Assistance with History

[SierraTango]

Around the early 1980's I came off the road back to LA as a pro guitarist and had some money. I went to Woods in Pasadena and bought a bevel Ducati. In 89 my then wife and I became partners in a Marina near Oriental, NC. I brought the Ducati with me and was looking for a Ducati shop for some work on it. We didn't have the magic internet yet, but some newsletter listed a shop in Lillington, NC. I just can't remember the name of the shop. I rode up there, the shop was in a old Ford dealership building. I can't remember the owner/mechanic's name however he did good work on my Bevel and I became a customer. However, besides new and used Ducati's, they were also Guzzi dealers and the sales guy was connected to the USA distributor in Maryland-I just can't remember his name. They had some period Guzzi's Le Mans, 1000S, MIlle and he gave me the keys to all the demos.

Some time passed and I decided to trade in my Bevel for a new belt drive 900SS. When I went to pick up the new Ducati, there was a Guzzi Daytona in the showroom. I briefly questioned my decision to stay Ducati, however I did. I think eventually the Sales guy who's name I can't remember, took over as US distributor. There were crates of new Guzzi's in the shop. I believe they outgrew the shop in Lillington and moved the operation to Angier, NC.

Thanks for any help filling in my failing memory. 

[Scud]

Try putting everything from the above about him and the dealer into an AI query and see what you get back. Leave out your personal details so the AI search will focus only on him and the dealer.

[footgoose]

I asked Grok: 

tell what you know about the Ducati motorcycle shop in Lillington, NC in 1989

 

Midway Cycle was a motorcycle dealership located in Lillington, North Carolina, that operated as a dealer for Italian brands including Ducati in 1989.

 

 

The shop was owned by Eric and Emily Phillippe and specialized in brands like Ducati and Moto Guzzi, with mechanics on staff handling service and repairs for those motorcycles during that era.

 

 

It hosted community events such as open houses that drew large crowds of Italian motorcycle enthusiasts, and evidence from the time includes sales of new bikes and showroom photos dated around 1989.

 

 

By 1991, the owners expanded their involvement by acquiring U.S. distribution rights for Moto Guzzi, establishing Guzzi America headquartered in Lillington.

 

 

The dealership's address during this period appears to have been 1004 Main Street, Lillington, NC 27546, based on contemporary listings.

 

 

Midway Cycle continued operations for decades but closed its retail store in 2022.

 

 

[docc]

Not sure if these folks had anything o do with the dealership in Lillington . . .

The only two names I remember from the Moto Guzzi operation in North Carolina is Dave Blue and Shelby  ______________ (?) . . .

[edit: brain kicked on (or was it the coffee?)  . . . Shelby Kinnard. ]

[SierraTango]

9 hours ago, footgoose said:

I asked Grok: 

tell what you know about the Ducati motorcycle shop in Lillington, NC in 1989

 

Midway Cycle was a motorcycle dealership located in Lillington, North Carolina, that operated as a dealer for Italian brands including Ducati in 1989.

 

 

The shop was owned by Eric and Emily Phillippe and specialized in brands like Ducati and Moto Guzzi, with mechanics on staff handling service and repairs for those motorcycles during that era.

 

 

It hosted community events such as open houses that drew large crowds of Italian motorcycle enthusiasts, and evidence from the time includes sales of new bikes and showroom photos dated around 1989.

 

 

By 1991, the owners expanded their involvement by acquiring U.S. distribution rights for Moto Guzzi, establishing Guzzi America headquartered in Lillington.

 

 

The dealership's address during this period appears to have been 1004 Main Street, Lillington, NC 27546, based on contemporary listings.

 

 

Midway Cycle continued operations for decades but closed its retail store in 2022.

 

 

Thank you so much for this! It's all coming back to me now. I remember wanting to go to some of the events, but couldn't get away on weekends due to being in the boat business. Eric was very helpful on my Bevel and since I lived out on the coast, I would wait for the bike while he was working on it. The great thing was they were very happy to demo bikes and I got to ride a lot of cool bikes while I waited. 

[footgoose]

35 minutes ago, SierraTango said:

Thank you so much for this!

My pleasure. I'm fascinated by ai as a search tool. This is as much fun for me as it is you. 

So --- Can you recall any other names of those associated with Midway Cycle during that time? 1980's - 1990's?

 

From the available historical records on Moto Guzzi's U.S. distribution and dealership operations, several other individuals were associated with Midway Cycle in Lillington, NC, during the 1980s and 1990s, primarily through its expansion into national distribution via Moto Guzzi America (also referred to as Guzzi America or Moto America), which was headquartered there starting in 1991. These connections stemmed from partnerships, former roles in Moto Guzzi's prior North American operations, and direct involvement in sales, imports, and events at the shop.Key associates include:

• Fran Contaldi, who served as president and general manager of Moto Guzzi America after being the former general manager of Moto Guzzi North America; he was a one-third owner and partner in the distribution company alongside the Phillippes, handling imports and operations tied to Midway Cycle.
•  

  Mark Macek (sometimes spelled Mecek in records), a former national warranty manager and employee at Moto Guzzi North America; he was also a one-third owner and partner in Moto Guzzi America, involved in the 1991 buy-out of U.S. distribution rights and the company's relocation to Lillington, where it integrated with Midway Cycle's activities.

