Fangit1

A 1.2 hp increase in the latest update! Woohoo! Come on Guzzi, 50hp (lucky to be 40 at the back wheel) is just ridiculous in this day and age from a 750 twin. I say this as a former 1100 sport and 1967 V7 owner!

I haven't ridden one, and I'm sure it goes a lot better than the hp figures would suggest but it would surely be one of the most sluggish rides out there.

At least the Ducati retro classics have some reasonable level of performance. Even based on the performance of the Guzzi 1200 engines the 750 should be putting out at least 60hp at the back wheel.

I want to love these bikes but the admittedly enticing retro styling of the V7s is just not enough. The whole point of a modern retro classic is to have the old styling and looks but with more modern performance and reliability. Maybe people buy these things and just park them up in their garage to look at. In that case, I'd personally rather have an original V7.

sarnali2

I'm not knocking the More is Better philosophy, however I will state I've had a lot of fun on reletivly low horsepower bikes. As always the key is weight and a claimed 395 lbs dry (+5.8 gallons of gas@38lbs+4 qts of oil@7.5 lbs) still gives us an approximate wet weight of 440 lbs +/-, Not really too bad considering how porky bikes are getting these days.

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Kevin_Duke

Okay, here's the deal. The upgraded V7s tested in this article won't hit America until Q4 this year as 2013 models; MSRPs yet to be determined.

All fuel tanks will be made out of metal.

North American dealers will be selling the endurance-racer fairing kit at a tba MSRP.

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"The trouble with the world is that the Stupid are c0cksure and the Intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell

seruzawa

Fergit it Bruh. In this day and age you have to have 150 jillion HP or you just ain't cool.

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Duken4evr

Old Guzzis are pretty easy to restore. They have electrical foibiles (Italian after all) but they are mechanically strong and simple bikes. A buddy of mine has 2 early 70s Eldorados. Cool sounding bikes and fun to just cruise around on. They have no power and the drum brakes are scary, but they are cool!

These bring that to us in modern form with working brakes and electrical, and the same stout understressed mechanical heart Guzzis have always had. I could see having one as a 2nd bike just for fun. Oh to win the Lotto...

The_AirHawk

A friend of mine just bought yet ANOTHER LeMans: He originally bought two "project bikes" (a couple of years-ago) - one a runner, one a pusher. The runner suddenly became a pusher, and he couldn't figure-out WTF was wrong (he had nearly zero moto-mechix-skilzorz at the time).

I bet him I could get it running in 20-minutes or less, then used one of his business-cards to set the points. Fired-up on the 2nd kick, and he's been "hooked" on those crazy things ever-since....

There's a lot to like about them, if you don't have the pressing need to pin the throttle and annihilate the tire wilst simultaneously sending the nose skyward (and he's got a 1000RR for that, just replaced his Duc 998).

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Kevin_Duke

I dig those old Eldos!

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"The trouble with the world is that the Stupid are c0cksure and the Intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell

Duken4evr

Some pictures then. My friend has two of them. Here is the black one with sidecar. The Bob Saget looking clown on the bike is me, and the girl is my now 14 year old daughter. He still has the bike, it looks and runs the same. It was old then, and older now and the difference is indiscernible.



Trying to get artistic on this one.



He also has a seafoam green color one without sidecar that is more or less his daily driver. No pics of that bike, but have ridden it many times. A 90 degree twin, in whatever state of tune and however mounted in the frame, always sounds good. The Guzzi is no exception.

My buddy restored them for awhile. One thing I recall from that is the old Guzzis have a centrifugal oil filtration scheme which collects the "stuff" inside the crank. Long years go by, the stuff hardens and sits there harmlessly, until you put some modern high detergent oil in them, then it breaks loose and trashes the crank bearings. We learned that some VW (I think) shells would fit with minimal adaptation. He did a nice little business fixing up cranks and updating in general on these old bikes, making them solid reliable runners. Also told a lot of people not to run a long sitting Guzzi until checking and cleaning out the "trap" in the crank.

It is good to have friends that are way cooler than I. For sure I would never figure this stuff out on my own

Buzglyd

I'll be looking for you on reruns of Americas Funniest Home Videos!

The_AirHawk

Oh! That is info I will deffo pass-along to Justin!

Thanks!


BTW: You just got yourself into the "way cooler than I" category by passing-along that little tidbit.....

__________________
Parfois, on fait pas semblant
Sometimes, it's not pretend
Oderint Dum Metuant
Let them hate so long as they fear
политики предпочитают безоружных крестьян
Politicians Prefer Unarmed Peasants
Nothing to see here, Citizen. Move along now...