A super-stylish Guzzi custom from Italy, the kind you just want to throw a leg over and ride? That must be an Officine Rossopuro bike, right? Well, kind of. This very appealing scrambler built on the Moto Guzzi Nevada platform does indeed come from the Officine Rossopuro workshop—but it’s not strictly one of Filippo Barbacane’s builds.
“This is the bike of my friend Salvatore Scalamandré,” says Filippo. “Last fall we decided to build two scramblers to ride around the beautiful roads of Abruzzo, east of Rome. We wanted to build two ‘real’ motorcycles that we can use to go on- and off-road—so we had no intention of using heavy donor bikes.”
Filippo and Salvatore both wanted Italian motorcycles with two cylinders, and as a middleweight cruiser, the Moto Guzzi Nevada was the obvious choice. “It’s 750cc, economical to run, light, very simple mechanically, and reliable,” explains Filippo.
Salvatore built his bike in the Officine Rossopuro workshop, so Filippo gave him a hand. It’s a 2002 model Nevada, with surprisingly few mods. The rear suspension is new—custom made by Asatek—and the exhaust system is from Mass Moto.
The bodywork is also new, fashioned from metal, and a single tiny speedo is all that sits on the bars. Salvatore resisted the temptation to cut the frame, but he’s fitted new bars, lights, tires and a custom seat.
It’s no show pony, and is regularly ridden off-road. And if it’s the kind of simple, classic scrambler that you’d like in your garage, Filippo and Salvatore are happy to build more.
Images by Filippo Barbacane. Head over to the Officine RossoPuro website for more images of Barbacane’s builds, and follow his news via the company’s Facebook page.
