Show your 741 Military Scouts

[slarsonroy]

How about some pictures of your prized military 741 Scout? Mine is a rider and it gets ridden regularly on the gravel and dirt roads in rural SW Iowa, rain or shine. I figure thats what it was built for so thats how I ride it.

[Tom Lovejoy]

Awesome Scott! that looks like some neat riding in your area, perfect for the Scout.

[slarsonroy]

Thanks Tom. Hoping to see some pics of other military scouts being ridden out there in the world.

[Chuck#1848]

1942 741

My 1942 741 Scout ah.....out of uniform

[slarsonroy]

Very nice Chuck! I sometimes get the notion to "civilianize" mine too. I really like the Indian Head emblem on the tank and the vintage bobber look.

[Chuck#1848]

Thanks Scott,

I will have to get some better photos to to post here,finally was able to pick up a air filter for the carb and a lens for the one front marker light.

Started first kick Sunday now if I could get the left hand throttle through my head every once in a while I still roll back on the right grip.

[spajohn]

741

Here's a link to my trusty 741, got it about 10 years ago and have had lots of fun with it ever since.
http://myweb.core.com:8080/photos/sp...om/Motorcycles

John Prusnek

[slarsonroy]

Awesome picture with the Christmas tree lights John! Good to see another 741 on the board!

Scott

[spajohn]

Awesome picture with the Christmas tree lights John! Good to see another 741 on the board!

Scott

Yeah, Santa likes it too. So do the pizza delivery guys. I bring it in the hallway for the winter to have more room in the garage for my other projects.
It got me home once from a meet halfway across the state (Ohio) with a blown head gasket and a carburetor attached only by the fuel line, after the three manifold screws went south. Ya gotta love that detuned military stuff.
I see you have some Guzzis, you can see some of my other bikes and photos of Davenports past here
http://myweb.core.com:8080/photos/spajohn@raex.com/

John Prusnek, VP
Lake Erie Chapter

[slarsonroy]

Hey John! I knew I recognized your name, I've ordered a few of your Guzzi decals. In fact, I think you sent me an extra set the last time and I still have them, unless I ordered them from somewhere else at the same time. I probably saw you at Davenport too. We have similar taste in bikes as I also have a 74 Laverda SF2 project bike and am currently on the prowl for a shovelhead. I have lately been obsessed with Suzuki T500 Titans and almost have 2 of them ready for a road test (as soon as this 2 feet of snow goes away).

[spajohn]

Scott--
I think I remember selling you some Guzzi decals. The decals all started with my finding a garageful of motorcycles in a divorcee's garage, she just had to 'wash those bikes right out of her hair' and was glad to be rid of them.
There was a '71 Moto Guzzi Ambassador, a couple of Honda 160's, the '73 Laverda SF1, a little Benelli scooter, a snowblower, a plow (the kind you pull behind a horse) and a bunch of miscellaneous bike parts. Just about everything was taken apart, lots of missing parts, the Laverda was crashed, and the whole lot had been sinking into a dirt floor in an unheated garage for 15 years.

I put the Ambo on the road for my wife, and after it started leaking from most of the seals I tore into it and did a ground up resto, which was when I discovered that no one made accurate replicas of the tank decals that were originally silk screened directly on the paintwork. I went through great pains to get the art together and have some extras made up to sell to offset the setup costs.
I advertised them in the MGNOC newsletter, and kept getting orders for them. That was about 15 years ago, I don't make a whole lot off of them--I consider it a public service. As far as I know no one else is doing them with the correct graphics.
Since you have some Guzzis, you should know about this site if you haven't found it yet. I wish someone put together info like this for every old bike out there, I contributed a few things to Greg for it:
http://www.thisoldtractor.com/gtbender/loopframe.htm

When I got the Laverda together, my wife Suzanne and I set out to an Italian bike meet in Sturbridge, Mass from Ohio--it was the 50th anniversary for Laverda, and they were the featured bike. I had never seen another one on the road, and as it was only about a dozen showed up, they're pretty thin on the ground.

Suzanne's front tire on the Ambo was visibly wearing down on the way out there (it turned out to be some type of soft competition tire I got a deal on) and was fine for around town, but really didn't hold up for hours of highway riding. I knew it wouldn't last for the trip back home. Looking through a phone book, we found Baer's cycle sales in Springfield, Mass., and I pulled the tire behind the shop and got a new one.

While wandering around the shop, I noticed a lot of Indian stuff around, and the service manager, Tim Baer said that his father, Butch Baer, was a factory test rider for the Indian factory, and while I was in Springfield I should drop by the Indian museum--he even led us there with his truck.
We spend a nice afternoon at the museum, which was in a warehouse with the little sign hanging over the door, met Esta, listened to her stories and had a very pleasant road experience.
Anyway, you should get the SF2 on the road, it's a very interesting bike.

