First time riding a Moto Guzzi

[texasmoto]

I’m in the process of restoring a ‘78 850 but I’ve never ridden a Guzzi. So I took a vacation to Italy, Mandello del Lario, in fact. They have a little factory there you may be aware of.

I tried to rent a modern V7 but had problems in Milan with my license, so it was a no go. Found a smaller rental agency that by chance just had a “cafe racer” Moto Guzzi, a V50.

With the paperwork in order, the owner of the rental agency started giving me the rundown on how to use the bike.  I tried to cut him short and said, “Look, I have a 77 CB750 I know older bikes.” And he said, disparagingly, “this isn’t a Japanese bike.”

It most definitely is not a Japanese bike. The CB750 is absolute junk in comparison. Soulless. The little 500 felt better than any Honda I’ve ever ridden. They are almost alive.

When I was about to ride off he said to me in broken English that it’s like a horse, and like a toy, and I didn’t know what he meant until about the third day. It really is like a horse.

Well I figure it made sense that the first ride on a Guzzi ought to be to their factory so that’s what I did. And then I spent the rest of the time exploring around Lake Como. Those roads were made for that little machine. An 850 would be too much. The 500 was a joy, and I barely got out of second gear on the narrow mountain roads. The speedometer didn’t work, the rear brake (although linked) tended to shudder when warm, and the battery died on the first day. This made it a push-in-second-gear-to-start motorcycle, like a race bike.

Guzzis might not have the numbers in terms of HP or top speed or whatever quantitative metric you want to use to measure the best, but they are qualitative machines. They get the feeling right 100%. I don’t need to be Valentino Rossi and exceed 200mph. It’s just silly these days. But Guzzi captures the feeling. Wonderful machines.

I’m putting my Hondas up for sale when I return to finish funding my restoration. What incredible machines.

I’ve attached some photos of the trip and the factory.

[blu guzz]

thanks for the great pics.

[texasmoto]

The things that I didn’t like about the V50:

- The gas tank is smaller than I’m used to. I find it easier to grip the wide tank on the 750. It was really difficult for me to do this on the V50 so my riding was a little loose.

- The linked brakes also didn’t give me confidence when performing low speed maneuvers like U-turns. In the MSF course the instructor showed us how any front brake leads to a loss of control when turning. But I use a ton of rear brake for stability on my Honda. Maybe I can push this more than what was demonstrated in the course, but I didn’t want to experiment on a rental.

The Pros

- the sound. Just absolute joy. It could chug along and not disturb pedestrians, or you could give it the business and wake up the block

- the linked brakes really stop and are incredibly effective. In comparison to a CB750, it actually stops!

- happy cruising at 4-5k rpm all day. It’s a twin that redlines at 9k rpm. This is the same as my 78 CB750 inline 4!

- absolutely pure soul. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle like this and I don’t know WHY exactly they are like this

[chuck peterson]

Thanks! Great story for a first guzzi ride, geez

Never ever ever seen this before!





Now i can brag to my moped friends…

[bigbikerrick]

I would say you have been bitten by the Guzzi Bug bigtime!  Reminds me of when I rode my first Guzzi, a 2001 Rosso Mandello. I had been riding for over 30 years,and had never felt a bike with a motor that "spoke to me" the way the big Guzzi did. Its a crazy feeling, that first time. I have never ridden/owned a smallblock, but would like to some day.
Great pics, BTW!
Rick.

[texasmoto]

Smaller displacement motors just ooze charm. I mean, yeah a liter bike is serious and all the rest, but there is something so fun about a 350. I’d love to get a V35. I already offered to purchase this V50 if the guy ever thinks of selling 😂 The V50 is more than enough in most of the world outside of America: roads just aren’t big, wide and straight enough to accommodate much more.

I think the otto cilindri is a 500cc, and you should see how tiny the carburetors are! I have a Honda CB350F, and the carbs were smaller than that. They’d be only cute if they weren’t on a machine that reached 180+mph! But small bikes are a mix of cute and danger…charm, right?

