IF I WASN’T A GUZZI MAN

[ScuRoo]

Listen to it ‘tween 20-24 secs - that’s mmm lurvely!

 

Okay, so we can all be slightly tempted... occasionally.

 

[swooshdave]

That was the V-4 making the noise. If you really want to know what that sounds like go watch some TT footage.

 

We never got to hear the 650.

 

The 650 looks horrible. The engine is just hacked from the V-4 and rotate in the frame. The right side is just appalling. Did you see the shift rod? Doubles as a walking cane.

[czakky]

It checks a lot of boxes, but like I say eventually you have to get off the thing at look at it. I just don’t understand the styling...?

[Lucky Phil]

The first thing that comes to mind when I look at the 650 is Centre of Gravity.

 

Ciao

[swooshdave]

 

Now this thing... hides the ugly under some really expensive carbon fiber!

[GuzziMoto]

I actually like what Norton is doing, and wouldn't mind having one at all. But I am something of an idiot when it comes to bikes, and the Norton I would really love to have is one of their rotary racebikes from the IoMTT.

Is the V4 still based on the Aprilia motor? Not a bad motor in its own right..... But I heard they were supposed to come up with their own V4 and the early versions using the Aprilia V4 were just a stop gap. I do like V4's.

[Tomchri]

Guzzi M

Yes I can still remember the crazy sound from the black and gold John Player Team bikes. Having breakfast with the team every morning. Yes I was lucky to be there in 92. Definitely recommended.

Cheers tom.

[al_roethlisberger]

My buddy has owned a 1998 Honda VFR800 since new, and I've ridden it a few times.  That of course is a V4, with as an aside, timing gears... not a chain or belt.  It was a great sounding and riding bike, and the engine played a big part in that.  A very good all-around motorcycle, and dead reliable, but not appliance-like.  The V4 and gears gave it surprising "soul".

[Chuck]

^^^^ Yeah, the V4 is the only other engine I'd consider if I had to. Fortunately, I don't have to..

[GuzziMoto]

Guzzi M

Yes I can still remember the crazy sound from the black and gold John Player Team bikes. Having breakfast with the team every morning. Yes I was lucky to be there in 92. Definitely recommended.

Cheers tom.

 

You lucky B@stard! I am so jealous. I know there were issues with that whole package, but that is (to me) one of those landmark moments in motorcycle history. It is like the Guzzi V8. Even though it went no where in the end it was still a brilliant moment in motorcycle engineering.

My buddy has owned a 1998 Honda VFR800 since new, and I've ridden it a few times.  That of course is a V4, with as an aside, timing gears... not a chain or belt.  It was a great sounding and riding bike, and the engine played a big part in that.  A very good all-around motorcycle, and dead reliable, but not appliance-like.  The V4 and gears gave it surprising "soul".

That is another landmark motorcycle, and I hate Honda's. But that, along with the RC30 and other Honda V4's, showed that back then Honda had some brilliant engineers. I wonder where those guys work nowadays....

[68C]

I well remember those Wankel engine Nortons at the TT. Watched them race prepare the bike in the pits which seemed to just consist of washing the flies off! The reason the bike disappeared from history was no one could decide what capacity the bike was and so which formula it could race in. Tragic loss of technology although doubtful it could meet modern emmission regulations.

 

They did give me one good tip, do not use silicon brake fluid. It is too slippery letting the square section seals slide through too easily so they do not distort and so cannot pull the pads clear when the brake is released. They said many folk tried in the past to design disc brake calipers using round seals, it was the use of square seals that made them practicable.

 

Years before that I watched Peter Williams on the John Player Semi-Monocoque 750cc twin at the TT, sadly that bike seriously injured him a few years later when the poorly secured tank-seat section came loose in a race. He went on to become our local Norton dealer, a lovely chap who would always give you time.