Here's my contribution about a 1978 Moto Guzzi V50.

A few years ago, I owned a '95 1100 Sport (still do) and a BMW R65LS. I

really wanted an R100RS, but good ones were out of my price range. So I got

a 1983 R65LS from a local BMW dealer, and it had some goodies on it already:

Luftmeister 2-1 exhaust, Telefix fork brace, Raask rear sets, stepped seat,

I owned this Beemer for about a year, and the only thing I had to do to it

was replace a burned out tail light bulb. But riding that bike was about as

exciting as riding a sewing machine. It had absolutely no character at all,

and didn't do a thing for me compared to riding my Guzzi 1100 Sport. I

eventually sold the R65LS to a co-worker, and set about looking for another

Guzzi. I originally wanted a V50 Monza, but they were few and far between at

the time. I remembered seeing a For Sale ad for a V50 on the bulletin board

of the Guzzi dealer in Santa Barbara, and set about getting more info and

maybe taking a trip to go look at it.

I called the owner, and found out the V50 he had was a 1978 with only 4200

miles on it, that he was the second owner, and couldn't ride the bike anymore

because of a medical condition. He owned the bike for about six months, and

put less than 100 miles on it the whole time. I did some research on the

V50's, using mainly Mick Walker's books on Guzzi's, and decided it was worth a

try. The 1978 model was a good year to get because of the electronic

ignition and cast iron brake rotors, and the fact that the 78's were made at

the Guzzi factory in Mandello, where the later models were made at the

Lambretta scooter factory.

Long story short, I bought the bike, and it made a nice addition to my 1100

Sport. The linked brakes took some getting used to, and after toying with

the idea of de-linking the brakes, I decided to leave them alone, since it

was kind of cool to engage the foot brake and have one of the front discs

and the back disc engage at the same time. The bike kind of squats evenly

under braking, instead of having the front end dive that's so common with

non-linked dual disc front end bikes.

I've put another 4600 miles on the bike, and have done a lot of things to

this V50 while I've owned it. I've replaced the battery, new Progressive

Suspension rear shocks, new front fork cartridges and dust caps, Uni foam

filters, Avon Roadrunner tires and tubes, billet aluminum head guards, front

crash bars and steering dampener, Busso mufflers, Hella horn, standard-size

dual-neck fuel banjos and lines, rear drive boot, etc. Mark at Moto Guzzi

Classics recently put in new rings, piston, and cylinder on the right side,

and strongly suggested that I keep this bike due to the fact that a Guzzi

small block in this condition is pretty rare in this country.

The riding impressions of this bike are that it's a blast in the really tight

twisties around here, but loses steam on the freeway. It's pretty revvy for

a Guzzi, and at 340 lbs dry weight you can toss it around pretty easily.

There's a good amount of intake noise from the Uni filters, which are right

under the front part of the seat, and the Busso mufflers make for some deep,

yet muted exhaust tones from the back. The linked disc brake system took

some getting used to, especially if one is used to the two-finger approach

with modern dual-disc front ends, but once I got used to it, I actually liked

it, and would use the hand brake lever for additional stopping power only.

If you've never ridden a Guzzi small block, you're in for a treat. My V50 is

nothing like my 1100 Sport or '74 Eldo LAPD, and is a terrific ride in its

own right. It doesn't have the brute acceleration of my Sport, or the heft

and comfort of my Eldo, but for rides on the really twisty canyon roads

around here, my V50 is the first one that I would roll out of my garage!

Robert Brooks

Fillmore, CA

'95 1100 Sport

'74 Eldo LAPD

'78 V50