Why do we buy a guzzi?

[Bulldog9]

For me, Guzzi is the only brand that builds what I consider a 'proper' motorcycle.

- Air Cooled
- Shaft Drive
- Better than average handing and braking
- Simple (self) servicing
- Character

Like most,  I knew about Moto Guzzi since I started riding in the 70's and always admired the brand, but never had an opportunity to see one other than a few of the older (70's) Ambo/Eldo models in the mid 80's. I started riding UJM's in the 70's, the typical CB, GS, and XS bikes, and though I kept my 1979 XS1100, migrated by necessity to water-cooled inline 4's culminating with an FJR (and slowly lost my passion for riding).

In 2015, on a fluke, I test rode a Griso 1100, and 'discovered' what I had been missing in my riding. I traded the FJR for the Griso, added a Norge, then a V7. I'm not so much brand loyal, as much as Guzzi providing what is (to me) the purist essence of what a Motorcycle should be.... I've never been as satisfied riding as I am on any of my Guzzis.....

[lucian]

What a great thread, thanks Doug.  I needed some time to think on this one as it has so many angles.  Finally I realized how it all started for me. I still remember when I saw the first Moto Guzzi. I was pretty young, maybe early teens, and was probably on my third or fourth mini bike or dirt bike then. We used to ride through the puckies to get to the local shopping center to do whatever and be the  degenerates that we were at the time. One day there it was , a red and white cafe moto guzzi. I still can not be certain what model it could have been. I wish I could determine that now as it changed my whole perspective on what a motor cycle should be from then on. There was nothing even close to being as exotic and as awe inspiring up here in hickville maine at the tim.e. The norm would be a Honda super hawks,maybe a Norton and an occasional HD or Indian , but never an Italian cafe racer.  Forty years fast forward and I found myself wanting to re enter the world of motorcycles and purchased a T100 Bonneville from a nearby dealer. I found myself daydreaming about what it would be like to be the lucky soul that rode that beautiful Moto Guzzi I saw so many years ago. Then one day I realized how short life can be and rode the Bonnie with only four hundred miles on the clock to N.H. to buy my first goose. A 1400 custom which we still have, and has provided so many wonderful miles I can't begin to explain. Since then I've adopted a used griso,a v50 for my daughter , A LM III and I still cant believe I am so fortunate to be the guy with the most inspiring bike at the shopping center .  They truly are above and beyond the norm when it comes to evoking passion in the observer, or the rider. There will be no other brand in my riding future. It was destiny in my case.

[rschrum]

Mostly nostalgia, my dad had Guzzies and their uniqueness.

[Tusayan]

I ride Guzzis because I respect the engineering philosophy that has been in place since Carlo Guzzi was in place: beautiful, clever design, intelligently removing complexity as an objective, without unintelligently looking backwards. Retro and uninspired copy cat design under Piaggio saddened me for 15 years but I’m happy to see those factors weakened with the success of the V85TT.

Also because I love Mandello, the culture, people and place where I first went at 25, had some kind of relationship with for a while, and have continued to visit for decades.  It feels like a second home, or at least a highlight of any trip that takes me there.

[tommy2cyl]

SmithSwede: No, I sold the  1991 Ducati 900 SS many years ago.  I bought it new, owned it for about 12 years.  I have owned 14 cycles in my life.  The Ducati was the most visually stunning.  My riding style changed as I got older, the same as the rest of us.  I moved onto  Adventure bikes. Re: comparing the V85 to the 900 SS:

Similarities: Tube frame/air cooled 90 degree V Twin/light weight/Italian design
Differences: The Ducati was not a quick steering bike. Rock solid in a corner but you had to move your body/shift your weight on the bike to make it handle.
The faster you went, the more you moved, the bike came alive. It did not have much of a turning radius.  If you were going parking lot speed and tried to turn it sharply, it could be easy to drop.  It required maintenance with the desmo design, very different than the valve intervals of newer Ducks. Limited suspension travel.  As I transitioned into Adventure riding I placed a high priority on a quick, easy steering, wide lock to lock to allow tight turning radius,  upright riding position, 19" or 21" front wheel.  The V 85 is everything I value in a motorcycle allowing me to ride on roads that sport bikes don't.  Exclusivity is not something that really factors into my equation.  Performance and aesthetic does however and I relate most to the Italian design aesthetic.  You can't really compare the two bikes, apples to oranges as they say.  Different tools for different tasks. 

[Tom H]

Probably because back in about 1980, my first one, the Eldo, cost me 2 Lite beers. A few more dollars got it running, had it ever since. My Ambo was a bit more, about $300 and needed a cylinder, the chrome was flaking off. Still have it as well.

