A “Water Cooled” Guzzi. Does it matter to you?

[ozarquebus]

I loved my 65 Ghia after engine was rebuilt following a catastrophic piston slap that broke a cylinder while going up that Mission Hill in San Diego .

[JJ]

I loved my 65 Ghia after engine was rebuilt following a catastrophic piston slap that broke a cylinder while going up that Mission Hill in San Diego .

LOVE Karmen Ghia's.....but "I just HATE when that happens...." 

[Advguz]

      I would definitely buy a water cooled Guzzi, but I just worked a 4 day bicycle race over the weekend and it was hotter than 10 kinds of fire and no overheating issues on the TT.

[yellowheader]

I'm just happy to hear that Guzzi has the resources to develop a completely new engine and model in these tough economic times. I hope the V :thumb:1000 is another hit for them, following on from the V85.

[twowheeladdict]

It all comes down to why I bought Moto Guzzi in the first place.

Style and clean look with no fake or imitation parts, like fake carbon fiber, air scoops, etc.

Shaft drive on a non-cruiser mid displacement bike.

No eyesore of a radiator.

I am no against liquid cooling, but the radiator needs to be integrated into the lines of the bike or hidden from view as much as possible.

If Guzzi looked like any other bike, I would go back to Japanese bikes.

I don't much care about HP.  I couldn't ride any faster through the curves with more HP. 

[Bulldog9]

A water cooled Guzzi? Sure.
A water cooled Guzzi built outside of Italy? Deal breaker.
Sorry..
YMMV.

My exact thoughts. We all know that some parts are sourced 'elsewhere' *cough couch* but if they outsource the motors, or major manufacturing and assembly, to China/India/et-al, that's a deal breaker.

Aircooled is my preference, and what makes a motorcycle, but I have had a couple IL4 Watercooled bikes (C-10 Concours/FJR). My favorite and longest owned motorcycle is a Yamaha XS1100. Air cooled/shaft drive. That is what I prefer, and what drew me to Moto Guzzi. I'm open to what Guzzi brings to the table.

[LowRyter]

If an aircooled Guzzi was significantly lighter than a new watercooled Guzzi, maybe not.
If aircooled meant 500 lb 1000cc bike vs a 650 lb water-cooled bike, then NO.

BUT...

Modern designs seem to add water-cooling without much weight gain and my watercooled bikes have been dead nuts reliable in the cooling department.

The water-cooled bike might be harder to restore or keep running when long in tooth in the long term...but who cares about long term, anymore?

Guzzi is not as steadfastly routed with air cooling as a necessity of its intrinsic design aesthetic as is HD, therefore to me its just a matter of performance rather than faithfulness to original design. The transverse engine configuration is more congruent to a transverse radiator in front, anyway.

Owing to that, if they do it right, the radiator could be very unobtrusive and almost inconspicuous if it was shaped properly and integrated into the engine/frame shape on a transverse V.

a water-cooled bike despite the radiator, water pump, and the rest will likely be lighter than an air-cooled bike.   At least that's that's the way it's worked out for all the modern bikes.  Lighter and more powerful.  Even the new Harley Pan Am weighs 560 lb.  About 10lb heavier than a Sportster or 70lb lighter than a Softail.  (Google it)

Go down the line and you'll see manufacturers are integrated more tech than just the water pump. 

Aesthetics are a different issue.

[Tusayan]

You can imagine if VW with wads of R&D cash to burn on testing and certification couldn't make the numbers work, then what's a small boutique manufacturer like Moto Guzzi going to do?

Motorcycle engines and their needs are not the same as car engines, as demonstrated by BMW attempting to phase out air cooled engines in the 80s, and then backpedaling into a line of air cooled motorcycle engines that is still in production.  They make both for a reason, just as Guzzi will.

Guzzi production numbers are not high, but its not a boutique manufacturer in terms of resources. Guzzi is a brand and an assembly plant of a large vehicle manufacturer (Piaggio) which makes about 500,000 vehicles in total annually and for some time now has done all Guzzi design and engineering.

[Zenermaniac]

I’m fine with water cooling and realize it may be needed for ever more stringent pollution laws but it’s not for me. I will continue to ride air cooled bikes until they are gone. At my age I’m not worried about running out of choices.

[Turin]

Water cooling is fine by me, I have a couple of water cooled bikes. I have what I call the scotch test. For a vehicle to pass, I have to be able to stare at it for hours while sipping on two fingers of scotch.

[svanbremen]

I don't mind watercooling... I just don't look the look of radiators, it makes the bike (in general) look less 'clean'.
I love my Honda, but the Guzzi looks much cleaner.

[Dogwalker]

Just for a clarification, It's Piaggio that designs the engines for Piaggio/Aprilia/Guzzi, it's Piaggio that builds them in Pontedera and it's Piaggo that decides what brand can use them. This engine will be or built in Tuscany and only finally assembled in Mandello, or arrive in Mandello already completely assembled.

[kfz]

Dont see the point of a L/C V longitduinal Vtwin.  Surley its all about cooling those cylinders.  Parallel twin makes more sense for L/C.   Yes I have seen that monstrosity of the BMW L/C boxer. WTF is that. I nn fact isnt the engine completly unsuitable.  Need 2 sets of water jackets and piping, plus the exit of the radiator is blocked by the cylinders?   

Kev