Miguel Angel Galluzzi
Encyclopedia
Miguel Angel Galluzzi is an industrial design
er specializing in motorcycle design
who created the Ducati Monster
, an "instant icon that singlehandedly launched the naked bike niche," and "became the company's best selling and most profitable model line and carried the company through many lean years," possibly saving them from ruin. The idea of the minimalist
Monster began with Galluzzi thinking, "All you need is a saddle, tank, engine, two wheels and handlebars". Monsters eventually accounted for two-thirds or more of Ducati's output.
Floret 50 he received for his eighth birthday, a present that disappointed him at first because, said Galluzzi, his "head was 100 percent into music" at the time and he wanted a drum set to become like Charlie Watts
, though the bike changed the direction of his life. Because Galluzzi is 6 inch tall, many of his best known creations with low seat heights and high foot pegs, like the Monster and Raptor naked bikes, are better suited to their target buyer than their designer.
Galluzzi graduated from the Art Center College of Design
in Pasadena, California
in 1986, from the same Transportation Design program as BMW's David Robb, designer of the R1100RT, K1200RS, R1200C, R1100S and K1200LT. Galluzzi first worked for Opel
, and then for Honda
's V-Car/Omega design studio in 1988, first in Offenbach, Germany and later in Milan
. In 1989 Galluzzi went to work for Ducati's parent company at the time, Cagiva
, in Varese, Italy. He stayed at Cagiva for 17 years, until July 2006 when he became Styling Director at Aprilia
, rising to become Vice President of Design for Piaggio Group, Aprilia's parent.
. While most of the early models of Ducati's Cagiva period are poorly remembered, and the 1990 900 Supersport suffered flaws like splitting fuel tanks, the visually and mechanically revised 1991 900 Supersport, offered in full- and half-fairing versions, became a classic, somehow finding the necessary balance between honoring the tradition set by the Super Sport models of the 1970s loved by the "Ducati faithful," yet still looking modern and up to date. The Supersport line had a successful eight year run that included many sub-models, ranging 400 cc.
. He came up with a propopsal and I thought, this was the bike Marlon Brando
would be riding today in the film The Wild One
!" Bordi's intent was to enter the cruiser
market, with a bike that was made to be modified and would eventually have a wealth of bolt-on aftermarket
accessories rivaling the range of custom and hot-rod parts available for Harley-Davidson
s. Previously Cagiva had attempted to move into this market with a more blatant Harley-Davidson cruiser imitation, the heavily chromed Ducati Indiana of 1986–1990. It made poor use of Ducati's desmodromic valve
L-twin engines; and a full-cradle frame, not Ducati's signature trellis, played against Ducati's stylistic strengths. Only 2,138 were made over four years. Avoiding another embarrassment competing directly against Harley-Davidson with a banal imitation of the Harley cruiser, the Monster appealed to the same urban, style-conscious buyers who wanted a bike that could make an individualistic statement, but it did so with a motorcycle that they had not quite seen before, and was still unmistakably Italian and a Ducati.
Because Bordi wanted Galluzzi to keep costs low, the Monster was a humble "parts bin special," built not with newly designed components carefully engineered to work in unison, but by mixing and matching parts from existing Ducati models, beginning with the engine and forward half of the frame of a 900 Supersport, a frame descended from the 851
superbike, and the fork
of a 750 Supersport. Galluzzi penned a "muscular" fuel tank and minimalist bodywork that produced a visual impression of mass and strength, on a motorcycle that turned out to be surprisingly tiny and agile to the first time rider. Motorcycle Consumer News
design columnist Glynn Kerr described the Monster's statement as aggressive, "attributable to the head-down, charging bull stance."