  • Donna Contaldi, associated with Moto Guzzi America through its operations in Lillington; she was involved in the company's move from Baltimore and owned a 1990 Moto Guzzi Mille GT, indicating a personal and operational tie to the import and dealership side connected to Midway.
     

     

    

  Other figures had looser but relevant associations during this period, such as through bike development or corporate transitions that impacted Midway's role as a key Ducati and Guzzi hub:

  • Dr. John Wittner, a builder linked to the Daytona 1000 model distributed via Moto Guzzi America in the early 1990s.
     

     

    
  • Doug Brauneck, a rider involved with the Daytona 1000 racer during the same era.
     

     

    
  • Alejandro De Tomaso, the Italian owner of Moto Guzzi who sold the U.S. distribution rights and inventory to the group including the Phillippes in 1991, enabling Midway's expansion.
     

     

    
  • George Garbutt, executive vice president of Maserati Automobiles (tied to De Tomaso), who commented on the distribution separation affecting U.S. operations.
  •  

     

    
    No additional line-level employees or mechanics from Midway Cycle itself are named in the period-specific records, though the shop's open houses and service work in the 1990s involved the core group above.

     

     

    

   

[docc]

31 minutes ago, footgoose said:

My pleasure. I'm fascinated by ai as a search tool. This is as much fun for me as it is you. 

• •  

     

    

   

Don't quit now, buddy . . .

[SierraTango]

Fran Contaldi was the "Sales Guy" I was referring to in my original post. I met Donna a couple of times, and IIRC it was her Mille that I got to demo. I never did meet Dr. John, however the image of the Daytona on the showroom floor is burned in my brain. Fun times-I wonder where they are now.

I bought a CX100 from a private party and Midway serviced it, I later sold it to fund a 1979 Moto Morini 3 1/2 Sport that I had shipped from Ohio. After that I sold the Morini to fund the purchase of a new 1999 Laverda 750S full faring. I hit a deer on that bike.

Enough about me. Thanks again for refreshing my memories!

 

[Pandamonium]

3 1/2 morini 🤤🤤 would love to have one in garage, i did have its last incarnation, a 350 Dart which looked like a baby paso, and its much larger brother a 9 1/2, which was a 1200 and not a 950

[SierraTango]

1 hour ago, Pandamonium said:

3 1/2 morini 🤤🤤 would love to have one in garage, i did have its last incarnation, a 350 Dart which looked like a baby paso, and its much larger brother a 9 1/2, which was a 1200 and not a 950

The MM 3 1/2 was one of my favorite bikes ever! Not many in the US. There was a guy that had a earlier Spoke Wheel/Drum Brake around LA I wanted one for a long time.

There was one place in the US called Herndon Motors, I called for any bikes for sale, the owner gave me the number for a guy in Ohio that had one, but a later disc/alloy wheel model. We struck a deal, he mentioned he had some spares he would include. When the bike arrived by transporter, the driver pulled it out and it was near mint. He also complained he wasn't a moving company and proceeded to off load big boxes, including a full factory faring and 2 into 1 exhaust system.

When I went to title the bike in NC, they didn't have MM in their system. Took a while but got it titled. I rode it in the stock trim you see in the picture, then sourced a tank and side panels from North Leicester Motors in the UK. My painter painted the new tank, panels and fairing and I installed the 2into1 exhaust. That way I could bring it back to original configuration in about 2 hours. Wish I had kept photos it was beautiful!

[Pandamonium]

Would love to have seen images of that, sounds really interesting. Both my morinis came from North Leicester. Stuart retired a few yrs back and his son took over and rebranded as Lusso Veloce

[docc]

16 minutes ago, Pandamonium said:

Would love to have seen images of that, sounds really interesting. Both my morinis came from North Leicester. Stuart retired a few yrs back and his son took over and rebranded as Lusso Veloce

My Italian is not so good, but doesn't that translate "Fast & Lusty ?"

Reminds me of a girl I dated in college . . .

[motortouring]

On 9/1/2025 at 11:10 PM, docc said:

My Italian is not so good, but doesn't that translate "Fast & Lusty ?"

Reminds me of a girl I dated in college . . .

Yeah, we all have that dreams when we get older...😂

Edited September 4 by motortouring
Dutch spellingchecker

[swooshdave]

Somewhere I have pictures from the Lillington location. The kind of pictures you can hold in your hand. I need to look for them.

And met Dave Blue at an Oregon Guuzi event a few years ago. Which cements NC and OR as the centers of the universe. True fact. 

[SierraTango]

What happened to the Moto Guzzi America group in Lillington and Angier NC? Did it dissolve after the Aprilla take over?

I lost track of the group when I moved back to LA from NC. Since I was a long time customer of Pro Italia (since it started in the 80's) I went back there. I purchased a beautiful Jackal from them. It was done for a magazine article. Mostly it was improved with a dual front brake system, a lightened flywheel and a custom paint job. It was a fabulous bike.