Moto Guzzi's renovated Lake Como headquarters welcomes a pilgrimage of motorcycle-bound aficionados

MANDELLO DEL LARIO, Italy (AP) — After extensive renovation by the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi, aficionados this year had fresh reasons for a pilgrimage to the lakeside spot where their beloved two-cylinder bikes are hand-built.

Thousands of Moto Guzzi riders pulled up Saturday for an annual gathering and informal ride along the winding lakeside roads. They started arriving on Thursday for the unveiling of the headquarters, new museum and expanded factory on the shores of northern Italy’s Lake Como.

The headquarters, nestled between a mountainside and the lakeshore, received an additional 5,500 square meters (nearly 60,000 square feet) for factory space and the museum that honors the iconic brand that has been owned by Vespa-maker Piaggio since 2004. Works took five years and cost more than 50 million euros ($58 million).

Timothy Bennett, who lives in the U.S. state of Georgia, was making his second trip to the headquarters after attending a toned-down 100th anniversary celebration during the pandemic. His first Moto Guzzi — made distinctive by its dual cylinders projecting from either side of the bike — was an 850-T, and now he owns a 2018 California 1400 Touring.

“I’ve owned a Moto Guzzi since my 20s,” said Bennett, 58. “The first time I saw one in a magazine, I thought it looked very interesting. And then I went ahead and saved up some money and bought a used one, and fell in love.”

This year, Bennett and other visitors to the World Guzzi Days could peek through new observation points to see workers hand-assembling the motorcycles, just as they have for 105 years. The company prides itself on its processes.

“Moto Guzzi is handmade, it is an artisanal product, it’s a piece of art,” said Matteo Boddi, head of manufacturing for the Piaggio Group. “And we never substitute automation for this core part. Automation is for safety and for sustainability.”

The new factory includes the addition of an automation belt to move parts and engines through the factories and robotics to transport the finished motorcycles for their final test. The factory expansion potentially doubles the maximum production to 30,000 motorcycles a year.

“We tried to make an accessible place both for passionate motorcyclists and people who are just curious about motorcycles being made in Italy, on Lake Como, and may never even have heard of Moto Guzzi before,” said U.S. architect Greg Lynn.

Celebrity spottings and weddings have long been a pastime at Lake Como, known for its majestic views of the Alps. The lake is featured in the James Bond film Casino Royale, and George Clooney owns a villa on its shore. But that glitz isn't why the Moto Guzzi fans turn out in droves.

Roland Rampnoux has been visiting the factory regularly since 1980, and belongs to a 150-strong Moto Guzzi club in Paris. He was impressed by the factory, but his interest was mostly in the bikes and the camaraderie.

“I like the mentality of the people who ride them,” Rampnoux said. “When you see a Moto Guzzi it is immediately recognizable. It is a legendary brand.”

Guzzi bikers run during the Grand Parade along the route from Lecco to Mandello del Lario on Lake Como, part of the Moto Guzzi World Days 2026, as the maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Lecco, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A vintage Moto Guzzi motorcycle is displayed during the Moto Guzzi opening inaugurating its completely redeveloped historic factory and new museum as the motorcycle maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Mandello del Lario, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Guzzi bikers run during the Grand Parade along the route from Lecco to Mandello del Lario on Lake Como, part of the Moto Guzzi World Days 2026, as the maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Lecco, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Guzzi bikers run during the Grand Parade along the route from Lecco to Mandello del Lario on Lake Como, part of the Moto Guzzi World Days 2026, as the maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Lecco, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Guzzi bikers run during the Grand Parade in Mandello del Lario on Lake Como, part of the Moto Guzzi World Days 2026, as the maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Lecco, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Guzzi bikers run during the Grand Parade along the route from Lecco to Mandello del Lario on Lake Como, part of the Moto Guzzi World Days 2026, as the maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Lecco, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Guzzi bikers run during the Grand Parade in Mandello del Lario on Lake Como, part of the Moto Guzzi World Days 2026, as the maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Lecco, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