[ridingron]

I was wondering if you were going to post the 90 mile sign picture.   

You have more stuff loaded on that bike than I had in the days of my youth. I once moved all my worldly possessions in a '66 Mustang. I had to leave the passenger side bucket seat empty for my 85 lb dog.

[JJ]

My favorite photo!!

[Irishflyer]

Ya poor bastard, you're doomed.  Clean out a space in the garage for two more.. My first Guzzi I rode was the one I bought and on the test ride.  I liked it enough, but hadn't went past 4k.  I bought the bike, asked the owner about being lackluster around 3k, and he chuckled and said wrap it out, it redlines around 7 (96 Cal 1100i).  Once I got it home, I did just that, and it came to life, and been hooked ever since.

[Bulldog9]

Each Guzzi model/range has a unique feel and character. The unifying theme is the unique firing pattern of the motor that gives it more character than ANY IL4 or other twin (IMO). The triple comes close at lower RPMs. There is also something honest and agricultural to how it all comes together. As Dave Richardson told me when I bought my Griso from him "Guzzis make strange sounds... You only need to be worried if it doesn't" 🤣

I came off 20+ years on Japanese IL4 motors (xs1100, c10 Concourse, FZ1, FJR). My first Guzzi was a 2007 GRiSO. Still have it and still love it and have added a couple more of various models and years. For the most part I like the CARC bikes best, but they are all great bikes and have their own charms.

Welcome to the madness, we look forward to seeing what your next Guzzi will be...

[faffi]

I really dislike the sound from every I4 (save the MT-10 and later R1s) to the point that I do not want to own one again, despite their functional superiority.

Moto Guzzi was perhaps the first company to mass produce 90 degree V-twins for motorcycles, followed a few years later by Ducati. Since then, a number of engines with the same firing pattern as Guzzi has been made, either as 90-degree V-twins, inline twins spaced 270 degrees apart, and narrowed V-twins with offset crankpins to get the same firing pattern as the 90 degree V-twin.

[Scout63]

Great story texasmoto.  My first Guzzi ride was a V50II with Bubs.  One of very few bikes I’m sorry I sold.

[blu guzz]

For many years, when I used to read Moto mags, you could tell when it was the end of the publishing cycle because as article would be printed about whatever was happening at Moto Guzzi.  Looking back now, I can see that most of the test riders that offered opinions were still mostly concerned with straight line acceleration.  Quirky and odd were the adjectives most printed.  It is apparent after these many years that "test rides" on most motorcycles were really to brief for the riders to form any opinions that would be meaningful to real world potential buyers.  It really takes at least 5,000 miles to fully understand a bike beyond those basics that can be measured on a track and I don't really remember any "long term" tests on Guzzi or any other bikes really. 
Texas, since you completely enjoyed riding  bike that would have been dismissed as "too slow" by the moto-mags, this shows how you have to ride for yourself and form your own opinion.  In our country, the small bikes really did not sell well so you don't have the option for a new V50 here and I think that is a shame.  Funny how small Japanese branded bikes and the Royal Enfield small series seem so popular amongst my older riding friends now.
Please excuse this ramble, I don't know how I ended up here except to say I must need more coffee.

[coast range rider]

I put 40,000 miles on my 1981 Honda GL500 before ever riding my first Moto Guzzi. That served as my gateway drug to the Guzzi V twin shaft drive layout.

[faffi]

I don't really remember any "long term" tests on Guzzi or any other bikes really. 

MOTORRAD magazine did a 25k km (16k mi) long term test on the Le Mans II. It had several minor issues, plus it was spewing oil out the ventilation when ridden at high rpm over time. They were told to reduce engine oil amount by 0.5 liter (about a pint), which helped. At the end of the test, the engine needed new cylinders and pistons, as they were totally worn out. Primarily a result of the bike not having air filters from the factory.

