{"id":17106,"date":"2022-06-03T05:47:53","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T12:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=17106"},"modified":"2026-03-28T07:21:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:21:52","slug":"bills-old-bike-barn-guzziland-and-motomilitaria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2022\/06\/03\/bills-old-bike-barn-guzziland-and-motomilitaria\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill’s Old Bike Barn: Guzziland and Motomilitaria"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the main halls in Bill’s Old Bike Barn<\/a> features Moto Guzzi and military motorcycles along with other militaria, motorcycle engines, and more.\u00a0 We know Moto Guzzi primarily as sporting motorcycles.\u00a0 Back in the day, though (the day being World War II and beyond), Moto Guzzi made motorcycles for the Italian Army.\u00a0 Good buddy Bill has a few and they are on display, along with military motos from Germany and America and sporting Moto Guzzis.<\/p>\n

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There’s just so much to take in. I imagine Bill enjoys collecting and curating these things. That’s a cargo parachute, and it fits the collection nicely. There are several airplanes throughout Bill’s Old Bike Barn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Harley WL comes to mind first when anyone mentions military motorcycles.\u00a0 It’s the iconic World War II American military motorcycle.\u00a0 It’s a 750cc flathead V-twin, OD green, and it has a scabbard for a .45 ACP Thompson (and there’s one in Bill’s WL).<\/p>\n

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The quintessential American military moto, also used by Canadian forces. When I was a kid, we heard stories that you could buy these brand new, still in the shipping crates, for $25. I never found out if that story was true.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The German counterpart was a 750cc flathead BMW and sidecar. Z\u00fcndapp also provided sidecar bikes to the Wehrmacht.\u00a0 And BMW also had a 600cc overhead valve model.\u00a0 Bill has a BMW with sidecar on display in this hall, but it’s a later model (note the overhead valve engine configuration).<\/p>\n

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A World War II BMW with sidecar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here’s another interesting military motorcycle:\u00a0 The 1946 500cc single-cylinder Moto Guzzi Alce.\u00a0 You wouldn’t think a motorcycle would be notable for its sidestand, but that’s one of the first things I noticed about it and Bill made the same comment.\u00a0 If you’ve ever tried to park a motorcycle in soft sand, you’ll know what this motorcycle is all about.<\/p>\n

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A 1946 Moto Guzzi Alce. It’s also the cover photo for this blog.\u00a0 Note the passenger handlebars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A macro shot of the Alce storage compartments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This is a serious kickstand. I could have used this in a few spots in Baja!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Harley-Davidson wandered into the military motorcycle world when they bought the Armstrong-CCM company in 1987.\u00a0 Armstrong had a 500cc single-cylinder Rotax-powered bike and Harley probably thought they would make a killing selling these to the US Army, but they were a day late and more than a dollar short.\u00a0 The Army had zero interest in gasoline-powered vehicles (the US Army has been 100% diesel powered for decades…I knew that when I was in the Army in the 1970s).\u00a0 The effort was quickly abandoned.\u00a0 That’s the bad news.\u00a0 The good news?\u00a0 The Harley MT 500 military bikes became instant collectibles.\u00a0 \u00a0And Bill’s Old Bike Barn has one.<\/p>\n

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A Harley-Davidson MT-500. “MT” was an abbreviation for military transport; it more accurately was an acronym for sales results (as in “empty”).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Interesting, but for Harley it was no cigar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The military room also houses the Moto Guzzi Mulo Meccanico, and motorcycle half-track featured in an earlier ExNotes blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Mulo Meccanico, a case study for why complexity for complexity’s sake always comes in second place. Intended to replace live mules in Italian Army service, the real donkeys had the last laugh. Or was it a hee haw?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Mulo and the Alce military bike share real estate in Bill’s Old Bike Barn, along with commercial and very desirable Moto Guzzi non-military motorcycles.\u00a0 Here’s an early 1970s Moto Guzzi Ambassador.<\/p>\n

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A Moto Guzzi Ambassador from the early 1970s, when Bill was a Moto Guzzi dealer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bill’s Old Bike Barn includes what has to be the definitive Moto Guzzi motorcycle classic, the Falcone 500.\u00a0 In case you’ve ever wondered, it’s pronounced “fowl-cone-ay.”\u00a0 Fire engine red is a color that works well on Moto Guzzis.<\/p>\n

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A beautiful 1951 Moto Guzzi Falcone, also known as the baloney slicer for its exposed flywheel on the bike’s left side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 1000cc Moto Guzzi sports bike.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the more unique “motorcycles” in Bills Old Bike Barn is a 1961 motorcycle-based dump truck.\u00a0 \u00a0Bill kept it in its original unrestored condition for a number of years and used it to haul manure around on his farm (I used to write proposals in the defense industry, so Bill and I have that in common).\u00a0 Bill cleaned up the Guzzi dump truck, customized it with a show-worthy paint job, and made it too pretty to use.\u00a0 This is a three wheeler built around the same 500cc Falcone baloney-slicer motor shown above.<\/p>\n

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A Moto Guzzi trike dump truck. Gresh and I have a thing for three wheelers reaching back to our ride across China. Bill used this one for hauling manure around the farm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Guzzi dump truck’s motorcycle underpinnings are obvious.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Stunning by any standard.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So there you have it, folks.\u00a0 This is the last in our series of blogs about Bill’s Old Bike Barn.\u00a0 I enjoyed my visit to Bill’s more than I have to any other museum, partly because of the content and partly because of Bill.\u00a0 If you’re looking for a worthy destination and an experience like no other, Bill’s Old Bike Barn should be at the top of your list.\u00a0 I’d allow a full day for the visit, maybe with a break for lunch.\u00a0 We asked Bill for the best kept secret regarding Bloomsburg fine dining and his answer was immediate:\u00a0 The Scoreboard.\u00a0 It’s only a mile or two away and you can Waze your way there.\u00a0 Try the chili; it’s excellent.<\/p>\n

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There are six blogs in our series about Bill’s Old Bike Barn.\u00a0 Here’s a set of links to the first five:<\/p>\n

Our first blog on Bill’s Old Bike Barn?\u00a0 Hey, here it is<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Bill Morris:\u00a0 The Man<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s a great story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Military motorcycle half-tracks?\u00a0 You bet<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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With 200 motorcycles in his collection, Bill’s personal favorite<\/a> might surprise you!<\/p>\n

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What drives a man like Bill to collect?\u00a0 Our story on Billville and the Collections<\/a> answers the mail:<\/p>\n

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