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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
Photo by Daniel Rintz, Himba children, Namibia

The only impossible journey
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  #1  
Old 15 Jan 2009
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Talking Moto Guzzi V7 Classic

I just love this bike , simple ,powerful enough ,shaft drive , no sky high seat height , 55mpg ,
and truly classic good look,s . For me , all it need,s is a decent flyscreen and a set of pannier,s and maybe a set of heidenau knobbly tyre,s and i am good to go .
Classic case of style: Moto Guzzi V7 Classic - Telegraph
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  #2  
Old 15 Jan 2009
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I agree, what a beautiful bike. This, or a Hinkley Bonniville is all you need to go anywhere really.



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  #3  
Old 16 Feb 2009
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nce bike
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  #4  
Old 16 Feb 2009
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One of the very few bikes that I would want to buy from new is the V7. Haveing seen one in the flesh I fell in love with it.
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  #5  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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This new MG is a very cool bike indeed. Low torque and not-too-big 750 engine, shaft drive and not too heavy as well. If I'm going to buy more road-oriented bike next to my DR-Z400S then this may well be it.
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  #6  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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M&S Motorcycles in Newcastle have one in white, on a display stand just as you go into the showroom. Really nice bike and looks more authentic than the Ducati SportClassics.

I was also looking at the Bellagio which is one of the very few cruisers/customs I'd consider owning.
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  #7  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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Involvement

At last I shall make a comment. Moto Guzzis offer a rewarding riding experience whether they look good or not. They are much underrated bikes. A friend of mine had a Hinkley Triumph Thruxton which he loved for its looks. I didn't know him till someone told me he was looking for a Le Mans 850. I spotted one and he went off with a few words of advice--The gearbox is very clunky, all 850's are like that. He bought it. Now to the crux: The Triumph was bland in comparison to ride. He said it was just a smooth, modern bike. The Guzzi however was the real deal. A proper bike. He sold the Triumph for a large loss. I have heard that the new V7 has much of the appeal of the 850's. It is a pity that Triumph feel a smooth, boring experience is suitable for the Bonneville name. It has long puzzled me. Try a Guzzi, you might really be smitten. I'm not speaking in a biased fashion I hope. I'm trying to help. Linzi.
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  #8  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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The Guzzi is the most stunning bike I have seen for a long time
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  #9  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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For anyone really interested in biking I think the bike should be really special. For me my Guzzi is impossible to put a value on. The way it rewards riding and gives pride of ownership. Go to motoguzziclub.co.uk. Check the forum and you'll get the raw truth of the Guzzi experience. The only other bike that I would want above mine is a Ducati 900ss bevel and I could never afford to keep it going so I'll stick with my present bike. Linzi.
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  #10  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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Despite being a long time Triumph fan, the V7 or 750 Breva is the new bike I would buy if I could cope with the left hand shift.
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  #11  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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Changes

Funny, last few days there's been a thread on Tech Talk on the Club site about changing the side of the gearchange. At least discussion about one second hand bike which had such a conversion. It's not difficult apparently. Or don't forget you are allowed to face backwards on a bike in UK as long as both feet are on the pegs! Linzi.
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  #12  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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Linzi, having owned a Ducati 900ss bevel in 1977 and used it as my only bike summer and winter - for everything - screaming round cornish country lanes, commuting to work daily, riding regular weekends from Cornwall to Ayr or Newcastle got to say it was not as fragile as people say - it was one of the most stunning bikes i owned and remained very reliable overall, it was followed by a Guzzi MK 1 Stunning and wonderful with charachter everywhere not quite as pure or as focused to ride as the Ducati, and then a laverda Jota just a rhino of a bike brutal ill tempered and hard as nails in every respect( I had that 20 years) loved it, In between these wonderful italian beasts have been several others Guzzis, a Harris Ducati 600 and 2 - 500 Laverdas. Along with a handful of BMWs and many others to boot. Then I had kids that sorted out the bike collecting fetish and cut it down to one or two at most - I saw my old Ducati for sale (PRG200R) about 7 years ago and wish I had bought it back. But just to say if you get the chance to own one you would not regret it and it will leave you with memories worthy of the cost of ownership. As for the new v7 really is lovely style job -but they should have made it a bit closer to the original maybe a tad more power and upgraded components rather than a budget entry model. That said the newer Guzzi build quality is back up to standard after it dropped off in the late 80s/90s. The closest Guzzi I had in character to the Ducati was believe it or not a carbed 1100 sport - it was again a wonderful bike.
Now the garage is empty of anything from Italy however maybe a mk 1 Guzzi will grace the floor again in the next year or so but if my Ducati came up again I would snap it up.
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  #13  
Old 23 Feb 2009
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I thought it was just me that had the Italian fetish!

I don't know what it is but there's something really special about Italian bikes and cars. It's just something that you just can't put your finger on and that will make you forget every single fault they have and defend them against anyone who says a bad word about them. I missed out on an opportunity to buy back my old Ducati 750SS and I'm kicking myself now.

I've always said, if you need someone to explain to you, what it is about Ferrari that is so special, you'll never understand it anyway. I think a little of that rubs off on other Italian machines too, especially if they have a "racing pedigree".

My Aprilia RSV Mille is a bit of an Austro-Italian "mongrel" but I love it.
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  #14  
Old 24 Feb 2009
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Seventies

Brian and Craig (and others), I have to say I can admire lots of machines but somehow for me it's the Italian machines exactly as Craig described. I know I can't afford a Lancia Fulvia or other delightful car and have long thought I am not rugby league enough for a brutish Jota but my real interest got stuck firmly in late 70's Italian sports bikes. I cannot express fully how much enjoyment and how widely it enfolds me but my red Le Mans is a real bike. But once a member of the club shook the pub's window's arriving on a Hailwood Replica he'd just bought in bits on e-bay. Now on the road after about £3,800! No side stand and one piece fairing off, he held it up for me to mount for a "go". I had long wondered how similar the two bikes were. First impression was to be really high off the ground. Then the feet were really high up. Dive/fall forward to the bars and I sort of gelled with the bike. To cut a long story short. The Ducati was incredible. I returned shocked, amazed, excited, unable to speak intelligently--gobsmacked as we say. That bike is a focussed fast machine. Right from Taglioni's first Rotring pen stroke on paper it is designed to accelerate to the horizon. I returned to my horny, red, low, long, lean Guzzi and sank down onto the low plank seat. It felt now like a cafe-racer styling job on a general purpose bike! That is exactly what it is of course. But it's simple to work on, robust, can go touring, shopping, pootle along or blast, it's just noisy at all of them. The pure pedigree Ducati is simply full-on adrenaline go, go, go. I came away with the knowledge that I had found for me the ideal bike to roar across the country for a cappuccino, laze a bit and roar back again, decadently taking Supertramp's long way round! But my Le Mans suits me better. Yes the Italians make some exceptional machines and in a long line of Ducatis they've been doing the "Imola thing" for years. Now, two years on I enjoy my Guzzi fully again but for a while it had been shown up--but only at horizon chasing. Ciao Linzi.
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  #15  
Old 24 Feb 2009
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Cafe racer

For enthusiasts, Moto Guzzi have shown another version of the new V7. Photos have been seen of a cafe racer version. It's shown on the club site or in a net search of course. Linzi.
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