This bike “needs some fine tuning before being ridden,” according to its seller, but it’s worthy of your attention thanks to its accessories: a full set of Wixom luggage and fairing.
At its base, this is the much-loved Eldorado, a bike that the August 1973 issue of Cycle World described as “one of motorcycling’s heavies. It’s a bike for crossing continents, not states.”
Driven by an 850cc transverse V-twin, the Guzzi claimed a peak power output of 64 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and famously won the heart of the California Highway Patrol in the 1970s ─ who chose it over Harley offerings of the time.
This touring-focused model is effectively the police bike with a comfy seat and aftermarket Wixom Brothers kit that riders could get straight from some dealers. Dean and Stan Wixom were engineers operating out of Signal Hill, California, in the ’60s and ’70s. They used ABS plastic instead of the fiberglass that was popular among some aftermarket fairing makers at the time.
In a 1968 interview with Cycle World, Dean Wixom explained that “ABS is incredibly resilient, and considerably lighter than fiberglass. It also possesses what is known as an ‘elastic memory.’ That means that if it is dented, it can be heated to its forming temperature, and will spring back to its original shape.”
Adding the Wixom Brothers Ranger fairing, saddlebags and top box to the Eldorado ─ with pinstriping, as seen on this example ─ put $268.50 on its asking price. Something that, in the early ’70s, Cycle World acknowledged was a bit steep.
“The full dress look is expensive, but it’s worth it if you spend a lot of time on the road,” the magazine reported. “And, the majority of Wixom components are pretty trick.”
The luggage looks to have survived the years in reasonably good condition. As for the rest of the bike, it’s not bad, either. Not exactly showroom condition, but still pretty. But, as the owner says, it’s a machine that “needs work, as it is not regularly ridden.”
If you’re willing to put in that work, you can find this Eldorado with 44,100 miles on the clock for sale for $6,450 (or best offer) in Wellington, Ohio, here on eBay.