Tom 

[steven c]

Bought my first Guzzi in the a 74 T in 79 I think,I just like the way they look and bike reviews always had positive things to say about the handling. I have drifted to BMW's Triumph Buell Ducati but I always have a Guzzi in the Garage well four at this time. I think our Ct Guzzi group run by Steve Rossi has a lot to do with it, just a great bunch of folks.

[fossil]

2011 I tbegan to think I should start riding again (I´m 65 now). Of course I was strongly influenced by the 60´s and 70´s bikes. The more as a friend let me ride his mint Norton Commando Mk1 fastback. So it was clear it should be something like that. Airhead BMW´s would be right however they are ancient and expensive now here in Germany. The W800 of those day was nice as the Bonneville was. But they had chain drive - bad. So it was absolutely clear I would get me a Sportster Roadster 883 (still available in Europe then). I came about a catalogue and there they had the V7 Classic and Cafe Classic - beautiful! But: I never liked the design of the cylinders of the smallblock, I don´t like plastic tanks, and the engine characteristic was a bit lacking. So again plan Harley.

Well, then in 2012 the 1tb came into the market! Rounded fins, metal tank, nice characteristic, and the white Stone was exactly to my taste (today it would be the Milano). So I ordered it and since 15 March 2013 she´s mine. And that really is exactly the bike I wanted to own and ride. Low maintenance but the look and feel from the 70es. And the sound.

I did not want a modern bike, but the reliability and brakes of one.

[BubaDragon]

In my case the progression did not quite go like that...
I have been looking for a new bike for a while and a co-worker mentioned that his Guzzi just came in and he was going to pick it up. I remembered the brand and looked them up on the web, within five minutes I was browsing Cycle Trader, within a week I was negotiating with a dealer in Houston, ten days after he picked his up, mine was delivered.
I fell in love with this motorcycle online, and I'm not disappointed with the reality. I will have to go with the OP and agree with soul manipulation.

[DougG]

I defer to the thread..."Do Bikes Have Souls", by Ozarquebus. 

Be well,
DougG

[stonelover]

Simply because it is a Guzzi!!

[Groover]

The sound got me a long time ago when I was a kid, then I finally got around to owning one as an adult after many other bike types. Next it just fits me better (my G5), other bikes seemed like the wrong size. Finally, turns out I really enjoy the hours and hours hunt for obsolete and unobtanium parts needed to keep these bikes looking good and correct 

[Rick in WNY]

I first saw a photo of a Moto Guzzi in a Cycle World magazine back in high school. Something about that correctly-oriented V-Twin engine and the clean lines of the shaft drive appealed to me... Sadly, went to college, got a job, wife, kids, and motorcycles became part of my past... or so it seemed. Twenty-odd years later, kids were well into their teen years, and the motorcycle bug came back hard! What was worse was that my lovely wife had become infected as well... so there I was taking her to the MSF course. The dealership holding the course had a showroom, and on one of our breaks I went in to check out the bikes. Couple dozen Harleys in there, a couple metrics, and back in the corner.... there she was.

First Guzzi I'd ever seen in person... and I immediately went head-over heels in love for her. Whether the bike has a soul or she captured mine, eh, who cares. It's a Guzzi! Every break after that I made a bee-line to go see her. The following week I made some phone calls, went back there with a pocket full of cash and a trailer behind my truck. No regrets, and lots of happy miles later, still my favorite motorcycle.

Can't say to this day if I chose her, or she chose me, but what I can say is we make each other very happy... she is my Italian mistress... my Mediterranean lover... and at least I have an understanding wife who allows me to have this "other woman" in my life.

[ozarquebus]

because we have tried everything else and have become anachronistically sentimental?

random web photo

[boatdetective]

Honestly, this helpful community is what kept me buying Guzzis.  They are pretty easy to work on and the parts availability is good and reasonably priced. However, it's pretty hard to justify the minefiled of issues. I now own a BMW R1200R camhead and a Honda CB1100. Both are better and more reliable than any of the Guzzis. I had an Aprilia Shiver for a bit- great motor- absolutely crushes the V7 mill as far as power and fun. I might buy a Guzzi in the future- but it would only be a second bike.

[bratman2]

I was actually searching for a 08 BMW R1200RT online in Eastern NC, Va.  I wanted easily adjustable valves and a nice sport tourer. Some how I accidently found a test between the R1200RT and a Norge. I was quite taken by the looks of the Norge. It made what I thought was a nice looking bike, the BMW, look pretty plain. I started searching for info and then for available Norges. Still have my 09 Norge. It does kind of speak to you like no other bike I have ever owned.

[frans belgium]

Because we are weird. At least that is what I have been told.
GliderJohn

You too?
I remember my former dealer, when I still rode a Cali, some 20 years ago.  He deals Guzzi, but also Bmw and others.
He said: Those Guzzi guys are weiiiiird, they keep buying Guzzi and cannot answer when you ask them why. 