While the standard motorcycle is as old as the motorcycle itself, and many bikes have been retro
homages to simpler machines of the past, at least since the Moto Guzzi
1000S of the 1980s, the Monster was both retro and a "whole new approach". It was also a smash hit, and the timing of its release was perfect, creating one of the most imitated styles of the 1990s and 2000s. Glynn Kerr ranked the Monster as 9th on his list of the 10 best motorcycle designs of all time, saying it "has all it needs and no more," and that the several imitators, like Galluzzi's own later Cagiva Raptor or Yamaha's BT1100 Bulldog, always come in a "poor second".
The Monster might never have gone beyond the styling exercise stage had British reporter Alan Cathcart not ridden the bike at the factory and fallen in love with it, and then enthusiastically written about it in motorcycling magazines around the world. Cautious of the new model's sales prospects, Ducati initially planned to make only 1,000 units, but after the debut at the Intermot
at Cologne
in October 1992 the media's and public's excitement prompted increasing the number to 5,000. It was also the media and public at the Cologne show who prompted Anglicizing the Italian Il Mostro to Monster. The Monster line has had numerous variations over the years, from entry level 400 cc bikes up to top of the line 130 hp multivalve, water-cooled superbike-engined versions, with as many as nine different Monster versions in a single model year. The Monster's elemental simplicity has also made it a favorite platform for custom motorcycle
builders, showcased at competitions like the Monster Challenge. Besides innumerable minor variations, Galluzzi's Monster design was not significantly restyled for 15 model years, until the cautiously updated Monster 696
of 2008.
. As the Monster had opened up a new market outside the road racing
derived sport bike segment, so too did the ST2 widen Ducati's range by expanding the company's offerings into the realm of sport touring
. Industrial designer Andrew Serbinski
found Galluzzi's first generation Ducati ST design to be ill-proportioned, with the fuel tank too large, suggesting a better design would be more aerodynamic and more true to the "traditional Ducati values of compactness, the feel of motion at speed and sense of exotica."
Next was the Cagiva Planet "Baby Monster" of 1998, a variant of the Mito
, followed by the 1999 Raptor and V-Raptor, which used a Suzuki
engine shared by the TL1000
, and intended as a direct competitor to Galluzzi's own Monster. Galluzzi's description of the engine choice was that, "We had engines from all over the world, but the best two were Triumph's Speed Triple
three and the Suzuki TL1000. Both engines had soul and character but eventually we decided on the Suzuki engine." Early testers were "terrified" at the 135 hp prototype. Galluzzi said that, "the bike felt as if it was permanently out of control. It was fun!" This prompted increasing the head angle from 23 to 25 degrees, and increasing the wheelbase from 1390 millimetre, creating, "neutral handling but still [having] all the excitement of the original bike," along with tuning the exhaust and airbox to increase torque under 10,000 rpm at the expense of 35 hp less peak output. The result was a bike that was both "bonkers and useable".
After leaving Cagiva and joining Aprilia in 2006, he designed the 2007 Aprilia Dorsoduro
, 2008 RSV4, 2008 Mana
, SL 750 Shiver
of 2009, and several Husqvarna
models. He also contributed to the Vespa
/Piaggio
1+1 concept vehicle.
Many of the Ducatis Galluzzi originally styled were later revised and updated by Pierre Terblanche
, such as the ST series and the Monster 696 update of 2008. Terblanche later joined Galluzzi at Aprilia, where they have worked together on several new and revised models for Aprilia subsidiary Moto Guzzi
. They contributed to the Moto Guzzi V12 series, with Le Mans, Strada, and X variants, displayed at EICMA
in 2009. Galluzzi described the challenge he and Terblanche faced revising the Moto Guzzi image by saying, "The Guzzi crowd is extremely conservative, but if we only concentrate on those, we are going to lose eventually. So these bikes are looking into the future." This is similar to the balance sought with earlier Ducati designs, but, "the advantage Guzzi has versus Ducati is that Ducati makes sportsbikes, Guzzi can do anything it wants because they’ve been doing it a long time and on all sorts of bikes. We are not in a box, we can do anything we want as long as we are able to make it."
