Breva 750?

[zebraranger]

I'm currently looking for my 2nd Guzzi. My first is a 2016 Griso, I think I've got the bug. I've run across a deal on an 05 Breva 750 that I'm going to go take a look at tomorrow. From the pics, it looks to be in excellent condition and garaged kept. It has 12,000 miles on the OD and comes with full luggage. I don't know a lot about the small blocks or the Breva in general. I was hoping that others here who do will chime in and give me a heads up as to what I need to keep an eye out for when I get over there to look at it. Any other general info would also be greatly appreciated.

[sign216]

Z-Ranger,

The only issue that comes to mind is that some Breva 750s had improper hardening on the 5th gear.  Caused premature wear. 
Sometimes you could tell because the transmission would howl in 5th at highway speeds.  Loud.  However, other ones would whine in 5th and go on that way for years and years with no problems.  They were simply loud in 5th.

Like most things Guzzi, there's no definite answer.

Joe

[ohiorider]

I would ride it first.  You may find there isn't any direct correlation between your Griso and the small block B750.  It would probably be a wonderful bike (a riding buddy on mine owned one, and really pushed it down the highway.)  I rode it after owning both a 2v 1200 Sport and a Griso 8vSE, and found little that related the B750 to its larger relatives.  I personally thought it was geared far too low, and to me, it didn't exhibit the growl and punch of the big block bikes.  But sometimes, it is necessary to spend a lot of quality saddle time on a bike before it is appreciated, and that may have been my issue with the Breva.

OTOH, you may love it.  My buddy did!  He'd call me from Charleston WV to let me know he was on his way north to Hudson Ohio, all of it on I-77, and he (plus radar detector) would arrive like magic in a few hours.  He'd push the small block way beyond the posted speed limit on Interstate.

Bob

[ITSec]

I owned a 2004 Breva 750 for about 6 years and 40,000 miles. It was a pleasant and reliable little beast, handled well, not spectacularly quick, but just plain predictable and enjoyable. I did a couple of thousand-mile days on it, but mostly it was an around-town or day-ride bike. I'm 6'0" with a 32" inseam, and it was a bit cramped.

Mine had an issue with a retaining pin in the transmission that manifested itself in short order - taken care of by the dealer under warranty. Other than that and the predictable startus interruptus issue, it had only two issues. First, the springs holding up the sidestand are too weak, and the stand will gradually fall till it trips the safety switch. Deal with this by heavily lubing the stand's axis point, and perhaps by installing slightly stronger return springs if you can find them. The other annoyance was that the tail-light bulb (running/brake) would burn out frequently. I solved this by installing an LED 1157 replacement - solid-state doesn't care about vibration.

Tire choices are limited due to slightly uncommon sizing, but the ones you can get are suited to the bike - both in terms of performance limits and intended style of riding.

The bike will sit in your garage like a patient, happy puppy, waiting to be taken out.

[wyno]

I had a 2010 Breva before I got my Griso. It was a great little bike. I changed the front springs and the shocks to Ikons and added a sump spacer from Guzzi Power coz sometimes they go through a bit of oil and before you know it you're out of it. I had Hepco and Becker panniers and top box on it and when I had to change a tail light I had to undo the bolts holding the panniers and top box racks to get at the screws on the tail light. Apart from those things it was a fun machine to ride and I did 56,000km (30,000miles) on it in 2 years. The big thing I noticed when I changed from the Breva to the Griso (apart from the extra power) was how much wider the Griso handlebars were.

[hidn45]

And, like most any other Guzzi, if you don't like it the way it is, you can change it:





Have fun with it - 2 may be enough (I think it will be for me), but for others, they can never have enough...

[Tom]

You'll enjoy it.  It may become your "go to" for one up rides and in town errands.   

[zebraranger]

Thanks for all the great info, much more than I expected, love this place. I'm heading over now to take a look and a hopefully a little ride.

[Unkept]

I miss having ours. I just miss riding in general, but the Breva was such a natural bike to ride for me.

They wouldn't sell of course, but I would love to see a resurrected Breva 750 with the new drive-trains and an up-rated suspension.

[Muzz]

The only issue that comes to mind is that some Breva 750s had improper hardening on the 5th gear.  Caused premature wear. 
Sometimes you could tell because the transmission would howl in 5th at highway speeds.  Loud.  However, other ones would whine in 5th and go on that way for years and years with no problems.  They were simply loud in 5th.

Joe remembers my debacle from some 10 years ago. One of the 5th gears shed something awful in the middle of a rather long tour and cased considerable damage. Other members can correct me but to my knowledge mine was the only one to actually self destruct. It is not an inherent weakness. I think it had about 10,000 miles on it at the time. When we stripped it we found that Luigi had had a really bad day at work on Friday and had decided to REALLY throw a tanty; broken studs, shifter forks bent, transfer gears mis-aligned. The box however has always been an absolute gem to shift.   It now has about 25,000 miles on it. Having just done a 750 mile trip on it I am wondering whether that dreaded whine is coming back. I also wonder if the main shafts are actually slightly mis-aligned.

