What first drew you to Moto Guzzi?

[pressureangle]

Simply being 15 in 1976, seeing the LeMans 1 ads.

[Bulldog9]

It was a black 1978 Yamaha XS-750 Special, 750cc triple

Of the 34 bikes I have owned and ridden in >55 years, it was the  first and only motorcycle I ever had stolen!!!

I've got a 78 XS 750 Special I'm getting back on the road after 12 years of (proper) Storage. Want to relive the glory days? ;-)

[Huzo]

Because my BMW loving clone mate, said it was a bad idea.
He loved the perceived “safety” of Beemer ownership and said he “ wouldn’t want to be on his own, if something goes wrong…”
So I bought one just to aggravate him.
That was a 2007 Norge 19 years ago….

[Dave Swanson]

Me and my buddies all got our driving licenses about the same time which was around 1970.  We used to stop into all the bike shops to drool.  Our tastes at that time were Japanese especially the CB750. 

Usually the last shop we would stop on our rounds was a small Guzzi and Norton dealer.  We all loved the Commando, but we made fun of the Ambassador.

30 years later I found Greg Field's book and was agape staring at the V7 Sport on the front cover.  That book was my gateway drug to becoming a Guzziholic. 

[guzzisteve]

In 85 I started going to a bunch of BMW rallies having just getting an 85 K100 . Loads of fun ! A certain group of riders on  Guzzi’s were the “cool guys” led (sort of) by Guy Robert’s . AKA “Guzzi Guy”. Eventually I bought an almost basket case SP 1000 . Eventually got to where I’m @ now with a V7II &  V7/850 . Still hitting a few rallies a year . The current bikes have put the fun back in to riding. So the journey continues!

Hey, Guzzi Guy came to our GA rally a few years back before the pandemic. I saw him & thought 'I know him' from long time back. Used to see him & party at the W.VA rallies in early 80's He now has a ranch in TN . Was nice to catch up after all these years. Cool Guy

[faffi]

I've got a 78 XS 750 Special I'm getting back on the road after 12 years of (proper) Storage. Want to relive the glory days? ;-)

The 750 Special was special for a few reasons that made it a better motorcycle. Like some British "choppers" of the time, the XS750 Special retained the 18in rear wheel from the standard version, and the fuel tank held 5 gallons, which gave it a good range. The seat was also fairly flat and allowed the rider to move around a bit tall, they were not radically so, and the pegs also were where they offered the rider some support, not far out in front. A very sensible Special.

[Huzo]

I’m sure that Guzzi riders are the ones that are involved more deeply, partly because they  need to be or wish to be.
There will be owners out there who ride CF Motos and such, who could not tell you what size/make, tyres their bike runs, or other trifling issues like…
Does it have carbs or FI..?
They just do not care.

[turboguzzi]

Gee, Le-Mans, V7s and what-have-you as first guzzis? what a bunch of spoiled brats we have here... 

Was a poorer than poor student, this was the only non british crap i could afford at the time.

Guzzi character? Yep, when it ran, which was not often




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[Huzo]

What you miss out on, is what you appreciate.

[PeteS]

Gee, Le-Mans, V7s and what-have-you as first guzzis? what a bunch of spoiled brats we have here... 

Was a poorer than poor student, this was the only non british crap i could afford at the time.

Guzzi character? Yep, when it ran, which was not often




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The LeMans was my first Guzzi but 4th bike. First bike was a used 80cc Yamaha. The LeMans was used too. Another poor student at the time. No silver spoons here.

Pete

[TN Mark]

I just got my drivers license and needed motorized transportation. My grandfather brought home a nearly new 1977 silver Moto Guzzi Convert with a Vetter fairing. It was love at first sight and I bought the Guzzi from my grandfather. I loved riding that bike for my last two years of high school. I bought my first car from my grandfather as well. A 1974 128 Fiat Sport L. Driving that Fiat off the lot was also the first time I ever drove a stick shift car. I went on to have a bunch of Fiats as well as other Moto Guzzi bikes. My 2016 Eldorado is my 11th  Moto Guzzi.

I’ve been a ‘guzzi guy’ since that first Convert.

