Custom 1983 Moto Guzzi LeMans – ‘Airforce – by Death Machins of London
Death Machines, a custom house in London, has designed ‘Airforce’, a 1983 Moto Guzzi LeMans Mk2 discovered in Italy, homage to ‘The Italian Devil’, Giovanni Revelli, and was released on the anniversary of his birthday – January 14, 1887. He was a legendary aviation pioneer, WW1 fighter pilot, motorcycle racer, and co-founder of Moto Guzzi.
It was an inconvenience to make, but the pay-off was worth it.
The donor motorcycle was discovered in a yard in Southern Italy as it quietly corroded under the sun and salty air. Despite its wear and tear, the Death Machines crew saw its undisputed potential. When they stripped it down, Death Machines of London found an engine in “remarkable condition”.
(Image: Ivo Ivanov/DMOL Customs)
“A full forensic inspection, vapour cleaning & reassembly, along with replacement bearings, seals gaskets completed the main engine work,” they documented. “The cylinder heads were subjected to a total refresh, along with our signature gas flowing. Carburation is through a pair of modified 36mm pumper Dell’Orto carburettors. The package is completed with our in-house velocity stacks and open slash cut headers.”
(Image: Ivo Ivanov/DMOL Customs)
They subscribed to the mindset, “What would Giovanni do,” when making decisions for modifications. The head stock was manufactured in-house and the original swing arm of the LeMans Mk2 swapped out for a modified Moto Guzzi Califronia one and was braced and coupled to a mano shock cantilevered system.
Coated in their custom ‘Airforce Grey’ were the frame and front wheel, the latter modified California Hubs. A pair of billet four pot Brembo calipers for braking and the first set of custom-made levers – the inverse ‘Lever Type 1N01’ – that were “precision machined from aviation grade aluminum”, which will be commercially available very soon.
(Image: Ivo Ivanov/DMOL Customs)
The Airforce, apparently built in only 112 days, was not released to the public until later was because “it needed to be better”.“There were parts we could’ve left alone without anyone noticing,” wrote the custom house, “except we noticed. It would’ve been far easier to not remake the belly pan or re-engineer entirely new levers. That would’ve been the convenient thing to do. But as Mr. Giovanni Ravelli knew: the meek are seldom remembered.”
(Images: Ivo Ivanov/DMOL Customs)