Moto Guzzis?

[awa355]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-605303349.htm

I love this. But are Guzzi's any more troublesome or expensive to live with than other makes?

[unstuck]

Looks like a nice bike, never had an experience with Guzzis though.

[Banditbandit]

I've always hankered after a Guzzi (Le Mans - 1994) .. but never been in a position to buy one ...

I believe (talking to Guzzi owners and friends who have owned them) that there are good Guzzis .. that just run and run .. no hassles .. and bad Guzzis .. that needs constant work etc ... and it is not to do with the model - it is the individual bike ...

So if you get a good one then no worries ... if you get a bad one .. then you'd better be a good mechanic ..

[granstar]

Where are all the Guzzi gurus? Love to own an early 1000, Mille GT style or perhaps a new V7 but yep ...dosh or lack of it.

A few friends have had em and only issues iv'e noted some with poor electrics, nothing on a par with British, and requiring replacement of universal drives every 40, 000 k's or so ( no biggy apart from cost). One mate must have went around clock 3 times on his Spada only to be relegated to a trike after recovery from a tin top near take him (and definitely the bike) out, by going through a stop sign. Another a beautiful 1100 sport, lovely powerful machine that went like stink until he dropped it. Depends on model i guess, a bit agricultural but good bikes me thinks.

[awa355]

I have to go to Morrinsville tomorrow. I see that NV Motorcycles there, have about 4 new Guzzis listed. So I'll go in and have a look. When I get back into a real bike again, next year, it will be probably my last purchase so I want to get something that is what the heart wants, not the 'sensible' choice.

From back in the 70's, Italian bikes always seemed to be fairly tempremental and its hard to get away from that mindset. I dont have the mechanical skills to do any serious maintanence myself, so reliability has usually been a requirement. I love the look of the white V7.

[AllanB]

Where's Dangerous? He'd pop a wheelie on it ......

[Kickaha]

Where's Dangerous? He'd pop a wheelie on it ......

Last time I saw him do a wheelie he fell on his arse

[AllanB]

Last time I saw him do a wheelie he fell on his arse

Don't lend him your bike, he may blame the tyres ...................

[98tls]

Last time I saw him do a wheelie he fell on his arse

Fuck,wish id seen that.First time i met him was at a stop just north of Kurow many years ago,when we set off he made a lame attempt at one wheel,was directly behind him as we set off and i swear i heard the TL laughing.Still Guzzis have there merits when it comes to one wheel antics i suppose,with the motor being put in the wrong way round its not like your going to starve the front cylinder of oil eh.

[Paul in NZ]

The answer is - 'it depends'....

There will not be a reliable and competent dealer within a 1000 miles of you so if you are the sort of chap who owns a fist full of spanners and aint afraid to use em - then its not really any worse than any other bike. Servicing is easy but it can be repetitive.

Yes - there are good ones and bad ones but all of them will try your patience at one point or other. Get through that and it will hum along for ages and then have a wee hissy fit again...

The good news is parts are readily availiable on line and relatively cheap. The Guzzi knowledge base is awesome and freely shared so joining a forum of one sort or another is a must. So is buying 'Guzziology' which tells you everything about every guzzi that the shop manual does not tell you and that you really need to know.

Thats not that cheap for a crippled California so look around.

[Banditbandit]

This is not a California .. but it's very pretty ... and reasonable money too.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-602439763.htm

[Paul in NZ]

I doubt anyone would reccomend a Lario as a good place to start with Moto Guzzis...

Most of them are sorted now but back when they were new seasoned technicians would hide behind scatter shields if someone ran an engine inside the workshop... Quite powerful for the engine size (back in the day) but the 4V head was a ghastly mistake. Two piece valves with too strong valve springs and a revvy nature left a lot of heart ache....

Fabulous bike once fully sorted and amazingly swift...

[Voltaire]

I have the ancester of the current V7 series, bought as a non runner....now a semi runner..its always a " just needs a ..." away.
Coming from a BMW airhead background they are very similar, but with some different ways of going about things.
I gave up trying to get parts here, found German Ebay to be excellent and a shop in Holland TML...?
The 'big Blocks' are completely different, one day when I'm bigger I might get a le Mans 3.....

[Big Dave]

Adam could do with some help with his copy writing.

[willytheekid]

I doubt anyone would reccomend a Lario as a good place to start with Moto Guzzis...

Most of them are sorted now but back when they were new seasoned technicians would hide behind scatter shields if someone ran an engine inside the workshop... Quite powerful for the engine size (back in the day) but the 4V head was a ghastly mistake. Two piece valves with too strong valve springs and a revvy nature left a lot of heart ache....

Fabulous bike once fully sorted and amazingly swift...

+1
...listen to this man

Ive owned one Guzzi (a 95 1100 sport), yes, they require a tad more "attention" than other makes...but if you look after them, treat them to regular checks, lubes and general maintenance, they run like a clock!.
I rode mine as daily transport for years!, it never missed a beat!...I love the simple nature of these beast's, easy to work on and damn well made! (It may be simple tech when compared to modern kits...but they have the most "soul & feel" )