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
er specializing in motorcycle design
Motorcycle design
Motorcycle design can be described as activities that define the appearance, function and engineering of motorcycles.Professionally it is a branch of industrial design, similar to automotive design using identical techniques and methodology, but confined by a set of conventions about what is...
who created the Ducati Monster
Ducati Monster
The Monster is a motorcycle designed by Miguel Angel Galluzzi and produced by Ducati Motor Holding in Bologna, Italy since 1993...
, an "instant icon that singlehandedly launched the naked bike niche," and "became the company's best selling and most profitable model line and carried the company through many lean years," possibly saving them from ruin. The idea of the minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
Monster began with Galluzzi thinking, "All you need is a saddle, tank, engine, two wheels and handlebars". Monsters eventually accounted for two-thirds or more of Ducati's output.
Career
Galluzzi is a third generation motorcyclist whose first motorcycle was a 1969 KreidlerKreidler
Kreidler was a German manufacturer of small motorcycles and mopeds, based in Kornwestheim, between Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart. The company was founded in 1903 as "Kreidlers Metall- und Drahtwerke" by Anton Kreidler and started to build motorcycles in 1951. In 1959 one third of all German...
Floret 50 he received for his eighth birthday, a present that disappointed him at first because, said Galluzzi, his "head was 100 percent into music" at the time and he wanted a drum set to become like Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
, though the bike changed the direction of his life. Because Galluzzi is 6 inch tall, many of his best known creations with low seat heights and high foot pegs, like the Monster and Raptor naked bikes, are better suited to their target buyer than their designer.
Galluzzi graduated from the Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
in 1986, from the same Transportation Design program as BMW's David Robb, designer of the R1100RT, K1200RS, R1200C, R1100S and K1200LT. Galluzzi first worked for Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...
, and then for Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
's V-Car/Omega design studio in 1988, first in Offenbach, Germany and later in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. In 1989 Galluzzi went to work for Ducati's parent company at the time, Cagiva
Cagiva
Cagiva is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1950 by Giovanni Castiglioni in Varese, originally producing small metal components. It went into the motorcycle industry in 1978. The name is a portmanteau derived from the founder and the founding location, i.e. CAstiglioni GIovanni...
, in Varese, Italy. He stayed at Cagiva for 17 years, until July 2006 when he became Styling Director at Aprilia
Aprilia
Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle company, one of the seven marques owned by Piaggio, the world's fourth largest motorcycle manufacturer.Aprilia started as a scooter manufacturer, but has more recently come to be known for its race-winning sportbikes...
, rising to become Vice President of Design for Piaggio Group, Aprilia's parent.
Motorcycle designs
The first work Galluzzi did at Cagiva for Ducati was on the 900 SuperportDucati SuperSport
The Ducati SuperSport and SS are names applied to a series of Pantah based air-cooled four stroke desmodromic 2-valve 90-degree V-Twin motorcycles manufactured from 1988 onwards. A limited edition SuperSport called the SuperLight was sold in 1992. The name harked back to the round case 1973 Ducati...
. While most of the early models of Ducati's Cagiva period are poorly remembered, and the 1990 900 Supersport suffered flaws like splitting fuel tanks, the visually and mechanically revised 1991 900 Supersport, offered in full- and half-fairing versions, became a classic, somehow finding the necessary balance between honoring the tradition set by the Super Sport models of the 1970s loved by the "Ducati faithful," yet still looking modern and up to date. The Supersport line had a successful eight year run that included many sub-models, ranging 400 cc.
Monster
The Monster began as a styling exercise in 1992. The concept for the Monster was one Galluzzi had been thinking about for some time, and it took time to convince the management at Cagiva and Ducati to build it. Ducati technical director Massimo Bordi originated the idea for what they wanted the new bike to accomplish, and assigned the design to Galluzzi. Bordi said he asked Galluzzi "for something which displayed a strong Ducati heritige but which was easy to ride and not a sports bikeSport bike
A sport bike, also written as sportbike, is a motorcycle optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on paved roads, typically at the expense of comfort and fuel economy in comparison to less specialized motorcycles...
