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Absolutely phil- whomever is making the decisions at RE is knocking it outta the park

The earlier bikes took a direct feed from the battery to the start relay so the relay could feed the solenoid coils about 50 Amps. all the ignition switch carried was about 6 Amps. I think about 2004 Guzzi changed the wiring to feed the start relay through the ignition switch so now the switch and wiring has to supply the solenoid coils, I doubt you will get more than 30 Amps on a good day, all kinds of Voltage drop through the switch and wiring. Net result 30/50 or 60% of the magnetic field the solenoid was designed to supply, would you be happy if your Guzzi engine only put out 60%? When the solenoid current drops a bit further through dirty contacts (around 25 Amps) the solenoid doesn't even try to move, eventually the 15 Amp fuse blows. As soon as the solenoid main contacts close the coil current drops to just 10 Amps, it doesn't take much to hold the solenoid in place because the gap is small but it takes a super strong magnetic field to get it to start moving when the gap is large. There are 2 coils in the solenoid The holding coil 300 turns of fairly light wire drawing 10 Amps 3,000 Ampere Turns The Grunt coil 300 turns of larger wire wound on next to the core so as well as being fatter its also much shorter drawing 40 or more Amps 12,000 Ampere Turns. (4 x as strong) Ampere turns is the way of expressing the magnetic field strength The best way to prove it to yourself is start the bike a few times normally then take a wire and feed the solenoid directly by touching the wire direct to the battery, on your 2005 the solenoid will snap in at least 3 x faster. BTW, a good battery will hold about 10 Volts while cranking but while the solenoid is stroking the Voltage should be over 12 because the contact is not yet closed. I've tried every way I can think of to explain Startus Interuptus, I guess I will never make a good teacher lol

Love my neo-retro. It was my first bike. 51,000 miles/ 82.000 km. Hmm . . . maybe it is not so "neo" anymore . . .

The main clincher, for me, is the retro bike needs to be air cooled. The radiator removes part of the nostalgia to own one neo-retro. I really like the first one of this youtube video...

Compared to the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 it has a 120cc larger engine for the same HP, beyond retro 19" front wheel, 27kg extra weight, no slipper clutch, 5 speed gearbox not 6 speed, Japanese bike spare parts costs and it's $3000 dearer on the road. You'd have to be crazy to buy one of these over the Interceptor. Ciao

The "850" on the tank decal of the V7 Special looks pox. The rest of the bike looks nice but having "850" emblazoned on the tank decal is a styling mistake in my mind. It makes it look like the graphics were designed by a scooter stylist. Leave the capacity moniker for the side cover. Maybe it was styled by the moron at Guzzi that did the 1400 tank cutouts. Ciao

Hard to argue with the "Best of Show" . . .

Yep, the Mighty Scura had startus interuptus. KR kindly walked me through a simple wiring change, and it's been fine ever since.

Same here for the Cali II.

Gorgeous docc. Just lovely. I’ll also sing the praises of the old Kawa W650 all day long, it’s a cracking bike, and apart from the rude welding on the frame, very nicely put th’gither. Zooming on mine from Santiago De Compostela (beautiful town) across to Bilbao to catch the ferry is an ace memory.

I've ridden one. Ciao

Did someone had a peak at Velocette Truxton . Pretty and V well proportioned. Cheers Tom.

The second to last bike, the "V7 Fast Endurance" seems like another step towards re-introducing the LeMans badge. It's got Ohlins twin shocks, and the fairing seems inspired by LeMans 1 with the orange accent. But it also has those ugly number plates on both sides of the tail like the V7 Racer.

Ok red frame is the supposed less stable one. My bike has a slightly longer Wilbers shock and the forks dropped through the triple clamps 8mm and is ok as far as I'm concerned. Ciao

I can agree with the tank saying 850.. Kind of a bit much. Should of been more subtle.. Maybe on the V7 emblem put 850 or maybe on the bar clamp or on the guages for the occasional rider that needs to be reminded of how many CCs their bike has..

It is that I lack the space to have an extra bike, but otherwise I would really like to have a V7 classic. In the below vid someone is showing how much fun it is.

These manufacturers spew out data to impress , confuse , placate John Q Customer . John Q knows the oil comes out the top of the bottle & that is about it.

