Having read about the Moto Giro several years ago in Cycle World I was haunted by two things…I had moved to Phoenix from Santa Cruz, CA. 6 years prior and missed…well everything about living in the magic village of crazies, artist, bikers and surfers. Although I had Bikes in my garage something critical was missing. I had left Santa Cruz for money…and while sometimes that is a good move eventually your soul will come calling and when it does you can either ignore it or cash in and go back to following your dreams. Not always easy. The money part worked out OK, but my soul was calling and that article bothered me as the Grio was run in Monterey that year…just down the street from where I used to live and ride.

It took a few more years but me, my wife (who as my girlfriend followed me to AZ) and our little daughter made it back to the beaches of Santa Cruz. My buddy J and I instantly started building bikes and hanging out again, as documented on this motoBlog. On one of our trips to San Diego to pick up a few bikes J mentioned a Ducati 175 he bought in Italy and he mentioned the Grio…he also had a Guzzi 175 Lodola as backup if the Duck didn’t make it to the States in time. We immediately spent the rest of the trip from SD to Santa Cruz talking about beautiful, little, mostly hand made vintage bikes…and running the Giro. My hunt began in that truck on the way home. A 57 Ducati 175 was almost impossible to find, but there were a lot of other Italian gems to search for.

After 2 months of hunting and finding a few contenders, including a near perfect Lodola 175, I ran across a 1956 MV Agusta 175.

MV Agusta 1956 175

I did my homework and decided this would be the bike. One of the few advantages of a terrible economy is that bikes that used to be out of your price range are now…only a little out of your price range There are also a lot of bikes that normally would never be up for sale…showing up on EBay and Craigslist.

I waited until the end of the auction and hit  BUY IT NOW. I now owned a 1956 MV Agusta 175, had a Giro bike and something beautiful to keep my Ducati company.

It was my turn to drag J along to southern California to pick up a bike…mine this time.

The bike was being sold by a well know collector of vintage singles and J had seen his collection once before…this guy has one of the most amazing motorcycle collections, so we were hoping to pick up my bike and get a look around at his bikes.

The MV was as perfect as the pictures.

MV Agusta 1956 175

The seller was really nice and happy to show us…everything he had.  J had bought 2 bikes from him in the past so he treated us like old acquaintances. We spent 2 hours looking through his collection with all 3 of us pointing and talking about the amazing machines that were under one roof. I asked permission to take photos and will share a few as I don’t think he would mind.

Velocettes: If one is good...two is better!

We called this the trophy room. You wouldnt believe what it contained

MV Agusta Disco Volante & A Ducati Elite

Ferrari...The owner told us a great story about the Ferrari Bros, a lawsuit and a short bike history.

A huge collection of Italian 50 cc bikes...They looked like candy and several were found new in box.

I had a 1978 Vespa once upon a time...he had maybe 20.

We loaded up the MV to head home.

J and the MV

But…we received a phone call (another story) and had to make a quick stop at Pro-Italia to pick up a Ducati Monster. The Pro-Italia crew were cool and the shop is great. They have a friendly and impressive team.

One old, one new...Thanks for the Monster Pro-Italia.

Half way between LA and Santa Cruz we stopped in the rain and grabbed lunch. On the way to the truck we were checking out the bikes loaded on the truck and J looked at me and said…think it’ll start and gave me a smile, so I jumped up on the truck and one kick later the MV was running and sounded great.

First kick...at a roadside stop, still tied down. Sounded great.

Another road trip adventure ended. As long as they start and stop in Santa Cruz, include bikes and my buddy J, they will no doubt continue to be some of the best times.