GS 750, THE RUSTY BITCH FROM BOLOGNA BY LORENZO RAPPARINI

“I’ve always been passionate of mechanics and motorcycling. I‘m unable to hold my hands. Three quarters of the things I make are fucking useless, but I love them and I think that ultimately it’s all worth the effort. When you have a child, however, you have little time left and so my adventure began in the mode "I'm more in the garage than in the woods with my bike." Yes, because I am one that 'with your bike you should be able to go anywhere!'. To complicate my life, though, I decided to explore the world of cafe racers.”

"I found this 1977 GS 750, first model with the double disc brake, for the modest sum of 800 Euro by a crazy Dutch, one of those who run on wet country roads in winter. In fact the bike was really in bad conditions. During the last long winter, the one with more than a meter of snow, I began to think of a theme to give to the bike. Due to its poor condition, I gave it the name of Rusty Bitch. Here, purchased items are very little: cables, spark plugs, gaskets and little else. I personally handmade the rest, or it has been handmade by friends: stripping, painting, construction of parts, welds. I spent many hours on it, as the ideas came along the way: I have not drawn or planned anything in advance. I started working, and what it was… was."

"The making of a tail I liked was very difficult: I have done three of them. The painting was another issue: finding a paint that simulates the rust, in fact, has been neither easy nor cheap, but I made it. And then the vintage effect was handmade piece by piece, thanks to the advice of my friend Matthew "Phantom", I think it's a blast: isn’t it? The engine remained the original one with new spare parts only: gaskets, filters, oil and polishing. Here I must thank my friend "John" lifelong repairer and the great "Pièr", who found for me the rare Suzuki Genuine Spare Parts; my friend Rino who found for me the bearings and explained how to use the lathe, and "Giotreb" who gave me the scraps of metal of his workshop, because I am a poor guy and that’s what I got to do. The leather parts jumped out from evenings spent in the cellar of a friend of mine’s sandwich bar: my best friend "Bear" has the hobby of making leather bags and wallets, and they are very cool. I cannot list all the people who worked-helped-searched-spent their time on Rusty, but I can say that this bike is not just a bike: in a difficult moment of my life, it gave me the way of meeting new people and to appreciate strengths and weaknesses of those who already knew. In short, so many hands touched my Bitch, but after all, it’s a bitch, my bitch."

The text is a translation from Italian, made by Lorenzo's friend, Luciano a.k.a. Inazuma Luke. Check out his blog for more pics plus for the original text.