Dirk Müller
Complete conversion Moto Guzzi "Le Mans III"
About the winner
My name is Dirk Müller, I am 53 years young and work as an industrial mechanic in mechanical engineering and live in Engelskirchen – Bickenbach.
Technical data
Moto Guzzi „Le Mans III“
The engine is from an LM3, where Jens Hoffmann did a combustion chamberoptimisation on the cylinders, sold me more stable valves and a torque cam. I am very happy with it. The frame is from a G5. This has been fitted due to an accident.
- Year of construction: LM3 1984, G5 1979
- Power: approx. 80 hp
- Weight: approx. 260 kg
- Conversion period: 1993 until today
I bought the LM3 in 1993 and with every major repair, new parts have been added to the conversion. So I can't pinpoint an exact time period. There will never be an end to the conversion, as new ideas keep coming up.
The story of Dirk Müller:
I bought the Moto Guzzi LM 3 in 1993. On a holiday in Corsica, I rode behind an LM 3 for a fortnight, so from then on I was infected with the Guzzi virus. Before that I rode faster Japanese bikes.
Two weeks after this holiday I had the Guzzi in my shed. Since then I have been constantly upgrading and modifying the bike. My back problems and my personal taste led to this version of my Guzzi.
I work on the bike in my specially heated shed. The basic paint job comes from a Moto Guzzi Nuovo Falcone-Sahara that I saw in Cologne.
In the meantime I tried a Yamaha FZR 1000, at the request of my girlfriend. But had to give it up again because of my shoulder problems.
Currently I own a DKW RT 175 (which is parked in my living room), a Yamaha XT 500 (which has to live under a tarpaulin in the carport) and a Moto-Guzzi G5 sidecar with Ural sidecar. In the beginning, the latter was only bought for winter meetings. At some point I realised that riding the MG sidecar is a lot of fun in every season. Since then, riding time has been shared with the LM 3.
The last conversion to an Enduro came about when I was sweating "blood and water" on the stream crossings during my last holiday in Sardinia. Since I still had the tyres from an earlier planned Enduro conversion, I used them in a solo conversion.
I was supported by my friend who is a qualified motorbike mechanic. I got the conversion parts from Stein-Dinse or other suppliers as well as private sources.
I'm not proud, but I think my bike is beautiful and I'm happy every time I notice that other people see it the same way and I get good feedback. Which happens relatively often.
For the time being, there are no plans for further major conversions, as the team and the Yamaha XT 500 first have to be brought back into shape.
