They say “All roads lead to Rome.” Except, of course, if you’re a Guzzista.
In which case, all roads lead to Mandello del Lario, the 105 year-old lakeside home of Moto Guzzi and its sparkling new factory and museum, which opened to the public this past September, just in time for their Annual Guzzi World Days.
Since I live 6377 km and an ocean away in Connecticut, I had to miss all that fun.
But as luck would have it, my wife and I were planning a trip to Northern Italy just as the leaves were beginning to change here. We were planning to do some fall hiking and sightseeing in the Alto Adige region around the Dolomites (never been), and on the return leg of our trip back to the airport in Milan, I nudged my wife to take a side-trip to Lake Como, where we could take in the spectacular views…
OF MOTORBIKES 😉
I mean, as a dyed-in-the-lana Guzzista, how could I not?
Some quick MG bona fides: while I’ve ridden BMWs since the start of my 20+ year motorcycle habit, I’d always admired Moto Guzzis. And back in 2015, when I started seeing the first images of a red-framed, limited-edition scrambler variant of the iconic V7 on the interwebs, I was smitten.
As luck would have it, Hamlin Cycles—a small but fabulous Guzzi shop with one of the country’s foremost Guzzi mechanics, Jim Hamlin—turned out to be just 30 minutes up the road from my home.
So when the V7II Stornello was released in 2016 and Hamlin had one on the floor, I took a drive to see it in the metal.
And wouldn’t you know…I drove home with it.
Together, this lil’ Guzzi and I have ridden Massachusetts (via the trans-Mass-Trail), Vermont (via the Puppy Dog Route), Manhattan (via the treacherous RFK Bridge), done several NYC Distinguished Gentleman’s Rides together, and we’re still in love after our 10th anniversary this summer. ❤️🤍💚
I also had a parallel long-term relationship with a Yamaha Super Ténéré, my distance travel bike. But once again, seeing the V85 online back in 2021 (along with all the joyful reviews), I was twice bitten. So I traded in my trusty Ténéré for a second Guzzi from Hamlin, a 2023 V85 Guardia d’Onore. And last summer, I saddled up for a long-dreamed-about cross country ride, going coast-to-coast on the Guzzi.
It was…
EPIC.
So I guess you could say I’m in la famiglia as a 2x “Proud Owner” (as Piaggio likes to call us) and LOVE Moto Guzzis. I ride them. Read about them. Write about them. Follow them on the socials. And fairly well obsess over them.
Which is why it’s hard to adequately describe the child-like, dream-scape glee that came over me when I approached the iconic entrance to the factory (company? brand? lifestyle?) I’ve spent so much time thinking about.
Arriving in Mandello and driving over to the factory gave me a minor case of butterflies. We turned onto Via Baraggia, parked across from the iconic red gate, and headed in.
It kind of felt like an Italian version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, with me playing the part of wide-eyed Charlie, and my wife assuming the role of the guileless (but ever wise) Grandpa Joe.
As it turned out, no one gimped out to greet us wearing a scarlet-red red top hat and leaning on piece of loop frame tubing. No surprise somersault, either. Instead, just a languid Mandello local with a mobile ticket scanner in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Once inside, you pass through a procession of arches meant to evoke the cooling fins of a Guzzi aircooled engine (or so I’ve read). It’s pretty dramatic and cool(ing).
This “procession” then spills out onto to the main Piazza, which is ringed by the rocky Lugano Prealps, with the museum’s “turrets” echoing their shapes in matte grey aluminum. It’s dramatic and phenomenal.
You’re also struck by just how unlikely (and nuts) it is for such a Willy Wonka motorcycle factory locale, steps away from Lake Como and in the shadow of Monte San Primo and Pizzo di Gino.
The Ezposizione is the gorgeous new museum…
And directly opposite the museum is the Guzzi Caffé.
It’s small, sleek, and well caffeinated.
We paused for a pair of nicotine-flavored cappuccinos at the tables outside the café. (Interesting how many Italians—or at least Italian bikers—still smoke.)
Down the hall from the café are some lounges, offices, and “The Moto Guzzi Chamber of Past Glories,” a literal vault containing the precious metal from their racing history.
Between the Caffé and the Museum is is the Guzzi Factory Store, aka Il Negozio. It’s clad in deep red tiling, and depending on whether you’re hungry or not, either looks like a hotdog (with mustard on top) or a motorbike’s gas tank.
(Although I don’t recall Guzzis having a sight-glass…on the tank.)
In terms of the store itself, I’m sorry to say that it was a disappointment (and really the only one). Guzzi’s swag game is, quite surprisingly, way off. Very limited in term of actual items, and what they do have is either odd-looking, or uncharacteristically ugly. I came prepared to literally throw my Euros at them, but there wasn’t a single thing—even a simple t-shirt—that was appealing.
For a company that has such an incredible aesthetic sense—and has built an entire design temple to their brand—this was the one and only bad egg (or is it…a Goose egg?)
But this is just a quibble, a genuinely small thing against an otherwise grand achievement.
If you venture above the Piazza, you can walk along the outside upper floors of the factory, and peer down into the engine works and final assembly line as well (no pics allowed). While we there (on a Sunday) a Guzzi worker was steam-washing the floors along this promenade. When I say you could eat off the floor, I mean it.
They also have a small display area over the motor-assembly part of the factory, with a sweet cutaway version of the V100 engine. I guess the Euro-compliant future is water-cooled, but IMHO the air-cooled Guzzi motors are where it’s at.