[Gliderjohn]

When I bought my T-3 I had been riding a Suzuki 400GS for 11 years and never ridden a Guzzi. It was about a 90 mile ride home with steady winds in the 30-40mph range with occasional gusts over 50. The first half of the ride I was thinking "What the hell have I gotten into?" The last 40 miles was "I think I am really going to like this thing."
GliderJohn

[cliffrod]

Although it wasn’t the first bike I had ever ridden, i actually learned to ride on my Sebring 350 Ducati.  A couple of years later,  I went directly to my V7 Sport.  Over the following decades, every other bike had to measure up to my Guzzi- not the other way around.  None have made me happier.

Other bikes feel different.  My V7 Sport is my normal. 

[pehayes]

Oh, Texasmoto, this sounds so much like me.  I could never afford a big bike.  A work associate had a '73 Eldorado and I occasionally went to lunch on the back.  I lusted.  A few years later he crashed it badly.  I bought the wreck cheap and figured I had all the necessary skills to restore it.  While restoring I decided on a series of upgrades to mimic the '74 and convert it from Black to White.  You can see where this is going.  I would have been far better off just buying a bike.  Several  years and way too much money.  Just as I was about to hit the road, it occurred to me that I had never actually DRIVEN such a bike.  Sure hope I like it after all this work.  I put 100K miles on before selling it away.  I had intimate knowledge of every piece of that bike.  It took me to the world of Guzzi and introduced me to the eclectic corner for single-cylinder Guzzi.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[wirespokes]

Great story texas! It resonates with me - it's obvious you're one of us.

[MerleLowe]

...  Several  years and way too much money.  Just as I was about to hit the road, it occurred to me that I had never actually DRIVEN such a bike.  Sure hope I like it after all this work.  ...

I had the same with my Road King.  Bought it not running and it took a bit to get it rideable.  To add to it, there were still a lot of faults after getting it moving under its own power.  Took a while but now the bike and I are on the same frequency.  Just seems to fit.  Sometimes it works out.

[Testarossa]

My first bike was a Harley Sprint -- that is, an Aermacchi 350SS. It had right-foot shift and was a pain in the ass to kick-start but it was my only transportation and I rode it through a sloppy cold wet Midwestern winter. I was too naive to know what a torque monster it was, and how solid the handling was, and I now regret trading it for a clapped-out TR4 which promised a somewhat drier ride the following winter. Much later, after some years with a CB500, I acquired my T. I recognized a sort of family resemblance to the Aermacchi and thought THIS is what a motorcycle should feel like. Now I can't conceive of having fewer than two Guzzis, because you don't want to be without one while servicing the other . . .

[bacongrease]

My Stone is my fave.  (day trips, around town).
  Next is the FXR. (Road trips)
  I still really like my 71 CB750, a cam and a few upgrades,
 I will never sell any of them.... until death 

To each his own......

[Rower30]

I changed bikes from a BMW R100RT to a V100S model. You think of any reason no matter how weird to go ride the V100S! It is a puppy dog, and is ALWAYS willing to play any way you want. The BMW was an appliance with no real soul. I wish the V100S was around about two decades ago when I was shopping for the SAME kind of "modern" european shaft drive do it all bike. That bike didn't exist, anywhere, for far too long. The BNW mosel is too big, heavy and ugly. Then Guzzi makes the V100S in 2023!  The V100S was a take my money please purchase. The V100S takes the function of the BMW but infuses it with the puppy dog nature of my 1979 CB750F 4 valver. How Guzzi hides all the uglies is Italian art...clearly they care about the bike's visual nature and not just the performance. I walk backwards looking at the bike after I get off it. I'll leave the looks with that.

I just went to the AMA motorcycle museum, about 300 miles round trip. The V100S is even a peach on the de-interest state I70. It run smooth as glass and 54 MPG. So far at 8,000 miles it has been the least trouble of any bike I've owned. My biggest complaint is I'm too light for it, 140 pounds isn't what the suspension was made to work against.

The Guzzi engine sound is intoxicating, that V8 kind of roar is sublime. I was flaberghast with the first run to red-line.  The new engine didn't loose that V8 character. I love everything about the general V-design, it just makes sense. That the engine design has so much soul does make it feel like flesh and blood.