. He came up with a propopsal and I thought, this was the bike Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
would be riding today in the film The Wild One
The Wild One
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.-Basis:...
!" Bordi's intent was to enter the cruiser
Cruiser (motorcycle)
Cruiser is the term for motorcycles that mimic the design style of American machines from the 1930s to the early 1960s, including those made by Harley-Davidson, Indian, Excelsior and Henderson. The market for models evocative of the early cruisers has grown to embrace 60 percent of the U.S...
market, with a bike that was made to be modified and would eventually have a wealth of bolt-on aftermarket
Aftermarket (automotive)
The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, tools, equipment and accessories for light and heavy vehicles, after the sale of the...
accessories rivaling the range of custom and hot-rod parts available for Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
s. Previously Cagiva had attempted to move into this market with a more blatant Harley-Davidson cruiser imitation, the heavily chromed Ducati Indiana of 1986–1990. It made poor use of Ducati's desmodromic valve
Desmodromic valve
A desmodromic valve is a reciprocating engine valve that is positively closed by a cam and leverage system, rather than by a more conventional spring...
L-twin engines; and a full-cradle frame, not Ducati's signature trellis, played against Ducati's stylistic strengths. Only 2,138 were made over four years. Avoiding another embarrassment competing directly against Harley-Davidson with a banal imitation of the Harley cruiser, the Monster appealed to the same urban, style-conscious buyers who wanted a bike that could make an individualistic statement, but it did so with a motorcycle that they had not quite seen before, and was still unmistakably Italian and a Ducati.
Because Bordi wanted Galluzzi to keep costs low, the Monster was a humble "parts bin special," built not with newly designed components carefully engineered to work in unison, but by mixing and matching parts from existing Ducati models, beginning with the engine and forward half of the frame of a 900 Supersport, a frame descended from the 851
Ducati 851
The Ducati 851 was a Ducati motorcycle, with liquid cooling and four valve heads, released to the public in 1987. Development had lagged with the continued use of two valve engines, but new funds enabled a technological move forward Ducati needed at the time....
superbike, and the fork
Motorcycle fork
A motorcycle fork connects a motorcycle's front wheel and axle to its frame, typically via a pair of triple clamps. It typically incorporates the front suspension and front brake, and allows the bike to be steered via handlebars attached to the top clamp....
of a 750 Supersport. Galluzzi penned a "muscular" fuel tank and minimalist bodywork that produced a visual impression of mass and strength, on a motorcycle that turned out to be surprisingly tiny and agile to the first time rider. Motorcycle Consumer News
Motorcycle Consumer News
Motorcycle Consumer News is a monthly periodical offering reviews of motorcycles and other information such as motorcycle safety techniques...
design columnist Glynn Kerr described the Monster's statement as aggressive, "attributable to the head-down, charging bull stance."
While the standard motorcycle is as old as the motorcycle itself, and many bikes have been retro
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
homages to simpler machines of the past, at least since the Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It is one of seven brands owned by Piaggio.Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its central historic role in Italy's motorcycling manufacture, its prominence worldwide in motorcycle racing, and a series of...
1000S of the 1980s, the Monster was both retro and a "whole new approach". It was also a smash hit, and the timing of its release was perfect, creating one of the most imitated styles of the 1990s and 2000s. Glynn Kerr ranked the Monster as 9th on his list of the 10 best motorcycle designs of all time, saying it "has all it needs and no more," and that the several imitators, like Galluzzi's own later Cagiva Raptor or Yamaha's BT1100 Bulldog, always come in a "poor second".
