V1000 G5 or 850T/T3?

[NC Steve]

I've been thinking for a while about picking up an 850T or T3 as a solid daily rider, no restorations or anything fancy, just clean and reliable. But, I recently met a guy that runs a small independent shop nearby, who has five, not 1, but 5, G5s that he's accumulated over the last year or so. He spends time on the road following tips on barn finds, and when he's not working on customer's bikes, he's out there 'picking'.

Anyway, the 850s have become quite desirable and pricey the past few years, and I'm thinking of having him get one of the G5s gone thru and running right, with everything working as it should. From some online searching, depending on which site I'm on, it appears the the G5 and T bikes make similar power, with the T maybe making a bit more, surprisingly; I would've expected the 1000 engine to produce more torque, if not horsepower. Their weights look to be similar as well, maybe varying with bags and windshields? I haven't been able to find seat height or wheelbase info, but wouldn't be surprised to see the G5's was longer.

So what's the general opinion? What am I probably overlooking? All advice, warnings and prayers are welcome!

[guzzisteve]

Go w/G5

[Perazzimx14]

I'm your huckleberry

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

One thing to consider: G5s have iron liners (or Nigusil if late enough) not the flake prone chrome bores of the T and T3. Wheelbase should be the same. Seat height will be higher - the G5 has that big, comfy "couch" originally. The 949 engine does have a bit more power and torque in the real world, don't believe "brochure horsepower" claims.

[pete roper]

Apart from an extra 100cc�s there is very little to tell between them. Depending on exact model there may be slight differences in terms of pegs and bars or the like and the G5�s, from memory, have the cast iron bores of the early SP�s so there are no worries about flaking chrome. Of course alternatively there may be problems with rust!

In any case be aware it�s a nearly 40 year old machine so regardless of whether or not you want to �Restore� it it will require considerable work to turn it into a safe daily rider. Apart from obvious things like cleaning out the sump and a full service and tune it will definitely need new brake lines and almost certainly new calipers as the G5�s pre-date the swap to anodised alloy pistons. If the bike has been sitting both calipers and master cylinders will have oysters growing in them!

Then there will be steering head bearings and most likely swing arm bearings. A UJ support bearing and maybe a new UJ.

The wiring loom will be frail and brittle and seals throughout the bike will be old and dry. The front dampers in the forks will be shot as will the shocks and there may well be rusty fork staunchions to deal with as well.

Look, the G5 is a lovely bike, basically a �Naked� SP1000 but go in with your eyes wide open and don�t cut corners. Your life may depend upon it!

Pete

[Turin]

I'd pick up whatever pops up first. Early 850 T's lack an oil filter so that is one disadvantage.

[Moto]

I'd pick up whatever pops up first. Early 850 T's lack an oil filter so that is one disadvantage.

I'd pick up the one in the best condition I could find, without regard to which model it was. Lots of them have had a lot of work done. Find one of those.

On the other hand, I haven't really begrudged my T3 the thousands of dollars I've put into her. It's fun to work on them too.

Moto

[Tom]

G5's are solid bikes.  If you can get one for less than a T3, I'd go with the G5.   

[fotoguzzi]

ALL true but the 850T has a cult like following.. buy the one from Perazzimx14, you can't beat that color..(unless you find a maroon one) !

I'm your huckleberry

[LeRoy]

I'll place another vote in favor of the G5. A G5 is about 90+% the same as an 850 T-3 except for the huge advantage of iron bores/cylinders instead of the flaky chrome bores of the 850, and the modest advantage of slightly more power and torque from the 1000 cc (actually 949 cc) G5 engine. Other differences come down to things like the extra comfy G5 seat, slightly different/lower peg location on some G5s, and a few other nits and nats.

For me the bottom line in buying one or the other is the significant advantage of the G5's iron bores. All else being equal, that's about a $500-$750 advantage to the G5, even if you have to do a fresh ring job on the G5. It's still way cheaper than new barrels, pistons, writs pins and rings for an 850 model. In almost every other respect an 850 T-3 and G5 will cost about the same time and money to restore, renovate and refurbish.

[jas67]

Apart from an extra 100cc�s there is very little to tell between them. Depending on exact model there may be slight differences in terms of pegs and bars or the like and the G5�s, from memory, have the cast iron bores of the early SP�s so there are no worries about flaking chrome. Of course alternatively there may be problems with rust!