At one of the places I stopped there were three Guzzi riders off to the Bert Munro meet down south. One of them has a mate who has 280,000kms on his 750 Breva and it is still going strong. This appears to be the most common theme.

I absolutely love the bike; the one machine covers all my needs (barring off-road ).

[sign216]

Joe remembers my debacle from some 10 years ago. One of the 5th gears shed something awful in the middle of a rather long tour and cased considerable damage. Other members can correct me but to my knowledge mine was the only one to actually self destruct. It is not an inherent weakness. I think it had about 10,000 miles on it at the time. When we stripped it we found that Luigi had had a really bad day at work on Friday and had decided to REALLY throw a tanty; broken studs, shifter forks bent, transfer gears mis-aligned. The box however has always been an absolute gem to shift.   It now has about 25,000 miles on it. Having just done a 750 mile trip on it I am wondering whether that dreaded whine is coming back. I also wonder if the main shafts are actually slightly mis-aligned.

At one of the places I stopped there were three Guzzi riders off to the Bert Munro meet down south. One of them has a mate who has 280,000kms on his 750 Breva and it is still going strong. This appears to be the most common theme.

I absolutely love the bike; the one machine covers all my needs (barring off-road ).

Muzz,
I guess you're right, yours was the only one that failed.  I just recall people talking about the 5th gear whine on Yahoo groups and on Guzzitech.  Most seemed to say that the bikes racked up plenty of miles and just soldiered on regardless.  And most bikes didn't have the 5th gear whine at all, ... although as a nod to the issue, didn't Guzzi add a special lubrication channel to top gear in later 750 bikes?

[M0T0Geezer]

Here's info on mine:

2004 Moto Guzzi Breva 750cc
     Bought used:   6,059 miles on 20130304
      YEARS later: 54,846 miles on 20180216 (Trouble Free)

ENGINE #: 013437        VIN: ZGULLC0034M113331

Build Year is defined by 10th char: 3=2003, 4=2004 etc.
The 11th place is "M" (Mandello factory) for all Guzzis.
The the final 6 digits give the actual unit #

As for some of the comments above:

5th Gear:  No Problems, almost imperceptible "whine" in 5th (and other) gear(s).

Side Stand Spring: Yes it got weak. Yes the "safety" sidestand switch killed the motor in heavy traffic.         Yes, I augmented the OEM spring with two "micro" bungee cords.  Yes, Problem solved.

Startus Interruptus: Some failure to launch beginning about 40,000 miles; fixed by dealer per usual wiring upgrades.

Finally, the Breva 750 is my favorite bike of all my many, which include Honda 750, ST1100, ST1300, GL1800, more

'Geezer

[Muzz]

And most bikes didn't have the 5th gear whine at all, ... although as a nod to the issue, didn't Guzzi add a special lubrication channel to top gear in later 750 bikes?

Mine has the mod, a plastic doohickey that collects the oil spraying around and drops it on top of 5th.

It also has the later pattern non-jam pre-selector fork, even though mine is a 2003 model and the guys that had that problem had ostensibly later bikes. Incidentally, mine jammed. Pete Roper sent us over a buggered box and Steamdriven used the innards, my suspect fork (it only needed to be used once) and the case for a project and I got the pre-selector fork.

[Huzo]

And, like most any other Guzzi, if you don't like it the way it is, you can change it:





Have fun with it - 2 may be enough (I think it will be for me), but for others, they can never have enough...

Do you have any more shots of that bike ?

[sign216]

Muzz and MotoGeezer,

Thanks for the updates.  Guzzis just make you grin and shake your head.

They are wonderful, if you can overlook a little.

Joe

[Arizona Wayne]

I had a Yamaha 350 I mistakenly under filled it's tranny just before a long trip....causing the tranny to howl on that trip in 5th gear.  I rode it anyway until 5th gear started to pop out of gear and then replaced those 2 gears.

Decades later I did the same thing to my 750 Breva tranny because it's tranny takes more oil than the 5 spd. big block tranny and if you aren't really carefull it's easy to think you've put enough oil in it @ the fill hole than it really needs.     So after it started howling I noticed my  mistake and added some more oil.  Then I noticed it only howls up to a certain rpm, then quiets down.  That was thousands of miles ago.  Since I've been thru this before I'm not going to replace the worn tranny gears until it starts popping out of gear.    I keep most my bikes a long time.

