Author Topic: Motto Guzzi V7  (Read 6576 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Blue Ridge Wheeltor

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,309
  • Karma: 0
Reply #15 on: October 30, 2009, 02:42:58 pm
Good grief- they're 2 entirely different bikes.
If you're only considering (retro) looks- maybe not.
If you're a serious rider, then yes.  Definitely.

I am not debating whether or not it is a better bike, but rather if it is $2100 better.
REA #25
2008 Royal Enfield Deluxe (Blue)
2006 Ural Patrol
1978 BMW R 100s--SOLD--
1977 HD XLCR
1971 Triumph Bonneville


ace.cafe

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,457
  • Karma: 1
  • World leaders in performance/racing Bullets
Reply #16 on: October 30, 2009, 02:46:10 pm
I think the V7 would be better suited to 2-up long distance touring with luggage and stuff..

I think the C5 was a much better job of retro styling.
The V7 retro styling looks to be a half-hearted effort, at best.

IMO, Guzzi should make an exact duplicate of the old 1976 LeMans 1 model, as faithful as they can do. Oval barrels and heads on it too.
Put new electronics behind the old-style gauges and covers, and EFI to pass emission requirements, and give us a real classic that meets modern expectations.
That's a bike I could buy.
That's actually the bike that made their name. I can't for the life of me understand why they keep making odd variants that they name after it, but don't just make the real thing.
People don't buy Guzzi bikes to beat Japanese bikes on the racetrack. They buy them for their looks and feel and heritage. It doesn't have to be fast. It just has to look exactly like the old LeMans 1, and have improved reliability and meet Euro 3.
If I owned Moto Guzzi, that's the first project that I'd do.
It would sell like hot cakes.

The next one that I'd do would be an exact replica of the El Dorado, done the same way, with modern electronics and EFI hidden behind the old style bodywork.
That one was popular with the "bagger crowd" and would fill the retro touring market very well. Even though I personally actually prefer the 850-T3 for that, I think the El Dorado is more popular overall.
That's all they'd have to do.
Those 2 bikes, real "modernized in a hidden way" duplicates of the LeMans 1 and the El Dorado, would out-sell everything else they make now.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2009, 03:24:36 pm by ace.cafe »
Home of the Fireball 535 !


t120rbullet

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,967
  • Karma: 0
Reply #17 on: October 30, 2009, 03:51:23 pm

Br. CJ, having sat on the V7 I can tell you that it's not any smaller than a Bullet.  In fact and since the gas tank is longer and the seat is higher on the V7, it feels roomier than a Bullet.  I think that if you fit on a Bullet you should fit on a V7... you can't go by me because, remember, I used to 5'9" on a good day; now that I'm 62 years young, who knows?!  ;)

It's the leg room that gets me. With a bum knee I need every place I can get to stretch out my leg. I have a "highway peg" on the Bullet that fulfills that goal very well.
The Guzzi has a cylinder there.

At 6'1" I have been told I look like a chimp on a tricycle when I ride the Bullet. It fits me just fine though.

Now if I could design my own bike I'd have a carbed C5 engine in an old Bullet frame with G5 wheels on it.




1972 FLH "Sambo"
1999 Enfield 500 Black Deluxe "Silver"
2023 Guzzi V7 Special "BOB"


Cabo Cruz

  • Papa Juan
  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,331
  • Karma: 0
Reply #18 on: October 30, 2009, 04:32:46 pm
From t120rbullet:

"It's the leg room that gets me. With a bum knee I need every place I can get to stretch out my leg. I have a "highway peg" on the Bullet that fulfills that goal very well.  The Guzzi has a cylinder there."
  I understand, now, Br. CJ.

"At 6'1" I have been told I look like a chimp on a tricycle when I ride the Bullet. It fits me just fine though."  :D

"Now if I could design my own bike I'd have a carbed C5 engine in an old Bullet frame with G5 wheels on it."  Hey, brother, how did you get a hold of my very short list for the next motorcycle?  ;)

Long live the Bullets and those who ride them!

Keep the shiny side up, the boots on the pegs and best REgards,

Papa Juan

REA:    Member No. 119
BIKE:   2004 Royal Enfield Sixty-5
NAME: Perla