After about an 8-year hiatus, Hello Folks, from lovely Minneapolis! (Hello "fotoguzzi" Brad, and "JU" John Ulrich! John, I still read your MN chapter newsletters each month.) I'm back in the flock, and I'd like to introduce you to Sophia, my red 2016 V7II Stone. (Just before the purchase, I showed a photo to a Beemer-riding friend at work, and his first words were, "Sophia Loren, a beautiful Italian redhead." I couldn't agree more. Sophia it is.) First day photo-
Sofia Villani Scicolone Ponti (Sophia Loren)-
I actually brought her home in late August from Mill City Motorcycles (a.k.a. Scooterville) in Minneapolis,
http://www.millcitymotorcycles.com/ Shop owner Bob Hedstrom and his staff (Jonathan, Megan, Coleman, and Jason) have been wonderful with me over the past couple months, from the bike purchase to the first service, to parts and accessories. They are an easy going bunch who seem dedicated to make the customer feel at home and welcome to come in at any time. They've got my business.
Sophia's "outfit". Thanks to off-line conversations with Kev M, she went through the late summer sporting a Dart Marlin bikini... shield (photo above). Rock solid and looks perfect, with a nice, clean airflow. But once the temps started to dip, I needed more wind protection, so I installed a Givi A31 Universal windshield, which I am very happy with. Again, rock solid, it cleanly brings the air up to my shoulders/neck (instead of mid-torso as the Marlin did) and around my body, and the universal mounting kit is somewhat adjustable for the angle as needed. The modest hand flares at the bottom of the shield are surprisingly effective in the chilly autumn temps.
And thanks to off-line conversations with MGPilot I've installed the H&B C-Bow luggage mounts, and used the C-Bow Plastic Mold Mounts
http://www.motomachines.com/C-BOW-Plastic-Mold-Mount_p_1546.html to mount Mutazu GA hard boxes to her,
http://www.mutazu.com/products.php?cat_id=7&menu=Hard%20Saddlebags&product_id=434&s=prod.php The boxes look nice in matte black and are size appropriate to the bike, but I am not impressed with these Mutazu boxes. "Budget" sums up the quality nicely. They cannot hold a candle to H&B or Givi cases for build quality, but Givi does not have a hard case option for the V7 bikes and H&B Juniors were not in the budget. When, not if, these Mutazu cases fail me, I'll go back to the first case I originally considered, the Seahorse 520 or 540, mounted to the C-Bow system.
http://seahorse.net/index.php?route=product/productall I only need a hard case that is sweatshirt size, nothing big at all. Soft cases don't interest me. I have a Yamaha FJR for heavy, long distance hauling.
The seat. The stock seat was miserable (top photo). One week and 190 miles after purchase, the seat found its way to a local upholsterer, Nate Van Hofwegen
http://www.vinyl-lux.com/home/ I determined the stock seat had an effective surface contact width of about 9 inches. Nate got it reshaped and widened out to a surface width of 13+ inches, much better than stock (and about as wide as the narrow seat pan could handle). We picked vinyl colors to compliment the bike and I told him to use his artistic eye to develop a pattern. Oh, the "espresso brown" (not represented well in the photos, looks more coffee brown in person) and black vinyls, with light tan thread, compliment the red and black of the bike wonderfully, the seat is functional and beautiful. A couple hundred miles in a day works fine now, rather than 30 miles with pain from the stock seat. C-Bow racks are viewed in these two shots, too.
And the mirrors. What was Guzzi thinking? The stock mirrors (top photo) are great if all you want to see are your armpits. I replaced the mirrors with units from AF1, their stock numbers 858539 and 896663, 140mm stalks, and now I can see behind me. (Shown in 2nd photo.) Stock Aprilia mirrors, may have been used on the Guzzi 1200 Sport(?). Very solid, a clear view at speed.
http://www.af1racing.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=6254Still to come- when/if Guzzi gets a center stand on the market that fits the altered frame design of the "II" bikes (the pre-II center stand will not fit the II bikes, we tried...), that will be installed to aid in valve adjustments. And over the winter I'll likely replace the rear shocks as well... ugh.
After the 2007 sale of my previous '04 Cali EV, I had 4 great years on an '07 VStrom 650, then traded that for my long sought-after '10 Yamaha FJR, which I still own. The FJR and the V7II Stone are such complimentary motorcycles. I enjoy toggling between the two of them, they are near polar opposites in all ways and each makes me appreciate and enjoy the other. But the Guzzi virus has been with me all these years. I knew I'd eventually come back.
Steve T.