[Muzz]

Here's info on mine:

2004 Moto Guzzi Breva 750cc
     ENGINE #: 013437        VIN: ZGULLC0034M113331
'Geezer

My engine number 013947

So, yours is a later model with an earlier engine number. Actually, it lines up with the "later" bikes than mine that had the selector problems all having the earlier pattern pre-selector fork fitted. For those wondering what I am talking about, the earlier fork had a tendency to retract inside the case that it sits in and refuse to come out. This meant a complete loss of gear changing ability, which could be embarrassing. Try going through the city stuck in 5th! Guzzi never admitted there was a problem and quietly changed it, the new one looking identical to the old one. They just put the rivets holding it together in a slightly different position so theoretically the fork could not disappear up its casing. The major problem this caused was that although you could get the suspect one out by following Guzzis on-line manual, it was a bit different trying to get the new one in. It won't go unless you take the entire innards out of the box. Nick Webb rewrote the manual in a very humorous manner and posted it on the "This Old Tractor" site under "Gearbox repair Breva 750. This would cover all of the smallblock 5 speeds from 2003 onwards and is probably worth bookmarking if you intend to keep your 5 speed smallblock (which I do).

Don't even get me started as to why it is called a "pre-selector" system.

[Arizona Wayne]

Here in the USA we usually don't get the 1st generation of new Euro MC models in case they have defects.  My `04 750  has never had your `03 issues.  So guess you could say you guys closer to the source are guinea pigs for the rest of us. 

[Muzz]

The strange part was Wayne that my earlier bike had the later part fitted; their so-called later models had the earlier part fitted. <shrug>

I think that fork is probably the only dodgy part that was altered from the original. My mate has just bought a 2006 and other than the dash the bike appears the same in all respects.

[Muzz]

and give me a heads up as to what I need to keep an eye out for when I get over there to look at it. Any other general info would also be greatly appreciated.

Just a thought Zebra, they do have quite a high parasitic draw from the dash. The battery will go from full to flat in about 4 weeks. I don't have a tender but every 3 weeks I top it up with my 3.5 amp smart charger. I am on my second battery but it is about poked. I use the wet cell Yuasa and get about 7 years out of one, which I think isn't too bad. I have owned the bike since new.

[sign216]

Just a thought Zebra, they do have quite a high parasitic draw from the dash. The battery will go from full to flat in about 4 weeks. I don't have a tender but every 3 weeks I top it up with my 3.5 amp smart charger. I am on my second battery but it is about poked. I use the wet cell Yuasa and get about 7 years out of one, which I think isn't too bad. I have owned the bike since new.

The current draw is very much present, but it's niggly, but not a "do not buy" thing.  Just an annoyance.  Mine is fine during season, but have to disconnect the battery during the winter. 

I think what the others said, about the bike fitting you.  Many say the Brave 750 is the most comfortable bike they've ever had.  But that's personal.

[hidn45]

Huzo-

Here's another shot I had (other side):





And here's the BikeExif article they came from:

http://www.bikeexif.com/moto-guzzi-breva-750-cafe-racer

& a YouTube vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndN4S94RPgU

No matter how you feel about the styling, there's a lot of nice work on that bike.  Sure doesn't look like a Baby Breva anymore....  Must be a pain to hafta carry that paddock stand around tho'   ;^)

(Sorry for the thread jack....)

[Arizona Wayne]

Just a thought Zebra, they do have quite a high parasitic draw from the dash. The battery will go from full to flat in about 4 weeks. I don't have a tender but every 3 weeks I top it up with my 3.5 amp smart charger. I am on my second battery but it is about poked. I use the wet cell Yuasa and get about 7 years out of one, which I think isn't too bad. I have owned the bike since new.

Yes, the US Breva 750 has a too small battery for the job.  But I thought that was because our bikes have no headlight on/off switch as other country models do.  So when we turn on the ignition the headlight comes  on draining the battery before the starter can even come on.     So I made a little more room on mine and put a larger wet cell Ducati battery that would fit.  But later I could no longer get that battery @ Sam's club so then I installed a switch  to turn the headlight on/off to save the battery.   That helps but if the bike sits quite a while the clock will drain the battery so I have a low charger for then too, which I use for all my rigs that have clocks on them. 

[Huzo]

Huzo-

Here's another shot I had (other side):





And here's the BikeExif article they came from:

http://www.bikeexif.com/moto-guzzi-breva-750-cafe-racer

& a YouTube vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndN4S94RPgU

No matter how you feel about the styling, there's a lot of nice work on that bike.  Sure doesn't look like a Baby Breva anymore....  Must be a pain to hafta carry that paddock stand around tho'   ;^)

(Sorry for the thread jack....)

Thanx..

[ScepticalScotty]

My only bike has been a Breva750 for the last 14 years - taken me all over the UK, Spain, France. Commuting to work and back, day trips, two week tours. The only significant problem has been the well known weakness of the battery - the solution is to ride it regularly. Its comfortable, sounds good, has character and there is nothing like it.