[Bulldog9]

The 750 Special was special for a few reasons that made it a better motorcycle. Like some British "choppers" of the time, the XS750 Special retained the 18in rear wheel from the standard version, and the fuel tank held 5 gallons, which gave it a good range. The seat was also fairly flat and allowed the rider to move around a bit tall, they were not radically so, and the pegs also were where they offered the rider some support, not far out in front. A very sensible Special.

In the US, the special had a tear drop 4 gallon tank. It's a sweet little bike. I haven't ridden the XS11 or the 750 since I shifted to Guzzi 11 years ago. Will be a fun and interesting comparison once I get it back on the road. I plan to clean and rebuild the carbs next week.









Back on Topic, the XS11 was my sole motorcycle for years. I bought it in 1986 and rode it over 120K miles. What drew me to Guzzi was after 10+ years on water cooled IL4 motors, just 100 feet down the road on the Griso brought me back to what I LOVED about motorcycling. Air Cooled Shaft Drive an engaging authentic motorcycle experience.

[cliffrod]

Gee, Le-Mans, V7s and what-have-you as first guzzis? what a bunch of spoiled brats we have here... 

Was a poorer than poor student, this was the only non british crap i could afford at the time.

Guzzi character? Yep, when it ran, which was not often




quickly upload and share photos

Funny to have you mention being spoiled by starting off with a revered model Guzzi like my V7 Sport.  It’s completely true.  For the decades following my lucky acquisition, I had at least 150+ other bikes but almost zero significant interest in anything else Guzzi except for an ISDT replica I got (from description, I hoped it was a Lodola, but it wasn’t) that didn’t survive the impoverished days following Divorce #2.  My more recent but unexpected lingering Corsa Record loop project and CX100 make me happy.  but neither will ever be what my V7 Sport is to me.

Even back then, I knew my V7 Sport was a great & special bike that offered the perfect balance of classic & modern engineering.  so nothing else appealed to me.  There was nowhere to go except down.  Sometimes you just get lucky and are smart enough to hang on, even when I was so poor that it’s hard to explain. 

[kingoffleece]

Always knew about them-never had one-until:

The Triumph dealer where I worked (number 3 in the USA at the time) told Triumph USA to pound salt after a whole slew of ridiculous demands. Capped off by a demo rider wadding up a bike at 110 mph while following Triumph factory guys-and Big T NOT standing up to replace the bike on a ride that THEIR guys were in charge of.  Owner told them to come pick it all up tomorrow or it will be on the curb.

So I started to travel to CT as Hamlin had a great reputation running a shop that sold Triumph and Guzzi.  Having had many Bonneville bikes from the 70's on up I bought a V7 on a whim.  The hook was set-big time.  Over the next year 5 bikes were sold and only 3 (for now-it grew) Guzzi bikes stayed.  NEVER looked back.  Nothing feels like a Guzzi.
Had 130 plus hp.  Don't need it and really never did.  If one needs rider aids to keep the bike upright than what the heck are we doing?  Guzzi covers it all-for me.

[AJ Huff]

I wanted a motorcycle and thought Moto Guzzi was the best looking one . I used to walk past one on my way to class in college, probably a T or T3. So I bought an Ambassador.

-AJ

[Tkelly]

We had just returned from our Alaska trip in 78 with Debs r60 .Her dad was working with an Italian guy who wanted to sell his 73 Eldorado.The price was the standard Chicago used bike rate of a dollar a cc.It had white Harley bags spray painted black and around 500o miles on  it.We sold the bmw bought the eldo and a new v50 for Deb and never looked back.The motor was great but the brakes and handling not so much so I got a t3 and thought we had our forever bikes.I hit a cow in 84 with the eldo let the insurance company have it and we sold the other bikes as responsible parents of young children do,until we got old,like 60 ,when we had nothing to lose.That lasted around 10 years to age 50 when I bought a barn find 400 Yamaha,just for short rides,the a 750 Honda,a ratty t3,rallies and still loving them.

