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Super Alce - Feature Bike

The Featured Super Alce in Location

Nestled unobtrusively among a row of 500 singles inside the Cathedral of Moto Guzzi, within a part of the structure which was historically an old sheep shearing shed lies one of Teo's Super Alces.  This Super Alce is presently flanked by an Alce and an Airone Sport.  The Super Alce was produced from 1946 - 1957 and it replaced "la gloriosa Alce".  The Alce was renowned as a tough and reliable military bike during "La Guerra" WW2.  It was a robust and powerful machine which distinguished itself everywhere from the large open plains in North Africa during the fighting and then equally as well in the tough mountainous terrain of "Le Alpi" the Alps.

The Alce, or the Elk in English, was always going to be a very tough act to follow but Moto Guzzi not only followed that act, they massively improved that tough act in 1946 with the Super Alce or Super Elk.  At first glance the Super Alce and Alce appear hard to differentiate.  Moto Guzzi stayed with the same sturdy frame and the proven girder fork suspension up front, the tank and seats look similar.  They both have the trademark (for the time) Guzzi horizontal single 500cc motor keeping the overall look of both models the same.  As the Super Alce was never sold to the public but only made for the military, both models generally (not always) share that military olive green colour in a flat paint to avoid reflection and detection but that's where the similarities end.  Some were offered to the Carabinieri and although still finished in green paint featured some chrome plating as well around the tank.

The Alce had a side valve engine but for the Super Alce there was an upgraded engine derived from the type V engine used in the GTV and GTW series.  This engine had a single port with two inclined overhead valves along with a four speed gearbox. The Super Alce had a twist grip throttle, a major improvement from the old lever on the handle which was present on the Alce.  During 1952 the Super Alce included a magneto with automatic advance rather than the old timing advance lever on the handle needing to be adjusted by the rider as the speed changed.

Earlier models continued with the short double muffler from the Alce on the left hand side which was replaced in 1955 with a single long muffler still on the left side.

Andy and Wayne communing with their Super Alces in the workshop

One, perhaps unique, and quirky optional feature of both the Alce and Super Alce models is the presence of a second set of handle bars available for the pillion passenger.  We have heard much conjecture as to the real reason for the second set of handle bars but frankly we have never met anyone who has convinced us they understand the factory rationale for this decision.  One of the better theories is that because both of these models were only for military use that perhaps the second set of bars was made available so that when soldiers of lower rank were transporting senior officers around the battle field terrain etc that the pillion handle bars were in place so the more senior officers did not need to physically touch or hold the more junior officers piloting those machines.  This is only a theory proposed by some and it is possibly not consistent with Italian culture.  My own father was a soldier in the Australian Army during "La Guerra" WW2 and as a corporal he did often have the responsibilities of ferrying senior officers around on motorcycles but to my knowledge there was no such option on any military motorcycles within the Australian Army.  He is no longer alive so I can't ask him about any touching while ferrying superior officers on a bike.  Please share with us your thoughts or comments on this feature and any ideas you might have in the comments section, we would be very pleased to hear your opinions and learn from any specific knowledge which our 'friends' may posses.

Teo at his best, challenging himself with a Moto Guzzi problem

Special Quiz Question

As a bonus for reading this article all the way through to this point we have a special quiz, or perhaps a test for the very knowledgeable.  Most Super Alce's have frame and engine numbers which commence with the letters SAxxxxxx with the SA being an abbreviation for Super Alce but some Super Alces come with the VAxxxxxx prefix on both the engine and frame.  Do you know what the VA stands for in this instance?  Do you know what differences there are on a Super Alce which has the VA prefix for the frame and engine?

As a clue I can advise that for the Alce model had the frame and engine prefix Axxxxx.  This was consistent through the model run but there were a few Alces which had the prefix Vxxxxx.  The V stood for Velocita and these bikes had different gearing and substantial chrome differences.

So the question remains to our collective brains trust, what differences in the Super Alce model came with the Vaxxxxx prefix.  At this point I will make two declarations before people provide their thoughts or facts:

We at the Friends of the Cathedral of Moto Guzzi do not know the answer to this question.

I own a Super Alce (just purchased from Teo) with the prefix VAxxxxxx.

