Leaderboard

Cute, if weird in that Pininfarina way

In Kentucky on Mutton Run. if someone else doesn’t chime in before I get home, I’ll try. Bill

Yup. DeTomasso sold them in various markets under various brand names. I even know of one from Singapore that was badged as a Motobi! I had a mate who used one for regularity runs. It was a hoot. Just nail the throttle in fifth and never touch the brakes! They made zero torque so the only way to make progress on them was to wring their tiny necks! The clocks were in a panel on the tank, (Visible in the pic.) which made getting the tank off an enormous pain in the arse! I nearly bought one in the '90's. I'm so glad I didn't!

If it were licensed, why would the eagle running light look like a Wuhan bat?

I was thinking @Bill Hagan could comply with this request . . . [edit] - another teaser until the posing shot shows up . . .

"Local Market" lol hey, familiarity is a huge part of marketing. So is Nationalism.

Chain drive? I think this is a rebadged Benelli. Cool restoration

A sidecar isn’t something I’ve ever consider for myself and I’ve never ridden one but this is a good looking rig. Judging only by looking at all the pictures without any other knowledge about it, it seems like a well appointed machine - except maybe for the awful looking instrument panel. So, with its carrying capacity so much greater than a regular moto, it spurred my imagination of endless backroads camping trips following rivers through forests and mountains accompanied by the kid and the dog.... ** Maybe I’ll get a dog first...

I'd quite like to have one of them. The idea of such a small four cylinder appeals to me. I would have liked to have a Suzuki Across back in the day too...

Re-watch (or watch the first time) the original "The Italian Job" movie. It's easy to miss, but the gold they stole was Chinese gold brought to finance auto factories in Italy. Released in 1969. The Italians have been in bed with the Chinese WRT vehicles since WWII. I suspect this motorcycle will be found to be made under license to MG for the Chinese domestic market only.

China recognises the "technical superiority of Moto Guzzis" Really? I thought it was the opposite that keeps this Forum alive. The endless quest to improve on the "lack" of technical superiority of Guzzis. Phil

It’s also worth noting that Moto Guzzi currently offers its full line of motorcycles for sale in China—including the V85TT. In the past, the Piaggio Group has vigorously and assiduously defended its copyrights in courts of law—including pursuing scooter designs that it felt infringed upon Vespa designs. We don’t know what’s going to happen in this case, but it might be worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Again thank you Marty, sort of my thoughts to. I need to get manuals in ingliissh. Leak down test today, amasingly good for 95000km, 3-4% tested with 2 Sun test maschines. Another exelent friday, IPA time here. Thanks for the V11 forum. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Yes, that turned up a week or so ago on the german forum. The consensus, after much discussion, is that it may well be the result of some business arrangement between Piaggio and Changjiang. If it isn't, I dare say Piaggio is currently disscussing legal action with their lawyers. Incidentally, that article seem to be poorly researched. Firstly, the thing is called "Deffender", double-f for whatever reason. In the film at the top of the article behind Rany's link on can see the double-f very breifly on the wall behind the bike. Secondly, the quoted power figures don't correspond to other reports that I've seen. For instance: from here https://www.motorradonline.de/enduro/changjiang-v-750-deffender-gespann-guzzi/ and Motorradonline is generally very well researched. Given the similarity of those figures to the "old" V7 motor with the heron heads, I could imagine it really is a licensed copy of that motor. Moto Guzzi has retired it, after all.

It has been quiet around here about this. But the rumors have been flying about it. Marc was looking real good in Friday practice at the new track in India. Both factory Hondas get to go straight to Q2, When was the last time that happened? Meanwhile rumors are that Marc has decided to leave Honda for Gresini Ducati. I don't know if that is true, I am skeptical. But it will be interesting to see what the truth is. I tend to think he will stay at Honda for the last year of his contract, then leave if Honda is still the worst bike on the grid (or one of the two worst, along with Yamaha). Side note, Aprilia is looking good at the Buddh circuit in India.

More coolcats on cool Guzzis:

Decades ago, working at the missile factory, hardware I was responsible for was Cd plated. But as this got additional visibility (OSHA website): Cadmium and its compounds are highly toxic and exposure to this metal is known to cause cancer and targets the body's cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, neurological, reproductive, and respiratory systems. changed out to CRES.

Docc, went to the shop. Don sent me this photo of the failed bolt. Regarding the needle bearings, I noticed there was fresh grease in it. He told me that he inspected and regreased it. Of course I request the he service the driveshaft as well.