1956 500cc V8 172 MPH

On a recent trip to italy while my mates went to Milan shopping with the Wife. I had a bit of free time.

Since I’m ancient compared to the rest and a Guzzi engineering and racing history fan I took in the Guzzi factory tour and and saw the 497cc V8 sitting on display.

This was ridden by twice TT winner Bill LLomas in 1956 (the year I was born) seemingly a real handful to ride.

It was capable of 172 mph but there had been so many crashes on it as the tyres and brake tech was so far behind the speed of the bike that no one would ride it at the 57 TT.

How about an article on it to let the younger ones learn some amazing history?