Street legal MGS 01

[Huzo]

Does anyone out there think (as do I), that if guzzi released the MGS01 with the current Griso engine and minimum equipment needed for road use, the thing would sell more units than a Panigale ? I know nothing about marketing, but why would it not be a goer ?

[Dogwalker]

BMW did it with the HP2 Sport, and it had been a huge fiasco.
The faired sportsbike market looks to the specs. Or you have it, or you don't sell.

[Huzo]

Oh ok, that's a fair point.

[Arizona Wayne]

There is 1 MGS-01 street legal in the SF Bay area and if no one else is impressed at least us Guzzisti are.     

[Huzo]

I didn't know there was such a beast

[Chuck in Indiana]

Jim at Rose Farm has one. I think it's licensed as a V11S.. 

[Arizona Wayne]

I didn't know there was such a beast

It helps to know the right people. 

[kirb]

It helps to know the right people. 

There is (was) an Aprilia RS125 'round these parts kitted out and street legal. Nothing like seeing a ring-dinger road bike years past it being 'legal'.

Anything is possible when you know how to make it happen.

[Mark West]

I think I know the one in the Bay Area. Basically it had some lights and signals added and he took it to the DMV to get titled. The lights are hidden behind the fairing mesh and the signals are so small you barely notice them. It's a beautiful machine.

The same owner has a collection that would make any guzzi lover drool. V7 sports, Daytona, etc.

[rocker59]

I didn't know there was such a beast

[rocker59]

The factory considered it.  MGS-01 Strada.  Piaggio killed it. The project was underway when Piaggio took the reins.  The outsourced MGS project didn't fit Piaggio's vision of Guzzi, so it was shelved.

[Huzo]

Oh dear me......

[cruzziguzzi]

Makes me think of those Harley VR1000s that got grey-marketed - street legal - back into the U.S. from Poland a few years back.


Todd.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I woulda looked good on that.. 

[rocker59]

Makes me think of those Harley VR1000s that got grey-marketed - street legal - back into the U.S. from Poland a few years back.


Todd.

Yep, another kick-ass sporty bike on my dream list.

[Muzz]

Must admit that having that big black lump sitting there like August in the undergrowth sure looks mean!

[Murray]

Does anyone out there think (as do I), that if guzzi released the MGS01 with the current Griso engine and minimum equipment needed for road use, the thing would sell more units than a Panigale ? I know nothing about marketing, but why would it not be a goer ?

110ish hp vs 190 hp, sub 200kgs verses at best 220 kgs in 2004 it might of cut it, 12 years on not a hope in hell. There is also quiet a number of packaging issues in putting a griso four valve in the mgs frame number one where are you planning on put the alternator? Basically they need a new motor, completely new and to be vaguely competitive in the market it will almost have to be watercooled. If you look at the proposed specs of the MGS-01 strada it was pretty weedy compared to the corsa version i.e. passing emissions was going to be a real struggle.

[Huzo]

Yeah Murray that's probably the cruel truth of it all. But do you think there'd still be people who'd take it simply because it makes the Duke look like Meringue versus Beef ?

[Murray]

Yeah Murray that's probably the cruel truth of it all. But do you think there'd still be people who'd take it simply because it makes the Duke look like Meringue versus Beef ?

The Pangalie sp? is generally considered a good looking bike so simply on aesthetics I think you might struggle the Ducati also has the been kicking rear and taking names in WSBK for the last 20 odd years. Put it this way I'd test ride one but I can't say if I'd buy one although, I can directly compare it to the Corsa admittedly people like that is very small group although it does contain a large group of bike jurnos. My concern is if it looks like a sport bike people will expect it to go like one, which frankly it won't, good performance out of a cruiser such as the 1400 calis is a bonus (tbh good performance and cali 1400 is a bit of a stretch of the definition) a sport bike is expected to perform well, that is its reason for existing.

[rocker59]

Personally, I like sporty bikes.  They do not have to be WSBK competitors for me to appreciate them.

Just like a Miata doesn't have to be a Viper for me to appreciate it.  And, a Subaru BRZ doesn't have to be a Ferrari FF for me to appreciate it.

