Some people are just destined to build bespoke motorcycles. Bruce McQuiston, owner of Moto Studio in Miami is one of those people. He has a background as a sculptor, race car driver and race car engineer – culminating in a perfect combination to build performance bikes that look great. After Bruce retired from car racing he discovered a love of motorbikes. His desire to build a bike for himself eventually morphed into building bikes for friends and then customers. McQuiston’s choice of motorcycles are classic Ducati’s and Moto Guzzi’s. “I admire many builders from around the world that work with other manufacturers,” explains McQuiston, “but for me, the bike needs to start with a soul.” So his latest build is this stunning 1995 Moto Guzzi 1100 called “Loca Moto” – and yes, this Italian has soul.
When Moto Studio build bikes they reduce the weight by as much as possible, then use a more comfortable suspension set-up which obviously results in better performance. They were able to shave shave nearly 100 lbs (45kg) off this Guzzi by losing everything that wasn’t needed (like the fairing), creating a lighter subframe and using carbon fiber seat cowl and fenders.
The bike was fitted with USD forks from a Moto Guzzi Daytona along with a steering damper from Ohlins. The rear suspension was upgraded with a 4 way Sachs racing damper that have separate high and low speed adjusters for both compression and rebound. Spring rates and damper settings were chosen to match the owner’s weight along with the revised weight of the bike.
The subframe was designed and machined from 6061 aluminum to work with the carbon fiber seat cowl. “As in all of our builds, the proprietary Moto Studio wiring harness is combined with switches and circuitry from Motogaget.” says Max. “This light weight combined with the optimized suspension and free flowing 1100 engine makes this bike a blast to ride. This bike makes all the right noises and turns heads where ever we take it.” What more could you ask for?
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