What brought you to Moto Guzzi?

I always fancied a MG Sport 1200 which I thought looked fantastic. When I sat on it it was very comfy. Never took one for a test ride as poor reputation for reliability and potential bigs bills if things went wrong put me off. Had lots of bikes over the years and predominantly BMW’s latterly. Great bikes but expensive to buy and found the quality was starting to lack and they were living off a quality reputation that no longer existed. My RT 2014 lc had to have a new engine in less than 2 years because of engine corrosion. Had hassle sorting it. Had a few more RT’s then bought a 2019 GS 1250 6 months old. 3 months later the dreaded engine corrosion again on a bike which new was £17k and 9 months old. Attrocious !! Had to argue between BMW and the dealer and BMW put it all back to the dealer and the dealer was bothered about my unhappiness as a customer but I could tell the dealer was trying to find the least cost option to get me out of their hair.....poor experience and left me totally pissed off and in the end I had my money back even though I had spent a small fortune on extras and they were giving me a poor financial deal I was happy to get out from the BMW. They are living on reputation which is no longer there and it will be a long time before I return

I had seen the MG V85tt when touring France in summer 2019 and thought it looked great. So in July 2020, having got my money back on my BMW, I went toe the MG dealer. Went to look at “RonaldMcDonald” colour but loved the red and white. Few days later went for a test ride. Seemed performed ok (lacking outright power) but in the real world it was a great all round bike and the 850 reminded me of old BMW’s when they had a bit of “character”. Loved the practicality of shaft drive and the looks just had me smitten. Bought it for just under £10k (even cheaper now). Not as technical etc as the BMW but a similar BMW would be near £15k. Other bikes available all seemed modern similar and never grabbed me with their looks

The Guzzi does it for my heart and the more I ride it the more I love it. When I get off it I have to stand and admire it. It’s the bike that everyone looks at and comments on and not just bikers. Indeed only the other day a guy came up to me in the street and said the bike looked gorgeous and he isn’t the first. Pisses my mate off who has a BMW 1250 Rallye and he says his bike is common and everywhere......so much so that when we were allowed to ride a couple of months ago and had a break for a coffee he actually started getting on the wrong bike before realising his was parked 2 bikes further along.....that was a real laugh

The Guzzi is brilliant and a real world bike. It looks great, you have to ride it and think more about overtakes, but it handles great and stirs the heart and soul. The longer I have it the more I love it.......it has its faults but I can forgive them for the pleasure it gives me every time I ride it
 
My best mate at school was Andy Mac. His father was motoring correspondent for The Field. Whilst staying with Andy during 1/2 term or a free w/e, I don't remember exactly, his dad David had a V7 Sport in green on test and I was completely smitten by it. David also had a couple of /7 series Beemers in the garage that were his. We were allowed to ride the Motobecane IF we were good.....
Being a bit thin on the ground and expensive, ownership of Guzzi whilst I was apprenticed escaped me and I went down the MZ150, YDS7 Yam, R80ST Beemer route whilst competing in trials and MX. However, another mate had a '74 750S.... Whilst he was away I had the loan of it as long as it was kept legal and with the understanding that "You bend it - you mend it". I loved it. A little under powered and not very comfortable but the rot set in and we were inextricably linked.
What I really wanted was a wire wheeled 1000S. One came up locally which I road tested and, again, loved it but it was a stretch too far at the time with two small children etc. and I most reluctantly walked away. Foolish man.
In the meantime, I was giving my son William rides around the Somerset Levels on my Ulf Carlsson replica and he was making "I want one" noises. Oh dear! Enter my brother on a rare visit with a brand new 50cc Suzuki Quad for the boy to terrify the neighborhood. Ye Gods. This would be early 96 I think and Guzzi had launched the 1100 Sport carby the previous year a picture of which, along with an 1000S, was on my workshop wall. I kept on and on about it. So did William. So did the dog. I wanted one. Desperately. On a trip to Riders of Bridgwater to get William a new helmet what did we discover but a red 1100 Sport with 1000 miles on it and mint. The original owner couldn't get on with it and traded it for a Triumph.
We went home, William told The Wife all about it. The Wife arranged a surprise road test the next w/e, our 10th wedding anniversary, and The Mistress came home.
I've had it ever since.


(Still looking for a wire wheeled 1000S)
 

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Back in the day,
My poster was a mk5 leman.
A few of my mates had laverdas,120,and 180’s and a couple of mirages.
They all said a thrasher like me should have a Montjuïc.
But hey,
,best I could afford was a gpz.
After a few years I got into the BMW’s
But my desire for the leman never disappeared..
I’ve tried on a few occasions to buy a mk5 but it’s never happened.
I also quite like the Kaffe machine bikes so I’ll build one.
This is what made me want an underpowered,badly engineered,overly expensive Italian bike:thumb2
 

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Don’t they look gorgeous

Just love it’s looks
 

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I've had a soft spot for Guzzi's since owning a V50 in the 80's, think it was @ 1985. A friend at work had a Mk1 Le Mans which was lovely and a friend from university days (Oxford University bike club) had a Le Mans Mk2 which first piqued my interest. They're such sexy, evocative bikes, such style. I'd had a 1969 T120 just before the V50 and was amazed how the V50 rode, round bends like it was on rails, just amazing. Stupidly sold the Guzzi to buy a mini.