The Statistics

Provenance of Feature Bike

While this article is about Super Alces in general, the feature bike in question nestled inside the old shearing shed in between the Alce and the Airone Sport has an interesting provenance of its own.  An Italian guy contacted Teo from Italy asking him if he wanted to purchase it some eight years ago. The usual discussions around price were had and before long this Super Alce was in a container bound from Italy to Melbourne, destination Cathedral of Moto Guzzi. The bike arrived exactly the same way it is presented in the museum now, eight years later with one exception.  It had an old ammunition box on the back which Teo removed to keep the bike in its very original condition.  When Teo finally got the munitions box open, he found inside a nice bottle of fine Italian wine made from the famed grape of Tuscany which is responsible for some of the most revered and celebrated red wines in Italy.  Yes it was a beautiful Sangiovese. Needless to say, Teo has received great pleasure from both the Super Alce and the Sangiovese.

The Friends of Cathedral of Moto Guzzi Workshop

Most of us in this group, The Friends of the Cathedral of Moto Guzzi, know that the cathedral is the private collection of Teo Larmers' but as well as the cathedral itself there is so much more going on every day at the site as there is an active and vibrant Moto Guzzi workshop here where many Moto Guzzi related repairs and ground up restorations occur.

We thought that as well as featuring the Super Alce in this article that we would also feature some recent work in the associated workshop relating to two Super Alces.  The first of these is my own Super Alce which I recently purchased from Teo. It had been sitting languishing on his farm (inside a shed) for 10 years before, so we had no idea what we would find and if it would start and the second of these Super Alce projects is one owned by Andrew Hawkes another Cathedral of Moto Guzzi regular who has owned his machine for circa three years.

Teo fettling with Andy’s bike

Wayne’s Super Alce in the Workshop

My own Super Alce story commenced a couple of months back when I told Teo I have a hankering to own a Super Alce.  Something about the unbreakable agricultural look and feel of these machines with their military lack of adornment was beckoning me.  I am beguiled by their primitive but effective engineering casually on display.  I am transfixed by the girder fork front end which like the Eiffel tower is strong, lasting and effective as a piece of engineering while hiding none of it's structural secrets.  One glance at the girder forks shows you how it works and after 82 years of service within the Italian military then abuse at the hands of us civilians these simple front ends are still functioning very well in 2021.  They held up to the constantly changing tide of attack and retreat at the hands of Rommel and the allies in the deserts of North Africa and they did it all again on the Italian mainland.  This engineering honesty proudly on display does not stop at the front end but extends to the rear end as well and then the most mesmerising example of engineering honesty exposed, watching the externally operating valve gear doing its work in front of your very eyes as the four stroke engine ticks over.

First is the induction stroke and you can see the intake valve open to suck in fuel and air from the Dell’Orto MD 27 F.

Next is the compression stroke when all the power is being built up and here both valves remain closed.

Finally comes the combustion stroke when all the power made is released in a fury of fire and brimstone.  Again both valves remain closed.

Then, in preparation for it all to start again is the exhaust stroke where all the spent gases are expelled and here the exhaust valve is open telling all what the engine is doing

The Super Alce power plant is no ‘blackbox’ keeping all its running secrets from prying eyes, no this engine is a open book ready to teach any of us willing to learn the finer details of how an internal combustion engine really works.

Modern motorcycles won't even permit you to view the outside of an engine which is cocooned in a secrecy blanket of accessories or plastic decoration let alone see the exposed workings of the valve train but for the Super Alce, there it is in front of your eyes for all to see and admire, the truth at the heart of it all.

So after telling Teo I wanted to own a Super Alce myself, he revealed that somewhere in the deep dark recesses of his sheds and containers he had a Super Alce which had been dormant for 10 years or more.  With that he located the Super Alce which would become mine.  We gave the old girl a new spark plug lead and new spark plug and new plug cap.  We used the kick starter to roll over the engine a couple times and deduced that it probably didn't have a lot of compression.  Not deterred by this we got some fuel, filled the tank, checked the oils and started the video running. (See the video of the bike's first kick below).  Teo and I had talked over how this would go.  I would pull the choke lever from Aperto to Chiuso (from open to closed), then I would prime the carburettor.  The throttle would need to be in just the right place, then, after locating Top Dead Centre using the decompression lever, I would give that one explosive kick which would bring the bike to life.  Sounds good in theory.  Well watch the following video to see what happened......... Yep, she started first kick after 10 years or more in a dark corner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13hvzKvvdm4 (First Kick)

https://studio.youtube.com/video/hCbFljGPb2M/edit (First Ride)

At first, despite the engine running well, there was a problem with the idling which could not be rectified even with a bit of fettling by Teo.  We opened up the carby and used compressed air to blow out the idle jet.  After that all was perfect, she ran well and idled beautifully.