That was the day I testrode a Bmw Gs and was very glad to climb on my Cali again.

[Noguzznoglory]

went to the bmw dealership to look at a 13 F850GT (which i eventually bought) and saw a V7 Special in the orange and white paint scheme. i was immediately struck by what a great looking bike it is. same thing attracted me to the beemer. i started lurking on the WG board and finally bought a Breva 750. now i have that and a Norge and still lust after that orange and white V7.

[Furbo]

I'd always wanted to be a bike mechanic and the Guzzi was cheaper than the 'Do you want to be a Motorcycle Mechanic?" trade school ads in Cycle Guide. 

[twowheeladdict]

I was searching for a used Triumph Scrambler that I could turn into a Thruxton with the better engine (270 degree crank).

Came across the Craigslist ad for the 2010 Cafe Classic.  Never even knew that bike existed.   I was intrigued and it had the shaft drive like my first motorcycle (XS750).  It was on my way home from a work trip so decided to check it out. 

It was quirky and eccentric and felt like I was riding a truly classic motorcycle that was modern where I wanted it to be modern.  It was practically brand new and the price was right. 

A bird in the hand and all that. 

It was a trophy bike, not a daily rider.  When I decided to thin the herd I traded it and another bike on the Carbon Dark and although I miss the look, the ride of the V7 III is far superior. 

[Knuckle Dragger]

I've always (since early childhood anyway) considered Guzzis and their ilk (say Honda CX500s etc) to be the physical manifestation of "the perfect motorcycle".

No, I don't mean that Guzzis are perfect.  In many ways, their glaring imperfections are yet another intrisic aspect of their appeal.  One of those extremely rare examples in life of flaws metamorphosing into virtues.

I mean that to design a simple, efficient & effective abstraction of a motorcycle with a clean sheet of paper but with a somewhat basic knowledge of the physics involved with two-wheeled motility, something approaching the design of a Guzzi would result.  In my head anyway.

The transverse Vee/longitudinal drivetrain/cardan unit/bevel final drive is the very embodiment of purity of design.  A boxer motor more closely addresses primary balance aspects perhaps, but ignores the need to lean, resulting in clearance issues.  That Vee addresses lean angles intimately.  A belt/chain final drive robs less power, and conforms to drivetrain linearity, but necessitates a higher COG transverse crank.  Chain driven singles & parallel twins are narrow enough to be mounted low, but lack the Guzzi's purity of form.

A Vee engine (especially twins) are simply the most visually & viscerally engaging layout that's ever been used in my opinion.  Yet longitudinal vees like Taglioni's Ducatis, or even Guzzi's 1935 120 degree 500cc bicilindrico stretch out the wheelbase to slow down steering response.  Whilst desmodromic valve actuation is perhaps the purest mechanical expression, it's almost insanely complex, expensive and potentially troublesome.  Many still require (weak, lightweight) locating V-springs too.  Pushrods, rockers & coils have proven over a century or more to be one of the crudest, simplest but most reliable valve actuation mechanical designs ever.

Likewise, whilst almost universally out of favour for high-output small Otto-cycle engines, the crudity & simplicity of air cooling still has a purity of form, simplicity & reliability missing from its alternatives.  Even Deutz-Fahr still prefers air cooling for their medium-large industrial diesels.  In fact, both radiator cores & finning are far more prone to clogging & consequent overheating than more widely spaced air cooling fins.  Fin exposure sideways into the cooling airflow (albeit not quite as geometrically efficient as a transverse boxer twin's cylinders) is yet another example of supreme functionality.

I could go on ad nauseum....  Apologies for the ramble so far.  Suffice it to say that to me Guzzi represents the simplest, purest, most aesthetically economical and accurate attempt made to date in addressing directly what a motorcycle's design brief could/would/should be.  Their appeal to me is just so ingrained on so many different levels and manifestations that the terms "motorcycle" & "Moto Guzzi" are almost indissolubly linked.

[Das]

Doug, loved the flow and expression of your opening post.  Laughed my head off!  For me, when I turn around just to stop and look back at my motorcycle,  to breathe it all in, I know I have the right motorcycle.  Amen.

[JohninVT]

I believe the technical term is called, “masochism”

[blackcat]

I believe the technical term is called, “masochism”

 

[DougG]

Hi all,                                                                                                                             9-7-19

Thanks to all for your responses.  They are  a treat to read and educational, as well.  To my eye they range in content from the highly technical to the most basic instinctual response (you know who you are).  And in form...from the eloquent and elegant to the direct and feral.  Once again, you know who you are!   

Be well,
DougG