John Prusnek
VP, Lake Erie Chapter

Hey John! I knew I recognized your name, I've ordered a few of your Guzzi decals. In fact, I think you sent me an extra set the last time and I still have them, unless I ordered them from somewhere else at the same time. I probably saw you at Davenport too. We have similar taste in bikes as I also have a 74 Laverda SF2 project bike and am currently on the prowl for a shovelhead. I have lately been obsessed with Suzuki T500 Titans and almost have 2 of them ready for a road test (as soon as this 2 feet of snow goes away).

[slarsonroy]

John, Ive bought decals from you a few times as you are right, you are the only guy that sells them. If you tell me who needs a set of Ambassador sidecover V7 decals, I would be glad to send them to them free of charge. Ive had Guzzis for around 20 years now and am well familiar with the Guzzi lists and forums, although Ive fallen out of the mainstream over the last couple years.

What a great day that must have been to find that garage full of treasure! The SF2 is low on my list of priorities and I have a few projects ahead of it, namely, 2 1970 Lime green Suzuki Titans, a 73 Norton 750 Commando and a 67 Triumph bobber (yeah I know...). I just recently found a pristine 74 S3 Kawasaki 3 cylinder 400cc which should be on the road this Spring.

[spajohn]

Scott--
Are the sidecover decals mine or are they period water slide type? I've had guys call me about 35 year old water slide decals, after all this time they usually disintegrate when they go to use them. If they're the water slide type I'd be interested in having them for my own amusement.
I did the research and geared up to make them several years ago, don't sell a lot, probably because there weren't a lot of the V700's brought into the country. Folks are just now getting around to appreciate the loopframe Guzzis.
Sounds like you have a comfortable backlog of bikes. My second bike was a Triumph 650 that was stolen, crashed, and recovered. I ended up chopping it with a 15" over Columbus front end among other things. That was back in the '70's. Great times. Big sissy bars.
Bobbers are cool--I recently finished an HD 45" bobber project, and in the process realized how many other folks are into it. It's a liberating project, not having to worry about being absolutely correct with all the little details. I did try to assemble it in the manner that they would have done it back in the day, even using period fastners.

http://myweb.core.com:8080/photos/sp...5BobberProject

They're all fun if they have 2 wheels. Right now I'm in the middle of a '28 short frame Indian Scout project, in the wings is a little Honda Benly 150 that has been languishing in the corner of the barn for 10 years.

By the way, I just finished the updates for the Wauseon National, see it here, pass it around, hot off the web
http://wauseonnationalmeet.org/

John Prusnek, VP
Lake Erie Chapter

John, Ive bought decals from you a few times as you are right, you are the only guy that sells them. If you tell me who needs a set of Ambassador sidecover V7 decals, I would be glad to send them to them free of charge. Ive had Guzzis for around 20 years now and am well familiar with the Guzzi lists and forums, although Ive fallen out of the mainstream over the last couple years.

What a great day that must have been to find that garage full of treasure! The SF2 is low on my list of priorities and I have a few projects ahead of it, namely, 2 1970 Lime green Suzuki Titans, a 73 Norton 750 Commando and a 67 Triumph bobber (yeah I know...). I just recently found a pristine 74 S3 Kawasaki 3 cylinder 400cc which should be on the road this Spring.

[slarsonroy]

They look like yours. They are decals with rice-paper on the front of them. V750 Ambassador decals.

Thats a mighty fine 45 you have there. Ive been looking for an older shovelhead to restore but most are way overpriced. I did find a 25-28? Indian scout just missing cylinders but havent made a deal yet.

Thanks for the update on Wauseon. Thats one I have never made it to (yet).

[spajohn]

Scott--
Thanks for the vibe on the 45--it was a fun project that had been languishing until a friend offered to help with his shop and we knocked it out in about 6 months.
I share your enthusiasm about shovelheads, I picked one up that was for sale on the side of the road back in the '70's, a '68 that needed some attention. It was my main ride for about 20 years. I think I paid about $2500 for it back then, don't remember what I put into it over the years.
http://myweb.core.com:8080/photos/sp...rleyShovelhead
Interesting about your Indian scout find; I'm currently working on a '28 short frame Scout (pre-101), just got the frame and forks back from the painter and will hopefully have a rolling chassis by this weekend.
It's a tough restoration, not a lot of info out there on the early Scouts like there is on the Chiefs. Hopefully I'll have it together for Wauseon.
John Prusnek, VP
Lake Erie Chapter