MaxMoto News. 22/07/08

Something for the weekend Sir?

As any of you who have read my ramble about riding the Bellagio back from the Guzzi factory last year will know, I was not filled with joy at the thought of touring Europe on this unfaired cruiser-but my fears were totally ungrounded as it proved to be a very competent, comfortable motorcycle.

Well this year I was praying to be proved wrong, as the saddle on the V7 classic that was delivered to the showroom a couple of days before we flew to Italy seemed a tad firm and the power output seemed maybe a little low for a man of my stature (a big fat lad) to enjoy riding the intervening mountain passes between lake Como and the UK.

But as we already have a 1200 Stelvio in our demo fleet and my good lady is making noises about wanting a V7 classic the little 750 was my chosen steed!

Image 1. In the very left of the picture you can just see the new engine assembly plant at the factory, whilst centre frame you can see the old factory being cleared out prior to being updated, refitted and the extra space used to increase production rates.

First impressions of the V7: small, lightweight motorcycle, with plenty of ground clearance, a surprisingly tall seat height and a rather firm saddle!!

Now there is a line of common wisdom that says a firm saddle is a good thing for touring, but can you have too much of a good thing and is that saddle too firm? Only time, miles and my buttocks would tell!

Image 3. Please note the addition of touring screens fitted in the very successful hope of transforming the little V7 into a capable tourer.

Image 4. Not that the picture tells you anything about the bike, although it may explain why the factory build such sweet handling bikes!

Once across the Lake a few careful miles of running in got us to the Swiss border and then for me the real fun part of the journey-playing in the mountains! Although some of the less kind members of our group were openly wondering whether the little 750 would have enough power to carry me all the way to the top!! Their fears were, I will point out, totally groundless and the little bike easily coped with the gradients and handled the switch back hair-pins an absolute dream.

Poor Mark from Twiggers nearly didn’t make it up the Saint Gottard Pass-but this was due to a puncture on the fast sweeping left hand bend approaching the pass from the main road-luckily Marks superior riding skills and the Guzzi’s light weight allowed him to avoid catastrophe and bring the bike to rest along side the Armco and not in it.

Image 5. Showing the normal camaraderie shared by Guzzi rider’s the world over a group of us stopped to assist.

Through some focused free thinking, bribery and down right bloody mindedness we able to find a local garage which had an inner tube in stock, get the bike recovered to it and whilst the owner was explaining that they were closing and we should find ourselves a local hotel and return in the morning to the majority of the party-Mark and I borrowed their facilities and got the tube changed in no time! The Europe wide roadside assist that comes free of charge with the bikes even covered the cost!! Although the garage owner and staff were given a healthy tip for being so helpful, (even if they weren’t aware that they actually were being helpful whilst we were borrowing their tyre changing facilities).

However the whole adventure had cost us a few hours and we now considered our options, over the pass then motorway all the way to Freiburg, or not let this delay spoil our day and the journey and use the Susteen Pass and fun roads for as much of the journey as possible! The decision was unanimous and the little V7 was allowed to enjoy itself on nice twisty mountain roads some more! It performed so well that even being above the snowline at sunset and having to dodge the 3foot long lumps of ice that were falling from the mountain side in places was a pleasure-this is very sure footed little bike and it made light work of anything asked of it! The only possible downside was that it looked as though we would get to the hotel long after the bar shut! But the hotel staff were very helpful, not only did they welcome us despite our midnight arrival time but they pointed us in the direction of an all night karaoke bar, and thank god for small mercies-Martin Wood of Guzzi UK wasn’t in the mood for singing!!

The Morning After!! The hotel staff and the locals were all very friendly as our noisy entourage filled the narrow cobbled street as we clambered on board and set off for our next day’s adventure!

The general consensus at this point was that the saddle was definitely FIRM-but as to whether this was a good thing or not, well the jury was still out! Although to be honest by the end of the first day’s riding, (which was to be fair a long day), my backside was starting to feel a bit tender. Let’s see what day two brings.

Our destination for the end of day two was Charleville-Mezieres, near Verdun, with a good mix of road types en route. Germany was even kind enough to provide us with forested hills to play in.

These also provided shade for some last minute roadside adjustments to the Map Nav system favoured by Colin to the Tom Tom rider mounted on his handlebars! There followed a great fun days riding, with the main group dividing into smaller groups and every body making their own way to the hotel. Every one arrived at about the same time, regardless of the pace they had been riding at!

Pete Newcombe and I enjoyed a circuitous route, as the damned map had about 5km missing on the join in the pages-right where we needed it!! The sun was also very difficult to see, as the sky got very cloudy, just before it poured rain on us for the last 10miles of the day!!

When we arrived at the hotel we found that another of the bikes had suffered a puncture!

So following an early night, with only the smallest amount of alcohol consumed we decided to change all of the front inner tubes for heavier duty ones, just in case we were enjoying a faulty batch!

Surprisingly we almost managed to work as a team, well at least as a group of focused like minded individuals with the same goal in mind! The staff at the hotel were great: not only did they allow us to use their forecourt as our open air workshop, but they also lent us a jack and the female owner, who took Peter off for a chauffeured journey around the local motor cycle shops and came back with half a dozen heavy duty inner tubes!!

The remainder of the journey to Calais went without incident, and the weather stayed kind!

After a welcome rest on the ferry, we were soon off to explore the bikes characteristics in traffic, in the hell that is Friday afternoon rush hour around the M25. The little V7 proved remarkably competent here as every where else! It is both a good mile muncher when the traffic is moving at motorway speeds and light and nimble enough to filter through the stationary traffic that is all too often a feature of the M25.

Once back to sunny Suffolk I had chance to reflect on the trip and what a great little motorcycle this really is. The V7 is a very sure footed sweet handling motor cycle that has sufficient power to cruise at speeds in excess of the speed limit and happily lug the larger rider over even the highest mountains! Fuel economy ranged from about 50mpg to an amazing 70+ when speeds were reduced.

The only slight gripes I had were that to start with the saddle was a little too firm, although this did break in after the first 500 miles or so. The seat height is quite tall, and for riders with a shorter inside leg we have devised a lowering kit, which drops the seat height by around 35 mm (Compare images 10 and 11).

All in all a lot of motorbike for just £5684.00 o.t.r. especially with the 2 year 0% finance deal that is on at the minute!!

Just remains for me to say a big thank you to Colin and Martin from Guzzi UK, those nice chaps at the factory and of course my fellow travellers!!

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Related Link: Moto Guzzi V7 Classic