In any case be aware it�s a nearly 40 year old machine so regardless of whether or not you want to �Restore� it it will require considerable work to turn it into a safe daily rider. Apart from obvious things like cleaning out the sump and a full service and tune it will definitely need new brake lines and almost certainly new calipers as the G5�s pre-date the swap to anodised alloy pistons. If the bike has been sitting both calipers and master cylinders will have oysters growing in them!

Then there will be steering head bearings and most likely swing arm bearings. A UJ support bearing and maybe a new UJ.

The wiring loom will be frail and brittle and seals throughout the bike will be old and dry. The front dampers in the forks will be shot as will the shocks and there may well be rusty fork staunchions to deal with as well.

Look, the G5 is a lovely bike, basically a �Naked� SP1000 but go in with your eyes wide open and don�t cut corners. Your life may depend upon it!

Pete

All good advice.      I just went through all this, including the universal joint and its support bearing on my Eldorado + the swap to Gilardoni Nikasil cylinders.

Plan on spending several $k to make it a safe and reliable daily rider.

Any bike this old is likely to need everything.

[JoeW]

In my opinion the only disadvantage to a G5 is the instrument cluster. I'm sure some people would disagree with me but, I like the dual guages of the T3 over the single on the G5.

Sent from my QTASUN1 using Tapatalk

[LeRoy]

In my opinion the only disadvantage to a G5 is the instrument cluster. I'm sure some people would disagree with me but, I like the dual guages of the T3 over the single on the G5.

Later G5 models (early 80s, I believe) had a traditional two-gauge cluster much like an 850 T-3. I do agree on the early models with awkward-looking Convert-style big black box. Here's a comparison:






multiple photo upload

[Turin]

I find the big convert instrument box ugly as well. 850T also runs a smaller u-joint than the later bikes.

[Shorty]

The G5 will have better (than an 850T) electrical output, better brakes, a better (stock) seat, an oil filter, and possibly cast wheels and floorboards, if'n that's any importance to you. Some of the T's had  higher gearing as well. The T is a better running start on a V7 Sport clone project, if that is in your future plans. In addition to the above mentioned items, a new timing chain and tensioner, and aftermarket ignition may be in store for you as well.  My latest Guzzi, an 81 G5, feels heftier than my older Ts. Then again, so did my SP1000 when I had it. Might be imaginary.

[Perazzimx14]

ALL true but the 850T has a cult like following.. buy the one from Perazzimx14, you can't beat that color..(unless you find a maroon one) !

Mine also has Gilardoni's
EBC floating front rotor, new caliper and master cylinder to match
Universal and splines are in like new condition
And lots more.
External oil filter

The biggest thing is I have not had it on road for 2 seasons so it'll take me an afternoon to get it back it to road worthyness. It also has a generic headlight bucket as it is a survivor of a windjammer fairing.

[Chuck in Indiana]

ALL true but the 850T has a cult like following.. buy the one from Perazzimx14, you can't beat that color..(unless you find a maroon one) !

This. He's already spent the money and done the work. The cheapest Guzzi you can find is the most expensive because the owner has already done the work, and will be lucky to realize 50 cents on the dollar spent. The labor is free.. 
Trust me. I've done several barn finds.

[Groover]

...who has five, not 1, but 5, G5s that he's accumulated over the last year or so..

I thought that was going to be me, but I couldn't find anymore at the time. I see where they all are now!

There are two overall generations of the G5.

Generation 1 with the large dashboard and cowled tail light, spoke rims, hard-mounted carbs - 1978-1980
Generation 2 with the smaller (T3 style) dash and Le Mans / SP Tail light, alloy rims, soft-mounted carbs - 1981

Those are the most visible things to easily spot the two. There are other little things that are different between the two, but nothing major. Triples are also different on Generation 2.

Here is my 1981 G5 post restoration. All what has been said in the above replies is true. They'll be lots of parts to replace if you really want to make it safe and reliable. Good thing is that everything is available in one form or another. The T3 do have a cult following, but I've been really pushing and working on brainwashing people into a G5 cult these past few years with some of my posts and pics on this board  . The T (not T3) is in a whole different collector category I think.

In regards to the barn find restoration $ factor. Could easily be purchase price x 10 depending on your restoration goals, so beware.

[Chuck in Indiana]

That's a beauty, Groover.. attaboy. 

[Don G]

Its kind of like this: You take Sally, I'll take Sue, there aint no difference between the two.  :boozing:DonG

[guzzimatic]

Some of you will know of whom I speak,Ron Tinkham of R&K cycles,who ran the Illinois Guzzi for decades has been riding a G-5 forever. He has had all kinds go thru his shop and the G-5 is his choice! Nuff said...