It seemed we had a good engine, despite it feeling like it had so little compression.  I rode the old girl around a few dirt roads over a couple of weekends and she started reliably and pulled strongly enough.  We were both satisfied that it was ready to go.  But, life sometimes doesn't go as planned.  The next weekend I was ready to take her home and get some red plates for her and she was reluctant to start.  What had happed to our perfect machine which started first kick every time on queue!  We were able to start her and she ran fine but she just took way too much effort with me kicking so much my leg started to get tired before she would start.

As we were working from Teo's workshop nearby the Cathedral of Moto Guzzi it was no effort to pull off the head and barrel to see the condition of the piston, rings, valves etc.  First we poured some oil into the cylinder.  Wow, with oil providing a seal, suddenly I could easily find the compression stroke which had been elusive up to this point. I could even stand up on the kick-starter using all my weight without the engine turning over.  Oh dear, we obviously lacked compression despite the old girl appearing to run just fine.  First we removed the head.  The exhaust valve had a substantial leak and after removing the valves we could see there was so much wear to the valve guides, the valves had been rattling up and down the guides like a clackity old train.  How had this girl run so well!  But surprisingly the best, or should I say, worst was yet to come.  As we pulled the barrel off the piston the four piston rings fell onto the work bench in a myriad of pieces.  One of the piston rings was in seven separate pieces.  How had this old girl been running so well and how had the broken piston rings not caused any damage to the piston or the bores.  What a testament to the robustness of these old engines that with all this going on the old girl just kept running.

Bits of piston ring everywhere as we removed the barrel. 

Oh dear!

All the pieces of the puzzle.

Fortunately Teo was able to supply us with the necessary expertise and parts to reassemble the engine and voila, she will be back to starting with barely more than a simple well placed kick.  I can’t wait to see how this baby will go with even more oomph.   Another very happy customer and another amazing old Super Alce back on the roads or paddocks or wherever I choose to ride her.  Hope to see you out on the road one day while I am riding her.

Andy’s Super Alce

You may notice in the photos that there is also another Super Alce in Teo's workshop.  This fine example of a 1949 Super Alce belongs to our esteemed friend and fellow Friend of the Cathedral of Moto Guzzi, Andy Hawkes.

Andy’s bike in the foreground

To my eye, Andy's bike is one of the best examples of a Super Alce that I have ever seen.  It's not one of these perfect shiny examples that has magnificent paint with perfect finish to all the chrome and other fittings.  It has never been restored or made to look somehow better than it would have back in 1949.  No, Andy's bike has surface rust in all the right places.  It had dents which show the scars of a long and busy life.  It has the scars of a life lived to the fullest and evidence of many experiences which date back to its time in active service for the Italian military.  I suppose in today's parlance it may be described as a 'rat rod' but make no mistake, the scars on Andy's bike are not contrived or deliberately curated.  No the scars on Andy's bike came slowly over years and one by one by virtue of simply being used and enjoyed for the purpose for which it was designed.

Andy’s Super Alce story starts similarly to mine.  It started with an itch and hankering for a Super Alce which Teo was pleased to satisfy.  Teo sourced an appropriate Super Alce for Andy in Italy and thus started the long wait which Andy had to endure as his soon to be Super Alce was transported by boat from Italy to Melbourne Australia and onto the Guzzi Cathedral at Yea Victoria.

Andy’s bike arrived with a non functioning magneto and a few other foibles which were no problem at all in the workshop of Teo Lamers next to the Cathedral of Moto Guzzi.  With these minor issues quickly dispatched by Teo’s skill and tools in the workshop, Andy was soon riding his latest pride and joy.

In fact it was March 2018 when Andy was taking his maiden voyage on his ‘new’ Super Alce that I quickly developed my own hankering.  Andy has always been such a trend setter with the rest of us merely following.

See link below to Andy riding his Super Alce back in March 2018.  Apologies for the recalcitrant pillion passenger on the back of Andy’s bike.

https://youtu.be/yPm2uWIa4pE

The Boys Having Fun Riding Super Alces at the Cathedral of Moto Guzzi Workshop on a Sunday Afternoon.

https://studio.youtube.com/video/dP8Sn10X9wA/edit (Sunday afternoon ride)

https://studio.youtube.com/video/skMy4MJVVic/edit (Back at the workshop)

Written by Wayne Brundell