What's Cooking At the Goose
WHAT’S COOKING AT THE GOOSE
IN SPITE OF THE ECONOMIC problems of Moto Guzzi parent company DeTomaso Industries, and in spite of a deepening European recession that has seen 40 percent of Italy's motorcycle market disappear, things are happening at Moto Guzzi.
A visit to the Mandello del Lario factory in October found Guzzi racing boss Dr. John Wittner cautiously optimistic about the company’s future, and hard at work on a surprising new project.
Wittner recently built six racing engines he hopes to shepherd into production. Of 1000 and 1 lOOcc capacities, these are developments of the cam-in-head Daytona 1000 engine. Clad in magnesium covers, the best of these cranks out 142 horsepower, produces what Wittner calls “absolutely enormous torque,” and is capable of trouble-free, full-throt-
tle, 50-hour dyno runs.
Wittner says increased power and torque production is the result of new combustion-chamber and intake-port designs, and of a new aluminum alloy used in the engine’s heads. This, he says, allows higher combustion temperatures. Additionally, he says, the alloy has improved dimensional stability at peak combustion temperatures. The engine may show up in an improved version of the Daytona 1000. Or, he says, “We might consider a new vehicle for it.” The Moto Guzzi factory, which can produce 20,000 motorcycles per year, currently is mostly quiet, the result of making just 4500 bikes per year using 360 workers. This is down from a peak, during Guzzi’s glory days, of 1100 workers. Wittner has production hopes for his racing engine, but says it’s still about 30 months away from production. He’s noncommittal about negotiations reportedly underway involving the sale of the company. He says only, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were changes here.”
-Jon F. Thompson
