Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 30,006
- Display Name
Display name:
iFlyNothing
Almost 15 years ago I bought a t-shirt.
I was still a pretty new motorcyclist at the time, but knew I liked Moto Guzzis. I loved the style, the engine was very appealing to me, especially because of their odd longitudinally mounted setup in a motorcycle. While hauling cars around the country (how I earned money during college) I stopped at a Moto Guzzi shop outside of St. Louis to chat with them, sit on a few, and hear one run. I was especially interested in the California at the time, since at that point I was more looking for a motorcycle I could ride on a longer trip. I told them "Well I'm not going to buy a motorcycle today, but I will buy a t-shirt." I loved the engine sound of the Guzzi, and I've always loved the longitudinally mounted V-twin engine setup. Practical? No, not really. But it's very cool and unique.
Years have passed, I've gone in and out of various motorcycles (predominantly Jap bikes) that fit my wants and needs at the time. And, of course, my Harley that I love and is a "forever" bike, but I've been casually searching for a fun motorcycle off and on now that we're getting back into riding more. And I've always wanted a Guzzi. I've gone around in circles over the years for which one I wanted. I knew I'd own one eventually, but it would be when the "right" one showed up. Which one that was, I didn't know, but I knew I'd know it when I saw it.
And then on Saturday I saw a listing on Facebook marketplace for an absolutely gorgeous 2013 Moto Guzzi V7 Racer. Still low miles, looked brand new. I showed it to my wife. She said "Do you want it?" "Kinda." (understatement) "Your birthday's next month, you should buy it." So we went to check it out, and I took it for a test ride. Sold.
The V7 is the Guzzi series of 750cc V-twin motorcycles. They offer a bunch of different variants, but the racer is intended to look like a cafe racer from the 50s or 60s. I personally think they got the styling perfect. The chrome tank has leather straps on it (which serve no purpose other than to look cool).
The chrome exhaust that's discolored from heat in some areas is likely going to crack some day, but for now, it's beautiful to look at. The colors are perfect. The previous owner had removed the factory race plastics and put on the small windshield, which does block more air. I reverted it to stock:
Which I like better. Yes, it's windier, but I like having the completely unobstructed forward view and I think the plastics help complete the look they were going for. Easy enough to remove, though.
The engine. Well of course, I'm an engine guy. It's a 750 and it is not a fast motorcycle. In fact, it's the lowest horsepower motorcycle I've ever owned (although not the slowest). However it is just fun. The engine is torquey at any RPM being a V-twin that makes peak HP around 6,200 (and is happiest in the 4-6k range, like most non-American V-twins). It has a beautiful Italian sound to it. It never feels underpowered and will happily exceed the speed limit without feeling unstable or strained, but certainly the most comfortable speeds for it are under 60. It's a great bike to just leisurely enjoy backroads. All the styling of a vintage cafe racer, but with fuel injection and electronic ignition. At only 420 lbs or so wet, it is very light and tossable. Interestingly, the V11 racer I think doesn't look as good, and weighs about 60 lbs more. That's a noticeable amount.
Surprisingly, the air cooled cylinders I don't find cook my legs much. They don't seem to get too hot and I've found lots of water cooled bikes that make more heat. But, it's not a high output engine, so that's probably a lot of it.
Modifications? Yes, I will be doing some, and I need to think about those more. The exhaust is too quiet. At speed you can barely hear the engine over the wind noise while riding, and even then only at full throttle. So it needs something to replace the slip-ons. They make a big bore kit that pushes it out to 820ccs and adds high compression pistons. That's intriguing and I think would improve the bike, but I'm going to ride it a bit more and figure out what I want to do with the exhaust first. Not like I'm trying to win any races with this, I just want to enjoy it. And it is very enjoyable.
I was still a pretty new motorcyclist at the time, but knew I liked Moto Guzzis. I loved the style, the engine was very appealing to me, especially because of their odd longitudinally mounted setup in a motorcycle. While hauling cars around the country (how I earned money during college) I stopped at a Moto Guzzi shop outside of St. Louis to chat with them, sit on a few, and hear one run. I was especially interested in the California at the time, since at that point I was more looking for a motorcycle I could ride on a longer trip. I told them "Well I'm not going to buy a motorcycle today, but I will buy a t-shirt." I loved the engine sound of the Guzzi, and I've always loved the longitudinally mounted V-twin engine setup. Practical? No, not really. But it's very cool and unique.
Years have passed, I've gone in and out of various motorcycles (predominantly Jap bikes) that fit my wants and needs at the time. And, of course, my Harley that I love and is a "forever" bike, but I've been casually searching for a fun motorcycle off and on now that we're getting back into riding more. And I've always wanted a Guzzi. I've gone around in circles over the years for which one I wanted. I knew I'd own one eventually, but it would be when the "right" one showed up. Which one that was, I didn't know, but I knew I'd know it when I saw it.
And then on Saturday I saw a listing on Facebook marketplace for an absolutely gorgeous 2013 Moto Guzzi V7 Racer. Still low miles, looked brand new. I showed it to my wife. She said "Do you want it?" "Kinda." (understatement) "Your birthday's next month, you should buy it." So we went to check it out, and I took it for a test ride. Sold.
The V7 is the Guzzi series of 750cc V-twin motorcycles. They offer a bunch of different variants, but the racer is intended to look like a cafe racer from the 50s or 60s. I personally think they got the styling perfect. The chrome tank has leather straps on it (which serve no purpose other than to look cool).
The chrome exhaust that's discolored from heat in some areas is likely going to crack some day, but for now, it's beautiful to look at. The colors are perfect. The previous owner had removed the factory race plastics and put on the small windshield, which does block more air. I reverted it to stock:
Which I like better. Yes, it's windier, but I like having the completely unobstructed forward view and I think the plastics help complete the look they were going for. Easy enough to remove, though.
The engine. Well of course, I'm an engine guy. It's a 750 and it is not a fast motorcycle. In fact, it's the lowest horsepower motorcycle I've ever owned (although not the slowest). However it is just fun. The engine is torquey at any RPM being a V-twin that makes peak HP around 6,200 (and is happiest in the 4-6k range, like most non-American V-twins). It has a beautiful Italian sound to it. It never feels underpowered and will happily exceed the speed limit without feeling unstable or strained, but certainly the most comfortable speeds for it are under 60. It's a great bike to just leisurely enjoy backroads. All the styling of a vintage cafe racer, but with fuel injection and electronic ignition. At only 420 lbs or so wet, it is very light and tossable. Interestingly, the V11 racer I think doesn't look as good, and weighs about 60 lbs more. That's a noticeable amount.
Surprisingly, the air cooled cylinders I don't find cook my legs much. They don't seem to get too hot and I've found lots of water cooled bikes that make more heat. But, it's not a high output engine, so that's probably a lot of it.
Modifications? Yes, I will be doing some, and I need to think about those more. The exhaust is too quiet. At speed you can barely hear the engine over the wind noise while riding, and even then only at full throttle. So it needs something to replace the slip-ons. They make a big bore kit that pushes it out to 820ccs and adds high compression pistons. That's intriguing and I think would improve the bike, but I'm going to ride it a bit more and figure out what I want to do with the exhaust first. Not like I'm trying to win any races with this, I just want to enjoy it. And it is very enjoyable.