Turn out some cranks set up for a nose mounted alternator for the 1200 8v, and they'd be set.

A 450 lbs 1200 8v powered MGS would suit me just fine for the type of sporty riding I do. 

[Dogwalker]

Personally, I like sporty bikes.  They do not have to be WSBK competitors for me to appreciate them.

They are among my favourite bikes too, but the market, especially in Italy (and in 2004 Moto Guzzi was much more centred on the italian market than it's now) seems to think otherwise.
For Example:
Aprilia Falco: fiasco
Honda VTR1000F: fiasco
Suzuki SV 1000S: fiasco
Ducati SS: they ended the production cause, in the later years, it was a...

[Murray]

They are among my favourite bikes too, but the market, especially in Italy (and in 2004 Moto Guzzi was much more centred on the italian market than it's now) seems to think otherwise.
For Example:
Aprilia Falco: fiasco
Honda VTR1000F: fiasco
Suzuki SV 1000S: fiasco
Ducati SS: they ended the production cause, in the later years, it was a...

The problem is there are bikes like that already on the market, Monster 1200s, Superduke 1290 KTM, 1200 Streefighter, V4 Tuono some of these are nakeds or half faired but they all have one thing in common they'll do what you want and they all significantly lighter more powerful than a 1200 MGS strada will be. I think there is a market for a sporting road burner I just don't think Guzzi has a motor to make the bike right now.

[Dogwalker]

They are all naked really. None of them have half handlebars or a real half fairing. There is some semi-faired version of a naked (see the FZ1 Fazer), but they are on the market essentially cause the cost to produce a slightly diferent version of the naked bike is very low.

[Dukedesmo]

The faired sportsbike market looks to the specs. Or you have it, or you don't sell.

Indeed, the likes of Panigales sell because they have 200hp and weigh under 400lbs.

Much as I and other members on here might like the MGS, how many would actually buy one?, I'm guessing it would be quite expensive...

[pete roper]

MGS-01 used an obsolete engine and obsolete gearbox and final drive stuck into a marginal chassis.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enraged that Guzzi seems to be being groomed to be the Cruiser and Hipster arm of Piaggio motorcycles but, as I've pointed out many times before, if you look at the service sheet for the MGS it says, basically, throw it all away every few hours of use!

It's an absurdly over stressed platform that is effectively useless as even a rarely used road tool!

Even though I don't think I would buy one I yearn for a new Guzzi 'Sportsbike' regardless of the fact it could never compete on paper with *Real* sportsbikes but the reality is that the MGS, no matter how pretty, isn't it. Constantly harking back to it as some sort of masturbatory personification of perfection that never was is both silly and delusional.

Pete

[Chuck in Indiana]

I take it that you don't care for it then, Pete? 

[Dean Rose]

I take it that you don't care for it then, Pete? 

That's our friend Pete for you, a true man of words. 

Dean

[rocker59]

  Constantly harking back to it as some sort of masturbatory personification of perfection that never was is both silly and delusional.

Pete

I think its personification of Guzzi's imperfections and improvisations are the attractions for we silly and delusional Guzzi sporty bike fans.

[cj750]

I think its personification of Guzzi's imperfections and improvisations are the attractions for we silly and delusional Guzzi sporty bike fans.

Agreed. In a non-motorcycle context, look at the Porsche 911. It started life as a modified Beetle chassis with funky weight distribution due to having the engine and transmission stuck behind the rear wheels. Porsche tried to kill it in favor of more rational front or mid-engine alternatives on numerous occasions, but the faithful wouldn't let it die. As a result, Porsche has continually improvised, improved and upgraded the vehicle to remain competitive, and has managed to do so brilliantly, despite the inherently "flawed" design. Of course, that kind of engineering and construction doesn't come cheap. Nonetheless, there's a ready market for it.

[blackcat]

I thought the Strada version would have been a de-turned version of the race bike; essentially the Daytona engine with the later V-11 Sport transmission.

Personally, I don't care how fast it would go but how it would handle in the turns. A 100HP or thereabouts Guzzi is fine by me.