Moto Guzzi how are they?

Whats it like to live with a late 60s Moto Guzzi?

cost of parts, maintence, reliability etc

Maintenance and reliability is great. I own a 00 V11 Sport but it uses the same basic engine they have used forever. Adjusting the valves takes 15 minutes or so, the most trouble I had with that job was a stubborn fastener.

Reliability is great because they are so simple and understressed, if anything does go wrong it is easy to fix. There are the usual electrical niggles and such but being Italian that isn't really too surprising. I have seen quite a few owners with over 100k on them, some close to 200k.

Parts can be found online, for the ones I have looked for the prices aren't too out of line. I haven't needed any parts for mine yet so I can't really recommend any specific sites, I have had mine for only about 1/2 year and 3k miles or so.

A good site for info is http://wildguzzi.com/. There are also some Guzzi owners on advrider.com.

Picture of mine for fun.

Also, unless you are really set on a late 60's or found one for cheap, newer models are often not much more expensive and are sometimes even cheaper than an old one in good condition. There is a very nice looking V11 Lemans for $5k on the WildGuzzi classifieds right now.

I've always wondered, do these have a tendency to lean to one side when you get on or off the throttle due to the rotational mass?

Yes they do, when standing still they will twitch to the right when you rev it up. It does not affect anything when you are moving forward.

Can't be any worse than an old BMW. Just have a good bite on the bars when you hit the starter, other than that I never had any issues.

(I have two)

Dan

Yea, it is definitely noting to be concerned about. I don't really notice it too much anymore.

Im not too interested in newer bikes, they just dont do it for me. I dont really like the whole modern sport bike thing. But can I expect the same sort of reliability from the older bikes as with the newer ones?

The only issue of reliability with older bikes is the same as all old bikes. Aging components, wiring, etc.

Wiring is the probelm spot but they are very tractor like you can't kill'em as long as they have oil they'll run.

All I know is IMHO Guzzis are the best sounding V-twin ever.

How much did you pay for your bad Moto Guzzi?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYSesXsN-ZM

The only Guzzi to stay away from would be the 80's vintage V65 Lario and that would only be IF IT HAD NOT HAD UP GRADE KIT installed. From the factory the Larios eat camshafts ever 2500miles. Problem was many fold but biggest three were the cam lobes were to narrow @ 11mm and the Valve springs WAY to stiff and the fact you had two valves operated from one cam lobe. Took a long while to figure out the best fixes. So long in fact many cam grinding places would not touch a Guzzi cam. Thankfully it was solved using Kawasaki KZ dual springs and wider cam lobes 15mm i recall. You must still run good oils with the newer parts like Brad Penn or other high zinc oils. Mobil 1 works but not as well.

That being said If i could have found one last week I'd have bought it. I lost out on a Lemans 1000 by 1 day.

44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzszklzop6w&feature=relmfu

Skip to 2:25 for the good stuff.