Ghezzi & Brian

Ghezzi & Brian Guzzi

Think of it as an Italian Buell?

By Yossef Schvetz

Blame the endless curvy roads that slice through Italy's Northern Lake District, blame the long and cold Alpine winters. For whatever reason, the locals seem to be afflicted with a strange pathology: creating power- assisted cycles in diverse fashions and sizes: MV Agusta, Aermacchi, Cagiva and Moto-Guzzi are just a few examples of this compulsive tendency. A contagious passion for two-wheelers seems to haunt this hilly area. Hard to think, then, of a better breeding ground for yet another soulful Italian creation. With its Moto Guzzi twin, produced just a few miles down the road in Mandello dell Lario, and its hand-built frame, the Ghezzi & Brian 1100 Sport Twin embodies the region's love for anything two wheeled.

Giuseppe Ghezzi is just another head case, a young bloke that loved touring the area on his old Moto-Guzzi LeMans. As often happens, sporty road riding jaunts eventually led to the classic, "I wonder how I'd do on a race track?" and it all went downhill from there. Luckily, Italy's Super Twin championship caters to two-valved twins like Giuseppe's Guzzi, but in a field dominated by tuned-to-the-fuel-taps 900SS Ducatis and BMW's, the old Lemon had no chance. With the help of his good friend, Bruno Saturno, aka Brian, the owner of a dental equipment factory, Giuseppe started to build a proper racing machine around the LeMans engine in `93. By `96 Giuseppe's disease was in full swing and his home-made concoction conquered the Italian Sport Twin championship, winning over hordes of 900SS Ducatis and their race-bred frames.

That success brought demand for the G&B's special frame, and in `99 Ghezzi & Brian showed a road-going version at the Milan Show. Moto Guzzi agreed to sell engines to their cute neighbors, and the odd couple was suddenly deep in the motorcycle industry bizzniz. The bike I saw at their little stand was quite a sight: An anorexic fuel tank/seat unit perched atop two bold Guzzi cylinders, an almost non-existent frame, and not much else. By comparison, the official 1100 Sport at the Guzzi stand looked fat and ungainly.