The Monster might never have gone beyond the styling exercise stage had British reporter Alan Cathcart not ridden the bike at the factory and fallen in love with it, and then enthusiastically written about it in motorcycling magazines around the world. Cautious of the new model's sales prospects, Ducati initially planned to make only 1,000 units, but after the debut at the Intermot
Intermot
INTERMOT Cologne is a biennial trade show for motorcycle manufacturers. The trade show began in Munich in 1998, though originally founded in Cologne. Since 2004 it has moved to koelnmesse in Cologne. The Intermot 2006 had over 1.000 exhibitors and some 187.000 visitors....
at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
in October 1992 the media's and public's excitement prompted increasing the number to 5,000. It was also the media and public at the Cologne show who prompted Anglicizing the Italian Il Mostro to Monster. The Monster line has had numerous variations over the years, from entry level 400 cc bikes up to top of the line 130 hp multivalve, water-cooled superbike-engined versions, with as many as nine different Monster versions in a single model year. The Monster's elemental simplicity has also made it a favorite platform for custom motorcycle
Custom motorcycle
A custom motorcycle is a motorcycle that is highly stylized or which treats aspects such as frame geometry, engine design, or paintwork in an unusual way compared to standard manufacturing. Custom motorcycles are unique or individually produced in a very limited quantity, as opposed to "stock"...
builders, showcased at competitions like the Monster Challenge. Besides innumerable minor variations, Galluzzi's Monster design was not significantly restyled for 15 model years, until the cautiously updated Monster 696
Ducati Monster 696
Ducati Monster 696 is the 2008 generation of the Ducati Monster line of motorcycles. It was announced in November 2007 and includes some improvements in ergonomics including the lowest seat height of any Ducati. Weight has been reduced on the previous model, the Monster 695...
of 2008.
Later motorcycles
After the Monster, Galluzzi designed the 1997 Ducati ST2Ducati ST2
The Ducati ST2 is an Italian sport touring motorcycle that was made by Ducati between 1997 and 2003. It featured a two-valve V-twin engine. In 2004, it was replaced by the three-valve ST3...
. As the Monster had opened up a new market outside the road racing
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
derived sport bike segment, so too did the ST2 widen Ducati's range by expanding the company's offerings into the realm of sport touring
Sport touring
A Sport touring motorcycle is a type of motorcycle that blends the performance of a sport bike with the long-distance capabilities of a touring motorcycle, while providing comfort and relative safety to the rider....
. Industrial designer Andrew Serbinski
Andrew Serbinski
Machineart was founded in 1988 by Andrew Serbinski and is an industrial design consultancy based in Frenchtown, New Jersey. The company designs products, recreational vehicles, packaging, graphics, and user interfaces...
found Galluzzi's first generation Ducati ST design to be ill-proportioned, with the fuel tank too large, suggesting a better design would be more aerodynamic and more true to the "traditional Ducati values of compactness, the feel of motion at speed and sense of exotica."
Next was the Cagiva Planet "Baby Monster" of 1998, a variant of the Mito
Cagiva Mito
The Mito is a small-engined Cagiva sports motorcycle. The powerplant consists of a two-stroke single cylinder, with some models capable of producing over in unrestricted form.-History and development:...
, followed by the 1999 Raptor and V-Raptor, which used a Suzuki
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
engine shared by the TL1000
Suzuki TL1000S
- General background :The Suzuki TL1000S was introduced by Suzuki in 1997 and was produced until 2001 and is frequently referred to as the TLS or Suzuki TLS. It is notable for the V-twin engine which is still used in Suzuki's modern SV1000 and V-Strom 1000 motorcycles.The TLS motor featured a 90°...