[guzziart]

After going to Guzzi rallies & monthly breakfasts for years on my Wing I decided to get a breakfast/rally bike.  My 1st was Jack Arnolds '87 LMIVSE in 2010, I still have it.  My 2nd was an original owner '72 Eldo in 2014, it needed cylinders contrary to what the owner told me, I went through the bike and finally got it back together during the - shutdown...still have the bike.  My 3rd was John Henry's '03 Lemans in '15, that sat until - shutdown when I was able to focus on a bunch of routine maintenance stuff, I passed that along last year after concluding I could no longer ride it comfortably.  A couple years ago I was able to get a lightly used '23 v85 Travel to replace my '12 wee strom.  Anyway, what drew me to the brand was the fact that no one in the Guzzi community gave me grief about what I rode in on to the rallies or breakfasts whether it was on the Wing, Wee Strom or old CL350 and because of that fact I began to feel compelled to own a Guzzi.  I began to think "How dare I show up on something other than a Guzzi??!!"  The Guzzi community welcomed me no matter what I rode and that some effort should be made by me to somehow be a closer part of the Guzzi experience by at least owning one.  So, that's my story.

[blu guzz]

Some time in the late 70s, early 80s I read an article in one of the mags about one of the Lemans of that era.  The reviewer was riding on a southern Indiana road which is not far from where I live now.  He talked about effortlessly passing a farm truck at an outrageous rate of speed and maybe giving that solid citizen and the cow in the bed of the truck heart palpitations. He also spoke of the "effortless" roll on power and the freight train like sense of stability and the 130 mph top speed. Very heady writing.  That lit the fuse, but I did not have the finances in those days to contemplate such exotic machinery and eventually settled for Japanese machines in my price range.
I didn't join the Eagle until 2017 when I lost my taste for BMWs. 4 so far, all of them great.

[motogoro]

Long story short, after a brief hiatus from my first Harley ('79 AMF SuperGlide ), I tried a '75 G'Wing and an '80s CX500. 
Missed the thumping V-twin. 
Al Schultz, the WI sidecar guy, suggested a "goose".  'Huh?'  "A Moto Guzzi!"  'Oh yeah, my sister dated a guy who rode a Guzzi'. 
Been riding California's, and assorted sportier Guzzi's, for 30 plus years.     

[wirespokes]

I'd had and ridden every airhead since the first one in 1990, but had always been interested in Guzzis, originally due to the driveshaft. I slightly knew a guy in the late 80s with a LeMans and decided I wanted one. And then there was a 70s LM in a shop I visited now and then - I had to take a long look whenever I saw it.  A black 76 T3 with V7 sport tank showed up on Craigslist in 2016 when there was cash (plus swapped Langlitz leathers) to bring it home. I rode the R100PD off and on for another year and then it sat. Suddenly more Guzzis arrived and then a few years later the T3's original owner tracked me down wanting it back. The sale paid for the 84LM. All of mine have stories - projects that arrived needing help and love. Don't ask what it is about them that grabs me - I could say it's the handling, brakes, engine, the sound... but that doesn't really say it. Kind of like trying to describe why I like motorcycles.

[MacL]

In 1973 I bought a new Bonneville from Motorcycle City in Calgary. Sold it a year later and bought an 850 Norton from same dealer. Norton was a total pos and stranding my wife and I all over western North America, I went back to Motorcycle City to resolve the issue. I told the owner Henry Lee that I needed a bike with a large gas tank[that didn't look like a large gas tank],a long flat seat and no chain. Henry pointed to a new Moto Guzzi 850 T for $3500.00 and then asked what I had paid him for the Norton the year before[$2000.00]. Henry gave me $2000.00 for the Norton, I gave him $1500.00 and an 850T is all I've ridden in 51 years[2 differant T's]. Just got back from a Guzzi rally in Nakusp BC and bike ran like a clock.

[SemperVee]

Having owned nearly every brand and 14, yes 14 Harleys and 5 BMW's -  I have an affinity after all these years for air cool twins and the Guzzi seemed the best of all worlds and a bit euro sexy and easy basically to work on.  I fell out of "Love" with the HD mentality, both the factory nonsense and owner stupidity -  and BMW left me cold with their factory "we know better" .. Guzzi seemed the most elegant middle ground and OH! the sound and character and affordable.  I love the clutch chatter from my Norge speaking to me. 