For retro bikes, just keep my old Guzzis running ('98 EV and '01 Sport).

I had a similar problem on my 2005 V11 but I didn't think about the possibility that the volts may be dropped across degraded contacts of the ignition switch that feeds the contacts of the starter mini-relay and through that the starter contactor coil. So I'm definitely NOT saying that any of the previous conversation and ideas are wrong. Quite the opposite. Putting a voltmeter on the input to the starter motor contactor would show whether this is the problem, especially if you know what the normal voltage drop should be. My, hopefully positive, contribution to this thread is to say that my diagnosis was that there was a problem with the starter motor contactor whose contacts seemed to add sufficient resistance to make cranking poor or to stall. It was never clear to me whether the mechanical contactor mechanism degraded and was getting partially seized so as to put less contact pressure on its starter contacts, or if it was simply that the starter contacts themselves had started to pit and degrade. All I noticed was that the starter motor was very slow (or would fail to crank) but often would start OK on the second attempt. My hypothesis was that this was either because the battery was a bit warmer and delivered a bit more current to the contactor coil or perhaps the main contactor contacts just closed with a bit less contact resistance that time. I got a new starter and the problem was solved, so, in my case at least, I feel that the problem was a degradation in the motor contactor mechanism or contacts. At 500A transient peak and 150A cranking, just the slightest extra contact resistance can be disastrous and with this d.c. current you might expect contactor deterioration over time. But the possibility that the contactor coil does not get sufficient current to pull in the main motor contacts strongly would have exactly the same effect so worth bearing both in mind before investing in a new starter.

Yeah, I wondered if it was Terry's. (?) Dunno, but likely I'd think. He also had a Centauro and 97 (?) 1100 with gold plated valve covers.

I went on a trip swapping between a Triumph Thruxton R and a Kawasaki W650. The R was the most planted bike I've ridden, and the W650 was fun, but needed more zip. So for a run to the cafe on Saturday morning, I think the W800 would be great.

I had an '07 Bonneville black, crashed it in '13. (2 broken arms.) Fun neutral steering, not the best brakes. I was about to improve them with stainless lines and an improved rotor when a Hyundai pulled a stunt and I ran out of room too quickly....

I’m speculating here but a few details might fit. Chuck would know better. Terry Barnes was the MGNOC rep for Southern Ohio & used to have a breakfast meet first Saturday each month in Germantown just NE of Cincinnati & not too far from Hamilton. He passed away 1 year, 18 months ago. I know he had a champagne LeMans & that he wasn’t on this forum. Whilst he was a machinist / engineer / mechanic he wasn’t know for washing & detailing his LeMans 😁 Paging Dr Stottlemyer !

This the best modern retro bike on the market. Smooth, reliable, excellent quality, and amazing value. This is mine. Ciao Ciao

hummm i dunno man- the old ‘weight and horsepower’ debate? …who cares really? if a bikes fun to ride it’s fun to ride. if you spend most time touring at high speed get a sport tourer, not a retro. if you spend most time nipping thru the city get a scooter, not a retro. Get a retro cos you like the style. end of. they’re all likely extremely capable machines so get the one you like the look of. which is a moto guzzi v11. 😀

Before I found the Cafe Sport, I was really tempted to get the RE Continental GT. What’s not to like. Brand new well sorted twin for under $7k, good looks, lots of aftermarket parts to play with. Until I finally went to check them out at the local dealer and they were all out of stock... Twist of fate, I now own a V11 Cafe and I couldn’t be more content. I also really like the kawasaki z900rs for a truly modern performance retro bike but that would be well above my budget... And if money is no object, the Triumph SpeedTwin would definitely be on top of the list.

I own an Interceptor 650 and the gearbox complaints are rubbish, as it's a very good gearbox. Suspension is average but acceptable on a "value" bike and the complaints about the fuel gauge are from old duffers with their first or only new bike in 40 years that expect modern car fuel gauge performance from a budget bike or any bike for that matter. 99% of reviews on the 650's are glowing ( not that I put a lot of faith in that) and that's why they are one of the best selling bikes world wide. The parts that they have obviously cut corners on the budget are the things that are easily replaceable by the owner like mirrors, levers, indicators etc. Ciao