[Turin]

I have a 850 t and my first bike was a t3. Both were pretty tragic when I bought them. Buying a finished example will save you a ton of money.
If I was after one I'd look for one with new gilardoni barrels.

[brider]

Doesn't the G5 have footboards, whereas only the T3FB had them? Having ridden a Convert and now a Cal 2 for so many years, the footboards, iron liners, and extra 100 cc would definitely sway me toward the G5. Don't see many of them, how in the heck did that guy accumulate 5?

[Lesman]

Last week is the first time that I've ever seen a G5 in the wild. I was told that it was probably the only example in the Houston area right now. So, how many of these bikes made to the US?

[Groover]

According to this Wikipedia link and the fax image included there, only 3.857 were made of which ~3,000 were military use (police, polizia, etc) leaving 857 civilian.

Not sure if that is accurate, but that's what I know.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moto_Guzzi_V1000_G5

Forgot to add.... then out of those, most have been chopped and parted out and used for parts and cafe' racers, leaving just a few. Mine, Shorty's and the 5 the guy has in his barn. So 7 total 

[NC Steve]

Thanks for all of the input guys. I'm leaning toward the G5 over the 850 as well, but don't know a lot about them, although the stats I've found show them as very similar machines. Yeah, I don't know how he found five G5s either; thing is, he was just hearing about old Guzzis sitting in barns, and they turned out to be G5s. A couple weeks ago he went out for a few days and came back with a Laverda 750S, A Rokon 2wd bike, some undetermined V65 Guzzi, and a Ural Solo. Why anyone would ever buys a Ural solo is beyond my understanding, the only thing that ever made them appealing was the sidecar! But whatever, he also has a few old Triumphs and BSA, small Desmo Ducatis, old Japanese bikes, and a few dirt bikes/scramblers from Husqvarna, Ossa, and probably a few others. Many of these bikes are in various stages of disrepair, but from I've seen most appear to be fairly complete.

I've only had my eyes on 3 of the Guzzis so far, but the good thing I'm seeing is that there are apparently various years of G5s represented, with wire or cast wheels, dual vs. single gauge clusters, etc. I haven't paid much attention to things like seats, tanks, bags and such yet, but there are also both footboards and pegs available. We haven't talked about any money or builds yet, but I'll be going back out to the shop in the next couple of days to pick up a BMW he's working on for me, and am thinking I'd like to sit down and have a talk about making a reliable runner out of what he's got.

ps: And Groover, daaaamn man, that's a nice resto G5 you've got!

[brider]

, he was just hearing about old Guzzis sitting in barns, and they turned out to be G5s. A couple weeks ago he went out for a few days and came back with a Laverda 750S, A Rokon 2wd bike, some undetermined V65 Guzzi, and a Ural Solo.

HOW DO PEOPLE DO THIS!? Is there a website where people share sites of old barns where it's rumored there are old motorcycles parked inside? Or do they actually drive the countryside and knock on the doors of homes where an old barn sits, or do they go to every estate sale advertised in the local paper? Good for him! That's what I wanna do when I grow up!

[NC Steve]

HOW DO PEOPLE DO THIS!? Is there a website where people share sites of old barns where it's rumored there are old motorcycles parked inside? Or do they actually drive the countryside and knock on the doors of homes where an old barn sits, or do they go to every estate sale advertised in the local paper? Good for him! That's what I wanna do when I grow up!

I've been wondering the same thing for 30 years. I've never found a damn thing abandoned in a barn or behind Grandpappy's old pickup.  All I know is he apparently has people out there that know he buys old bikes that need work, and they must let him know when they see anything he might be interested in. Larry Chabira, aka Lamont Sanfurd on Ebay, has been doing the same thing for many years, with old Airheads and Guzzis; he has 2 bikes for sale or trade listed right now here on the MGNOC classifieds, an Ambo and a Convert, and always has lots of parts for sale on Ebay. I've scratched my head many times over how and where he finds all of these things.

[Two Checks]

There are Frankenguzzi G5s, too. A friend had an 80 G5 LAPD that the PD didnt buy. It had a skinny seat-put it on my T and the standard rear fender/tail light, not the cowled one. Had the big tiller bars with Vert speedo and the switches at the grips for lights, siren, etc.  And it had foot boards.

[Don G]

I have an early G5 civilian, got pegs and a tach. There is another one in Alberta, so that makes 9.  DonG