I also remember going to a Guzzi rally in West Kingsdown, near Brands Hatch in 1985, an experience :)

I'd love one of the new V7's, almost bought one 4 years ago, but was swayed by a F800GT and almost double the hp, daft really, have been a member of the V7 Facebook group for at least 7 years, must say something, definitely want one especially with the new V7 having the engine from the V85TT.
 
...a red 1100 Sport with 1000 miles on it and mint. The original owner couldn't get on with it and traded it for a Triumph.
We went home, William told The Wife all about it. The Wife arranged a surprise road test the next w/e, our 10th wedding anniversary, and The Mistress came home.
I've had it ever since.

Sounds like a keeper. The Wife I mean
 
Mine was a very slow burn . About 14 yrs ago a mates uncle was selling off some of his collection and I was strangely drawn to an almost as new V50 with 3000 miles on the clock . He wanted about 2.5k but I wasnt sure what I’d do with it as it was almost too nice to use, didn’t buy it, never thought too much about it after. He had a mint Mark 5 Le Mans too which I thought was ugly , especially the rear end.

A few years later I saw a 12mth old New style V7 for sale at a great price. I went to see it , liked it but was also looking at something else completely different much later that day. I Rang up the following morning to make an offer to buy the Guzzi but the chap was outside loading it in a trailer for its new owner. Hey ho, wasn’t really disappointed. Ended up buying a GX650 X challenge instead.

Then about a year later I was at the Ponderosa and saw a bloody gorgeous black V11 Le Mans, Ohlins shod , aftermarket cans and just thought it looked fantastic. Still never though too much about it just really admired it.

Moving along another few months looking through the MCN ads in the paper a similar bike caught my eye . It was a V11 Le Mans Nero Corsa. Didn’t seem to be able to find out much about them, the Rosso Corsa is the one that everyone seemed to lust over. The bike appeared to be in good condition , had H&B luggage , important as it would be my only bike , seller sounded good on the phone. So I agreed that I would go and see it 3 days later on the other side of the country after work. I rang the day before to confirm arrival time & he said he now had another interested party but like me he was 3 to 4 hrs away . I said I’ll be there tomorrow . He rang me the next day and said “I’ve sold it to the other chap because he just transferred the money in fulll when he found out you were definitely coming before him “ Bit disappointed at losing that one but I was not prepared to buy the bike sight unseen.

6 months later up popped a nice V12 Sport on here , I merely admired it at first , then the seller took £750 off the price for a quick sale and suddenly it seemed like a bit of a bargain and it had luggage too. He was a quite a distance away again and I was going on holiday to the south coast that weekend with the family. “ You don’t live anywhere near the M5 do you , could you meet me at the services somewhere ? “ ... Yes was the reply! On the way down I told the Mrs that we would just be stopping for a coffee break whilst I meet a chap from the website , oh and I might be interested in buying the bike he will be riding. We spent 15mins chatting about the bike , I rode it helmetless around the car park , paid deposit , picked it up 2 weeks later.

I was never really consciously looking for a Guzzi but once you’ve had a Guzzi they just proper get to you and you’ll always want another...... I keep looking out for a secondhand MGX21 but I’ll more likely end up with a V85 ....... one day :thumb2
 
Had a Cali in my Dad’s shop (Kawasaki Exeter). Rule was if I cleaned it I could ride it around the car park. That was one clean Cali. Then this happened.

IMG_2004.JPGIMG_0142.JPG
 
Lovely, wondered when it would make an appearance in this thread.
Can't think of a classic bike I would rather have than a T3.
 
Nin and Oldrats restorations have resulted in two beautiful bikes. The level of skill that some folk have never ceases to amaze me. Just need to see Mikeyboys finished job now, you just know it's going to be stunning.
 
Nin and Oldrats restorations have resulted in two beautiful bikes. The level of skill that some folk have never ceases to amaze me. Just need to see Mikeyboys finished job now, you just know it's going to be stunning.

No, Mikey boy is skilled, Nin too. I don’t count myself anywhere near their league.

I really just project managed my build, bought the manuals did some research and farmed out things I wasn’t comfy with. If you can adopt that mindset then anyone can do it, but you do have to pay for skills, sometimes you don’t have much choice and it’s top dollar because you need it done.
 
No, Mikey boy is skilled, Nin too. I don’t count myself anywhere near their league.

I really just project managed my build, bought the manuals did some research and farmed out things I wasn’t comfy with. If you can adopt that mindset then anyone can do it, but you do have to pay for skills, sometimes you don’t have much choice and it’s top dollar because you need it done.

.....and should you come to sell it’s worth nowhere near what it cost. DAMHIK :D

That’s not, of course, the point though is it :)

Andres
 


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