, and intended as a direct competitor to Galluzzi's own Monster. Galluzzi's description of the engine choice was that, "We had engines from all over the world, but the best two were Triumph's Speed Triple
Triumph Speed Triple
The Speed Triple is a series of motorcycles produced by Triumph Motorcycles. In 1994 the reborn Triumph became one of the earliest adopters of a new style of motorcycle referred to as a Streetfighter. This new class of bike was essentially a modern sport bike or race replica motorcycle but...
three and the Suzuki TL1000. Both engines had soul and character but eventually we decided on the Suzuki engine." Early testers were "terrified" at the 135 hp prototype. Galluzzi said that, "the bike felt as if it was permanently out of control. It was fun!" This prompted increasing the head angle from 23 to 25 degrees, and increasing the wheelbase from 1390 millimetre, creating, "neutral handling but still [having] all the excitement of the original bike," along with tuning the exhaust and airbox to increase torque under 10,000 rpm at the expense of 35 hp less peak output. The result was a bike that was both "bonkers and useable".
After leaving Cagiva and joining Aprilia in 2006, he designed the 2007 Aprilia Dorsoduro
Aprilia Dorsoduro
The Aprilia SMV750 Dorsoduro is the latest in a small number of road-legal motorcycles taking their inspiration from the supermoto form of motorcycle racing - essentially motocross, or dirt, bikes fitted with slick road racing tyres and raced over a half-tarmac/half-dirt circuit.This exciting but...
, 2008 RSV4, 2008 Mana
Aprilia Mana 850
The Aprilia Mana 850 is a naked bike manufactured by Italian motorcycle manufacturer Aprilia. The motorcycle incorporates a 90° V-twin engine and an automatic transmission...
, SL 750 Shiver
Aprilia SL 750 Shiver
The Aprilia Shiver 750 is a naked bike manufactured by Italian motorcycle manufacturer Aprilia. The motorcycle incorporates Ride by Wire Technology and a 90° V-twin engine....
of 2009, and several Husqvarna
Husqvarna Motorcycles
Husqvarna Motorcycles, a subsidiary of BMW, is a company manufacturing motocross, enduro and supermoto motorcycles. The company began producing motorcycles in 1903 at Huskvarna, Sweden, as a branch of the Husqvarna armament firm which had supplied the Swedish army with rifles since 1689.-History:As...
models. He also contributed to the Vespa
Vespa
Vespa is an Italian brand of scooter manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian.The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A...
/Piaggio
Piaggio
Piaggio based in Pontedera, Italy encompasses seven brands of scooters, motorcycles and compact commercial vehicles. As the fourth largest producer of scooters and motorcycles in the world, Piaggio produces more than 600,000 vehicles annually, with five research and development centers, more than...
1+1 concept vehicle.
Many of the Ducatis Galluzzi originally styled were later revised and updated by Pierre Terblanche
Pierre Terblanche
Pierre Terblanche is a South African motorcycle designer born in 1956 in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape. He started his career in advertising but felt the need to move into the design world. After moving to Germany and working with Volkswagen design he worked at Cagiva's Research Center at San Marino...
, such as the ST series and the Monster 696 update of 2008. Terblanche later joined Galluzzi at Aprilia, where they have worked together on several new and revised models for Aprilia subsidiary Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It is one of seven brands owned by Piaggio.Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its central historic role in Italy's motorcycling manufacture, its prominence worldwide in motorcycle racing, and a series of...
. They contributed to the Moto Guzzi V12 series, with Le Mans, Strada, and X variants, displayed at EICMA
EICMA
EICMA , or the Milan Motorcycle Show is an annual trade show in Milan, Italy featuring motorcycles. The 2008 show drew over half a million visitors. The show is frequently used by manufacturers to debut new models....
in 2009. Galluzzi described the challenge he and Terblanche faced revising the Moto Guzzi image by saying, "The Guzzi crowd is extremely conservative, but if we only concentrate on those, we are going to lose eventually. So these bikes are looking into the future." This is similar to the balance sought with earlier Ducati designs, but, "the advantage Guzzi has versus Ducati is that Ducati makes sportsbikes, Guzzi can do anything it wants because they’ve been doing it a long time and on all sorts of bikes. We are not in a box, we can do anything we want as long as we are able to make it."