Guzzimax

It was never planned, I was going to stop at a red frame sport, a black frame sport, & a Rosso Corsa…apart from the silver & greenie sports, they’re all subtly different This pic is of 4 x V11’s and a Griso

Took my silver Sport for its annual MOT test today (this is the annual UK roadworthy test, equivalent to the German TUV). First time out on 2 wheels since Nov last year. I generally get bikes back on the road towards the end of March when the road salt has gone

Can’t speak for worldwide sales, but here in the UK there are just 328 Griso 1200 8V’s left. I would have thought by now that everyone who has a 1200 8V flattie understands the need for rollerisation, but unrollerised examples still come up for sale. Personally I’m never selling mine and hopefully I’ve still got a good few years left riding before the grim reaper calls !

That’s my “grape ape” V11 in the lower photo, minus tank, seat and bodywork etc. Unfortunately I don’t have a lift (no space in garage currently), so I have to spend too much time groveling around on a cold concrete floor

Back in 1981~82 I had a girlfriend who rode a blue Monza. At that time I rode Honda’s hi tech answer to a Guzzi - the CX500 (aka the plastic maggot). Liquid cooled, 4 valve heads which were turned through 22 deg to move the carbs away from your knees. I recall Hondas publicity at the time claiming it was the first liquid cooled V twin ! But it lacked the purity & charisma of the V50. However good unmolested CX500’s are rare these days….

It was an evening meeting last summer, and starting to get a little cool, I guess by then some folks were needing another layer Here’s a better view of the V50

Managed to get it posting the correct way up

The lady in the background, from the local Guzzi club, standing behind the V85 owns the red V50 (the Alpinestars jacket is a bit of a giveaway) The Enfield Himalaya parked between her V50 and my black Griso belongs to her sister. They are lovely people and probably unique in the Guzzi & wider motorcycling world Docc, I’d be grateful if you can invert this photo. I’ve tried and failed miserably - thanks

Either a Triumph Scrambler 1200, or Thruxton R. The Thruxton’s riding position is somewhat sporty in a cafe racer way, and may be a bit extreme for me now, but I’m going to ride them both to decide. Had many Triumphs over the years, so getting another Trumpet would be a welcome return. One of the best “all rounders” I’ve owned was a 1050 Tiger Sport, only really sold it because I didn’t have enough time to tour, and I fancied another V11

Wheelies on a Griso

Beautiful round barrels on this early V7

And the oil filter projecting from the front of the sump

I’ve just searched for green V7 and there was a 2015 special edition Verde Legnano for the Nth American market only

Apart from V11’s and the 1973 V7 700, has this paint been available for any other Guzzi ?

Another future classic from the tuning fork Co

Notwithstanding the unintended duplicate posts extolling the virtues of the Gen 2 VMax 1700, I’ll remind everyone that this is quite a motorcycle. Yamaha claim 123 ft lbs torque at the crank at only 6500 rpm. My guess that Yamaha sold 300 ish in the UK was optimistic. There are just 230 bikes registered here. That makes even a Ducati 900 SS seem a popular machine. I think a true future classic, the like of which we won’t see again

Not sure what happened there, I’ll blame my IPads operator

I think these have already hit future classic status here in the UK, in the 7 years it was imported Yamaha only sold around 300 total. They are rarer than unicorns, Yamaha’s over optimistic pricing didn’t help, and it’s difficult to pigeonhole what Mr Max’s target market was. I enjoy it for the technical masterpiece that it was (and still is) at launch, I don’t have anything to prove, and my days of hooning around have long passed, it’s a pussycat under 4000 rpm

Thanks for the helpful reminder about the cardboard. That could turn into a very bad day. Some trials I did comparing the slippage of the rubber grips on the concrete floor, compared to carpet, showed less slippage on the carpet, (my garage floor has very smooth concrete surface), the chock grips would slide on the smooth concrete, but when placed on a large area of carpet, the grip was good without slippage

That would be awesome thanks 😊

I love these front wheel chocks, easy to use, just roll the bike in, and save a lot of garage space

Roper plate installed