This stunning Moto Guzzi Le Mans III café racer was supposed to be Tom Simpson’s personal ride. It ended up going to a client instead—a recurring theme for Tom.
Foundry Motorcycle’s Tom Simpson has a complicated relationship with Moto Guzzi motorcycles. He’s built a handful of them, each one more impressive than the last. But he’s never managed to keep one for himself, despite his best efforts.
This 1981-model Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans III was going to be different—but then fate intervened once again. “I bought the donor bike as a complete basket case from a colleague of mine, a few years back,” Tom tells us. “He only wanted the bodywork, and I only wanted the rolling chassis, engine, and drivetrain.”
“This particular bike had been exhumed from a shed after being disassembled 37 years ago for some minor road rash repairs. Fortunately, during its limited time on the road, it had only racked up 9000 miles. Internally, it was as good as a Guzzi gets.”
As with the Moto Guzzi donors that preceded it, Tom had plans to turn the Le Mans III into his daily runner. So he threw it together lickety-split and rode it for a couple of weeks, before life got in the way and the bike was parked. “Roll on probably another year,” he says, “and conversations with a potential customer who wanted a Tonti-framed café racer resulted in the covers being pulled off—and the acceptance that, yet again, it was destined for someone else.”
Because of Tom’s background as a blacksmith, his creations feature countless sand-cast aluminum parts, scattered between the bodywork that he fabricates by hand. On this particular project, he started with the exhaust and intake first.
The former features twin headers that meet underneath the bike, before terminating in louvered end caps that sport a unique geometric design. The latter uses a single chunky air filter, wedged between a custom manifold at the front and a brace at the back. It’s tucked up against a handmade battery tray, each piece matched to the next with Tetris-like precision.
Tom turned his attention to the fuel tank and tail section next. “I wanted a fairly refined, but still industrial look to the overall bike,” he says, “and I’ve also always wanted to create a tank with some Testarossa-style fins.”
The custom inserts that Tom made echo the horizontal lines of the cylinder heads, air filter, and exhausts. The tank is fitted with a Monza-style gas cap, accommodated by a decorative plate that was machined in-house. Custom Foundry Motorcycle tank badges adorn the sides.
Tom carried the tank’s blocky aesthetic through to the handmade tail section, finishing it off with an embedded taillight and a custom license plate bracket. He also poured his own seat foam before handing the saddle over to Trim Deluxe for upholstery. The majority of the bike’s electronic bits are hidden under the seat, including a Motogadget mo.unit controller, an Elektronik Sachse ignition module, and a Lithium battery.
There’s hardly an inch of the Moto Guzzi Le Mans III that doesn’t bear Tom’s signature. Notable details include the sand cast front engine cover and headlight bucket, but there are a whole bunch of items that are harder to spot, too. “Mounting brackets, fluid reservoirs, a speedo mount—I’ve lost track of how many individual parts were made,” he says.
The cockpit wears Tarozzi clip-ons, fitted with Kellermann bar-end turn signals, Oberon Performance mirrors, and Motone switches. A Motogadget dial sits in a housing molded into the modified top yoke.
As for the rest of the bike, Tom refurbished the Moto Guzzi’s OEM wheels, brakes, and front forks, and installed new rear shocks from Quantum Suspension. The engine, transmission, and final drive were all stripped, vapor-blasted, and rebuilt. Finishing touches include Dell’Orto PHF 36 carbs, a Honda CB600RR front brake master cylinder, HEL Performance brake hoses, and a lick of Cerakote on the old Brembo calipers, courtesy of Chimera Coatings.
“The only part that needed any real work was the gearbox,” says Tom. “From the factory, during the 80s, the gearboxes often didn’t get the attention to shimming they deserved, resulting in seriously clunky changes. They’ll never be seamless, but they can often be a lot better than you’d imagine.”
Paint Dynamix finished the Le Mans III off in an alluring vintage Maserati color, carrying it through to the frame and wheel accents. Complemented by the bike’s myriad raw and polished metal finishes, it creates a timeless and tasteful vibe.
“I still don’t have my own rideable Guzzi,” Tom concludes. “But I do have another 1100 Sport donor upstairs that I’ve promised myself…”
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