One of South Africa’s motorcycling hotspots is the Woodstock Man Cave, a workshop-cum-clubhouse in Cape Town. It’s also the venue for a bike show that’s popular with local customizers.
But a few weeks ago, it was a machine from the opposite end of South Africa that grabbed everyone’s attention. Builders Kyle Scott and Chris Clokie drove a thousand miles—virtually the whole width of the country—to present this 1980 Moto Guzzi LeMans II, their first build.
The boys have just opened Wolf Moto in the small town of Drummond, a few miles inland from the Indian Ocean. It’s a full service workshop, but they’re happy building customs—as well as tuning suspension, fabbing up exhaust systems or handling general maintenance.
Wolf’s client wanted a café-style bike based around a vintage icon. When a single owner Mark II with just 24,000km on the clock came up for sale, he jumped on it and sent it to Kyle and Chris.
“I like to look at café-style customs,” says Kyle, “but I’m not a massive fan of riding that type of bike.”
“Chris and I started out on dirtbikes, so we’re partial to building and riding scramblers and trackers. But we’re happy to scratch a pure café build off the list, just to keep things interesting.”
Once the LeMans was in the shop it was given a complete stripdown, followed by an engine refresh and a new coat of paint. The frame was de-lugged, tidied up, and sent off for sandblasting and powder coating.
A pair of Dell’Orto PHF carbs (with foam Uni Filters) now feed the engine, and there’s a custom-fabricated 316-grade stainless steel exhaust system at the other end. The cut-down wiring harness takes juice from an Antigravity Lithium-ion battery and the ignition system has been upgraded too.
The stance is first class, thanks to rebuilt forks lowered by 25mm and adjustable Ikon shocks. The front brakes have been treated to Brembo twin pot calipers, and the tires are Bridgestone’s Spitfire 2s.
The cockpit is mostly original. The original clip-ons were retained but shortened, and the controls, switches and speedo are also factory standard. “They were in near-perfect condition,” explains Kyle, “and the speedo showed the true mileage of the bike.” There’s a new aluminum bracket though, housing the speedo, trip reset dial and ignition switch.
Lighting is via LEDs front and back, with discreet taillights sunk into the rear frame rails. Bar-end turn signals keep things legal at both ends.
For the striking bodywork, Wolf used a Kaffeemaschine tank—a stylish piece that sets the tone for the rest of the design. A solo seat and a pair of curved number boards were hand-made to accompany it.
As a nod to the Guzzi’s Italian roots, the color theme is tricolore—a red leather seat, green number boards and white knee indents on the tank. For additional authenticity, original Moto Guzzi tank badges were added.
It’s the kind of build you’d expect to see from a leading Euro workshop, not a startup in a small town near the southern tip of Africa.
If they keep this up, they’ll put Drummond on the map in no time.
Wolf Moto Facebook | Instagram | Photos by Dylan Laubscher