Behind the shiny new Piazza and buildings, you can also roam around the older factory area, which we explored.
Here, we got to see the legendary Guzzi Galleria del Vento, or wind tunnel.
The Wonka parallels keep giving…
My wife tried to spark it up, but I think the attachment to Mandello’s power grid has long since been severed (rumor has it that when they operated the wind tunnel, it sucked up so much electric power that the lights across Mandello dimmed when they used it).
That lever and control panel is straight out of Wonka-land, is it not?
Inside the museum, they have archival photos of the wind tunnel in use…and the actual archival bikes.
I wonder if they used it for old times’ sake when they were testing the “active aerodynamics” on the V100?
But back on the Piazza, the real icing on the Guzzi cupcake—and the entire Moto Guzzi Factory experience—is the museum itself. It’s like the Guggenheim of Motor Guzzi, and it’s jaw-dropping.
Shall we check out the views…of bikes?
Content warning: I’m not going to blather on about every single bike, or its historical significance. I’m just going to highlight the ones I loved…starting with this luscious 1969 V7 Special. To my eyes, this is an Italian supermodel.
Right next to it is this almost-as-delicious Convert.
Italy was austere after WWII, and this Guzzino shows it. Looks like what you would appropriately refer to as a “motor…bike.”
Not to be outdone, they have a pristine example of Il Primero Guzzi: the Goose that launched (laid?) a thousand Guzzis, this underwhelmingly-named Normale. Today, it would be called The Normy.
The museum also has a cool display on the evolution of the Guzzi brand-mark.
I like the 1921 version. But TBH, I think the current logo is the strongest of them all.
Let’s keep motoring…
Next up is the Guzzi Hall of Motors. If you’re a fan of their engineering, it’s like an oil-cooled mechanical wet dream.
You can even peer inside the naked motors. I’m partial to the Stornello engine, because, well, Stornello guy here.
Speaking of which, the next gallery was one of my favorite areas…the “Fauna” of Moto Guzzi.
They had a gaggle of stunning Stornellos, Falcones, Zigolos, and more.
HEY! What’s that in the back corner?
THAT’S MY BIKE!
Here’s my actual Stornello, No. 0051/1000. Each year it migrates from the shore…
To the city…
And back to the country for the fall and winter.
Anyway, back in Mandello, more Guzzi classics…
I’m sure this was tested in the wind tunnel, but that’s a lot of work for something that kids ride on outside the supermarket, no?
Some more early birds…
I’ve always kinda wanted a tractor for yard work. But this, this would be the ticket.
You can kind of see where BMW stole the C1 concept from…Il FURGHINO!!!
I hope Guzzi wasn’t betting the farm on this one…
Back to motorcycles with this iconic V7 Sport. I like that they brought back this color for the current 2026 V7 Sport; it reminds me of Sprite’s Limon neologism: not quiet lemon, not quite lime. But very sharp.
One of Guzzi’s odder ducks…and this time I think they borrowed from the BMW F650GS (I should know…had one).
And then a visit with Giovanni Law, Moto Guzzis from various strains of Italian law enforcement, starting with this Rome Capital Police V85TT.
The V85 is also apparently used by the Carabinieri…
This is the California-era Guardia d’Onore used by the Corazzieri, the Presidential Honor Guard.
Here’s my V85 in the very same livery.
Guzzi’s version of CHIPs…
And this badass V1000 police Convert.
Of course, they also had Monzas and LeManses galore.
There was also an interesting display of “What Might Have Beens,” experimental Guzzi models that never quite made it to market. Perhaps…there was a reason for this.
I’d say my favorite “classic” Moto Guzzi—my “best in show” was this black, white and chrome California. I like BMW airheads, but this is the ultimate Italian airhead.
Finally, they had a dedicated homage to Giulio Carcano’s “Frankenmoto,” the legendary Otto Cilindri, featured in its own theater-in the-round. There’s archival race footage playing behind the genuine article…
along with an example of its bonkers otto-cilindri.
A century ago, Moto Guzzi was kicking ass and taking names. The company’s engineering—like the riders it attracted—was innovative, daring, and race-winning. And as the brand grew and evolved, the bikes coming out of Mandello del Lario captured the imagination of riders across every continent.
But like every company and brand, Moto Guzzi has had its ups and downs.
Tenni—and the roaring successes of the first half of the twentieth century —was one of those ups.
But that was nearly a century ago.
So I’m hoping the legendary red gate is also a door to Moto Guzzi’s future.
The V85 (now in its second generation) has by all accounts been a surprising global success. The Stelvio (at least from what I see and hear) mmmm, maybe not so much.
The V100 has been well reviewed and received as a sports tourer, but it’s not exactly part a booming category (although I still have a major jones for the Aviazione Navale—it’s a knockout).
And the iconic V7 continues to attract modern classic riders…but has never achieved anything like the scale or ubiquity of the Triumph Bonneville which, for all its Brit Bike vibes and heritage patina, is now manufactured in Thailand (which no one really seems to mind, including me, because they’re built so damned well).
But each one of Guzzi’s bikes has a style, elegance, character, and legit Made in Mandello heritage that’s hard to match from practically any other manufacturer. (Not to mention relatively good value).
I only wish more riders got this, where really moved by this, and voted for this with their wallets and wheels.
Because we all want to see the Goose continue to soar for many more years to come.