, there were no light wheels which could be mounted
without heavy and ugly modifications. So I built some. They are
made of Anticorodal 6082 [an aluminium-magnesium-silicon alloy]
and as you can see, they integrate perfectly with the rear hub and are
fully compatible even for a production bike. The front weighs just
2.4kg and the rear 3.6kg.’
º How hard is it to make your own wheels?
‘The project was quite demanding. I spent many hours drawing them
in 3D, then doing all the virtual FEM [Finite Element Method – an
analysis that replicates stresses] to reach the minimum parameters of
the TUV certification, and finally study how to make them using a
6-axis CNC milling machine.’
º Presumably that was the hardest part of the build?
‘Well, everything was really complex. Certainly the wheels were
challenging, but so was the swingarm because it’s also a component
that required a lot of attention for safety reasons. Making the tank,
fairing and tail in hand-wrought aluminium was also really difficult
because I wanted maximum possible perfection. Also, making the
plexiglas front fairing was not easy because I had to build moulds for
thermoforming. The build took over 1100 hours of work.
º Why a Guzzi?
I fell in love with Guzzi three years ago when I built a bike based on a
T5 850. I had never worked on a Guzzi before, and was fascinated by
the engine – so simple, and so tasty to ride. I fell in love with that
bike and decided to build another Guzzi for myself. I chose the SP
because I was only going to use the engine of the donor bike and I
wanted one with the rarest round heads. My goal was to get a
motorcycle as light as possible, with very sporty characteristics, but
above all it had to be fucking beautiful.
º What state was the SP in?
It was an abandoned restoration in four boxes. Naturally, I
reassembled the engine with high compression pistons, a new
camshaft, lightened flywheel etc. I was helped by my friend Claudio
Lanconelli from Lanko Tuning.
º The bike weighs just 155kg. How did you achieve that?
I designed each component using very light materials. And it could
have been even lighter if I had used titanium, magnesium and
carbon for more components, but the cost would have been too
high. Still, I think I have achieved a good compromise – 155kg is a
good weight for a Guzzi!
º You named the bike Enzo after your grandfather who got you
into spannering. What would he make of it?
I think that grandfather Enzo would sit
on the bench in front of the bike in
the entrance to the workshop
and contemplate the details. I
hope he would be proud of what
he saw, knowing that I thought
of him while building this bike.
º What’s it like to ride?
The bike has only done a few
kilometres so far but it
seems to behave
really well. Its
lightness
makes it
agile
reactive, the engine pulls hard
and invites you to give full
throttle. If you remind yourself
that you are riding a Guzzi SP, the
result is much better than you would imagine!
º What happens to the bike now?
I built it as a demonstrator, to show what I could do at Fuchs
Workshop and I didn’t intend to sell it. However, the day I released
some images on the internet, I received an excellent offer from a
collector who fell madly in love with it. So, as of February 2023, Enzo
will live in the United States of America. I don’t
want to say how much the offer was, but to
build a similar bike would cost €40-50,000
(£34-42,000).