Paul Buxton's Guzzi Le Mans
By Ross Sharp - 13 May 19
At last year's Bike Shed show we ramped up the the volume of home-brew shed builds on display and dedicated a huge area to those who have a regular day job and indulge their passion during evenings and weekends. One of the creations taking pride of place was Paul Buxton's beautifully finished Moto Guzzi Zagato.
Paul runs a successful estate agency in Poole and England's south coast but manages to find time to restore and customise his favoured steed, the Guzzi Le Mans. This is his third effort and with each iteration the recipe is tweaked.
The donor this time was a 1976 Le Mans and has been completely refreshed from the crank to the frame. Every nut, bolt, bearing and gasket has been replaced to give a base worthy of the new aluminium bodywork. But this time around Paul decided to paint rather than polish the hand formed curves.
And because Paul's wife Debbie has rather taken to enjoying Paul's handiwork from the pillion position the Glen Moger leather seat has been extended onto the Guzzi's tale.
Despite this being an amateur build the standard is at a pro level and Paul wanted to ensure that despite being out of sight the wiring needed to match the spotless mechanicals. With a Motogadget M-unit system at its core he's run a completely new loom.
There's been just enough time to shakedown the bike and it'll be exhibited in a couple of weeks on Shed Row at Bike Shed London 2019.
Get your show tickets here and come see for yourself.
To see Paul's bike from last year along with the rest of the stunning builds on Shed Row check out this mega album by Amy Shore
https://oldbikeshed.wpengine.com/pauls-moto-guzzi-zagato/