Moto Giro Superhero

Story by Sam Longo// Photos by Heather Cooper, Uscra and Sam Longo
August 29 2023

The little bike continues to deliver, even after decades of adverse conditions.

When I first laid eyes on this bike it really needed help. It wasn’t even a motorcycle anymore; it was simply a very large pile of crusty parts on the showroom floor at Ontario Cycle Salvage. I must have passed that pile a dozen times while gathering parts for other projects and I was determined to just avert my eyes. Then, something came over me.

The day before Paul, the owner, closed down for the season, I surrendered to the temptation, foolishly making a low-ball offer on the battered batch of Super Hawks. I was secretly hoping he would turn me down and release me from the stress of yet another restoration. Unfortunately, he took the cash, I had the stash and the die was cast. Yet another CB77 would rise from the ashes, destined to become my future Moto Giro Superhero.

Moto Giro Background

For those not in the know, the Moto Giro originated in Italy. Run in a similar fashion to a car rally, these started out with small bore motorcycles run on open roads around the countryside. Timed to the second to each destination, they also included skill-testing slalom courses at intervals where additional points were won and lost.

Now adopted and slightly modified in North America, the USCRA (United States Classic Racing Association) usually hosts a spring and fall event every year. A two-day affair covering approximately 350 km, the rules include a cap in motorcycle age and displacement. Nothing newer than 1968 and nothing beyond 305 cc is allowed. To sum up the reality: it’s a bunch of old fat guys on little bikes, and it’s an awful lot of fun!

Here in Ontario, we have our own Moto Giro hosted by the Ganaraska section of the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group. It’s a one-day, 250 km event allowing bikes up to 750 cc with an age cap of 1975, usually run in the late spring on the lovely rolling hills of Prince Edward County. It too is a worthy generator of many smiles per mile!

Dependable Resto

Once the bike was built using the best of all the parts, this particular Super…

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