I can afford ANY bike I want but I continue to choose my Old CARC and Cali model...

[Scott Carpenter]

In 2003 I was looking for a bike that was more comfortable on long trips than my SZR600. Not a difficult task you might say, but I had these bikes in mind;

W650
F800S
R850
Breva750

W650 - Kawasaki said no test rides so that was out.
F800S - BMW people even put the low seat on it for me, still felt not right too high and maybe too sporty (before the GT came out)
R850 - again the lovely BMW people put a low seat on, but too heavy and high. Otherwise loved it.
Breva750 - went for a 15 mile test ride from Inmoto in Croydon. Did 80 up the Caterham bypass before I knew it. Sounded great, felt comfortable. I went back and put a deposit down that day and got my Breva in March 2004. I'm now on my 3rd one.

PS - The Perfect Vehicle also had a hand in it too!

[DC950]

my first bike was a 1988 883 Sportster.  Then came a pretty bad shape 1974 R90/6.  A year later, a new, leftover 1988 R100GS.  Having a Guzzi seemed to be the perfect cross between a Sportster and an Airhead.

It was and still is.

[buck]

After owning many bikes over the years I walked into a multiline dealership that happened to have Guzzi. I’d seen a couple during a previous Daytona bike week. I looked over a couple of 2002 Le Mans examples on the floor - a red/silver version and a champagne example. I asked the owner what people saw in those bikes and he said “well, you just have to ride one”. So I took him at his word and took the red/sliver one out for about an hour. The sound and feel of the big block did me in. I bought the champagne example.

Unfortunately the ownership experience was not good. It was during the time Aprilia owned Guzzi and was in financial trouble. The bike had lots of problems and spent 5.5 of its first 9 months at the dealer. Ultimately when the problems just kept multiplying I decided to file under lemon law for a replacement. They fought me at every turn, so I got pissed off and told them I’d no longer accept a replacement. I hired an attorney and filed suit. Nearly two years later they decided they wanted to give me a replacement bike as settlement. I declined. At the 2.5 year mark of all of this nonsense Piaggio was in negotiations to buy Aprilia/Guzzi, so all of the sudden they wanted to work out a real settlement, which we did. I washed my hands of the brand, but I never forgot about the feel and sound of that bike. Like nothing else out there.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and I still thought about Guzzi’s. I happened into Cadre one day in 2021 and purchased a new V7. It was and is a wonderful bike, now with nearly 30,000 miles on it. A year and a half later I added a ‘22 V85 TT Adventure to the garage as well. It’s been another fantastic bike, now with about 33,000 miles.

I’ve owned 66 motorcycles in my life and worked in the business for about a decade (Harley). These are not the fastest bikes I’ve owned. Not even in the same ball park. But there is something about them that just works. Comfortable, capable, engaging and fun, which is a good trade off from outright horsepower at this point in my life.

[blackcat]

I was at my girlfriend's house when her father gave her a brand new 1970 BMW R/75 for her birthday, she was a bit shocked given the fact that she didn't know how to ride but her father was intent on one of his daughters learning how to ride a bike. He then rolled out his matching new bike and he was more excited than she was about these purchases. She lived at the bottom of a winding hill and as we were standing there we could hear the sound of a rumbling bike which was not a Harley and in came to view is what I now guess is an Ambassador and I thought what a cool sounding bike next to the less than interesting to me /75. She never got the hang of riding that BMW which was good because she was a terrible auto driver.

Flash ahead many years and my first Guzzi was a well used CX which I still own; at the time I really wanted a V7 Sport but the CX was my first learning experience with a Guzzi. When I couldn't get it timed with the marks on the flywheel Dave Richardson said I should forget the marks and time it by ear and I was off to the races.

[Moparnut72]

1970 R75? They were pretty rare birds. I got the first one in Denver. It came in during February destined to be the demonstrator. When the dealer found out he was only getting two more which were already called for. So I was offered the demo in June as I had put down a deposit the previous November. I was torn between an Ambassador and the BMW. I have had a soft spot for Guzzis ever since and have had six, currently haven't two one being a semi basket case.
kk