An overview of the Guzzi factory, during the opening inaugurating its completely redeveloped historic factory and new museum as the motorcycle maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Mandello del Lario, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Niccolo' Lupone)

Riders and visitors wait in line during the Moto Guzzi opening inaugurating its completely redeveloped historic factory and new museum as the motorcycle maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Mandello del Lario, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Visitors look at the Moto Guzzi motorcycle engines on display at the museum during the Moto Guzzio pening inaugurating its completely redeveloped historic factory and new museum as the motorcycle maker celebrates its 105th anniversary, in Mandello del Lario, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Tass news agency Saturday.

“Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today,” Peskov said. He said the decision was tied to preparations for U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to visit Kyiv for peace talks.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday to try to revive a stalled push to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian state news outlets reported.

The visit came as both sides escalated their aerial attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would halt airstrikes during the envoys' trip and urged Moscow to do the same. Moscow did not publicly respond to the proposal.

Washington’s push to end the fighting, now in its fifth year, has lost momentum as U.S. attention has been focused for the last six months on its war with Iran.

The envoys were met at the airport by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s state news agency Tass said. Dmitriev shared photos of him meeting the U.S. delegation as they disembarked, alongside the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers.”

The last known visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was in January, when they met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. They have never visited Kyiv, but Zelenskyy said he was expecting them in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday.

With peace efforts stalled, Russia intensified its attacks on Kyiv and other cities with relentless bombardments recently stretching into daylight hours, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of air defensive systems.

On Friday, a Russian drone hit one of the most important government buildings in Kyiv — the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, which is one of the agencies involved in carrying out deep-strike operations inside Russia.

The long-range strikes by Ukraine have hit Russian military facilities, oil refineries and e-commerce hubs, seeking to undermine the Kremlin’s war effort and economy, as well as make ordinary citizens feel the consequences of the war.

The air war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as troops have struggled to make progress along the 1,250-kilometer (775-mile) front line. Russia has recently been using fast-flying, jet-powered drones, and the recurring wail of air-raid sirens has become part of daily life in Kyiv.

In a social media post on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that Russia had carried out overnight strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil international airports, and linked the attack to the planned U.S. visit.

“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” he said.

“We have taken note of this Russian move, and next week we will adjust our operation accordingly regarding Russian airspace, which has become dangerous because of our drones and missiles in the sky. Of course, there are and will be no threats to diplomacy from our side.”

Russian attacks killed five people and wounded five more at an industrial facility in Ukraine’s southern Dnipropetrovsk region, local military administration head Oleksandr Hanzha said. He described those killed as employees at the site. “A locksmith, an electrician, a plumber and a machinist. People of peaceful professions. They were simply working their shift. They were doing their job when enemy missiles cut off their lives,” he said.

A 62-year-old man was wounded and several homes and an apartment building were damaged in a separate attack on the region’s Nikopol district, Hanzha said.

In a statement Saturday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had carried out strikes on two metallurgical plants in the region, describing them as “major suppliers of metal products for Ukraine’s military production.”

A further two people were wounded in an overnight Russian attack on Ukraine’s Kyiv region, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration. In the Boryspil district, a fire sparked by a strike partially destroyed a nine-story residential building.

Russian forces also repeatedly struck a shopping center in the southern Mykolaiv region with drones overnight, damaging retail premises and sparking fires, Ukraine’s state emergency services said. A 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were hurt.

Emergency crews responding to the incident were repeatedly forced to withdraw to safety because of the threat of further strikes, returning whenever conditions allowed, the emergency services said.

Russia launched ballistic missiles from its Rostov and Voronezh regions and deployed 167 attack drones overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. The drones included Shahed-type aircraft — around half of them jet-powered — as well as Geran and decoy drones. Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed 128 drones, according to the air force.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian attacks wounded three people, including a 14-year-old girl, in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, local officials said.

In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces had shot down 53 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A local resident wears a gas mask as he rides a bicycle past a partially destroyed warehouse after a Russian drone attack in Brovary on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)