Moto Guzzi V9 Sport – Craig Rodsmith

If an Aussie puts their mind to something, one way or another it will happen. And Victorian boy Craig Rodsmith is living, breathing, punk-rocking proof that this is true. After relocating to the very un-Australian climes of North Chicago, Craig has garnered more than a little attention in American motorcycling circles. After the suitably gigantic splash that his now famous Moto Guzzi Dustbin Racer made at the 2017 Handbuilt Show, his main thought was… “if only they could see the engine.” Problem solved.

The words ‘master builder’ get bandied around a lot. But when they’re used in reference to Craig and his bikes, you tend to think that they’re more than justified.

“I’ve been building bikes for almost 40 years,” says Craig, with the typical Australian lack of pretence. “I’m originally from Melbourne, Australia, but I’ve had a shop in Illinois for over 20 years now.”

As a kid, he customised anything he could get his hands on, starting with his ’57 BSA when he was 12-years old. Yes, you read that right.

New but old

A one-man-show and proud, Craig isn’t the sort to pull a team of specialists together to help him.

“I try to take care of every aspect of the builds myself, using mostly traditional methods and tools. Raw and polished metal is kinda my style,” said Craig, who went on to say the build was commissioned by Guzzi as part of its V9 Pro Build series. “I decided I wanted to build a traditional style of cafe racer, yet still retain modern amenities such as ABS, traction control, fuel injection and the like.” Based on a 2017 V9 Roamer, Craig calls it a ‘V9 Sport’, as it was inspired by the early 70s V7 Sport, celebrated as the brand’s very first cafe racer.

Because the bike was a brand spanker when it was rolled into Rodsmith’s shop, the back story is boring. But things get better.

“I started by stripping the whole bike down and removing all the factory black powder coating to reveal the almost flawless castings.”

Then he hand-made the tank, seat and those side covers. A biblical amount of polishing then followed, while the standard V9 frame was de-tabbed and powder coated in an anodised-style red.

A big stick

“It’s a Garret T15 turbo,” says Craig, nonchalantly. “I wanted to wake the racer’s engine up a little. I also made the stainless-steel exhaust and the aluminium intake plenum.” Classic ‘speaking softly and carrying a big turbo stick’, we’d say. He goes on to say that, despite what you’d think about the complexities of plumbing a custom turbo set-up, the hardest part of the build was hiding the bike’s electronics and wiring to keep it looking clean and lean.

“I would say my favourite part, even though it’s quite small, is the headlight brackets I formed to flow over the top of the triple clamps. The finished bike was debuted recently by Moto Guzzi at the Chicago International Motor Show to an understandably welcome response.

“It was great to get people’s feedback  before I headed out to the One show in Portland,” said Craig. There Craig was asked by Italy’s Rizoma to be part of its new Behind the Build series, which was moderated by Miguel Galluzzi, who just so happened to have designed the new V9 itself, along with the Ducati Monster, Aprilia RSV4 and many other iconic modern bikes.

Sugar on top

As you’d expect, Craig has left no part of the bike untouched. Trimming down an encyclopedic list of goodies to something more digestible, Craig notes the new 50mm Marzocchi inverted front fork, Supershox rear springs, aluminium Excel 17-inch rims with stainless spokes and Rodsmith-modified Moto Guzzi hubs and Pirelli Diablo Corsa tyres with a 120-section front and a 160-section rear.

The sugar on top of an already ridiculously good build came in the form of Aluminum and leather grips from Speed of Cheese Racing, some rearsets from Slipstream Cycle Works and a beautifully upholstered leather seat stitched by JB Seatz. Yes, Craig’s Dustbin Racer was amazing – we’d take it home in an instant. But as for the bike we’d ride every day? It’d be the  Sport every single time.

WORDS Andrew Jones for Pipeburn.com

  PHOTOGRAPHY grantedphoto.com