Would you make room in your herd for the NOS V7 Sport? available in Spring 2025...

[p6x]

My real first contact with a Moto Guzzi was with the V7 Sport in the 70's. I remember very well, and I have a photo somewhere in a box.

Edit: watch the video about the Norton Commando! in my opinion, they did a better job, adding a café racer to the classic!

According to you, did Moto Guzzi/Piaggio miss the mark on this iconic reissue?

My gripes and kudos:

-That single digital instrument is an offence to the spirit of the bike. They have a dual clock arrangement on some other V7s. Why not on this one?

-Not a big fan of the rearview mirrors at the end of the handlebars, but that is an easy sorting.

-Electronically, they have the ride by wire, the ABS that works in curves, I read somewhere they have a cruise control, with the usual ECU maping modes which I don't think are necessary on a bike with so little watts.

-Dual rotors, radial calipers, inverted forks with additional settings; ok.

-A removable seat cowl and a front fairing would have been nice.

-I like the reduced length mufflers, but maybe some Akrapovǐk like on other V7 would have given a better tone.

Price is undecided, but the Guzzi representative says it will be attractive.

What do you think? would you make room for this one?

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by p6x

[docc]

Agreed on the dual instrumentation being more desirable for a proper "Sport." I also find the off-center mounting distracting for riding. I regard that as some sort of flash done for onlookers when parked-up. A proper "Sport" is not about being looked at while parked like a dancing girl sitting on a couch.

Improving the forks and adding a brake disc is a nice touch, but again, does not make it a "Sport", but a Sport badged V7.

Applying the clip-ons and rear-sets of the V7 Racer would move it further to desirable, rather than handlebars and rubber footpegs. Rather like putting mag wheels with big tires on your mother's beige sedan and calling it a hotrod.

A true Sport offering would come with the stronger V85TT 850 rather than the cooking 850 built up from the V7.

Getting the proper elements together could qualify the outcome for a Red Frame . . .

(At least they didn't pull that out of the bag for this model.)

[GuzziMoto]

The "Sport" badge can be used in two different ways. Sometimes it is used for a faster, more performance oriented version of something. But other times it is used as a budget friendly package, designed to look more exciting but not actually be faster.

This "Sport" looks to be a combination of the two. Some things like the forks and brakes appear to be an upgrade. But then, perhaps to offset the cost of the forks and brakes, they cut corners on other items and give you just a single gauge (It looks like it squeezes a speedo and tach into that single gauge, that is fine by me). On the bright side, I would assume that things like the seat with cowl and pegs / bars from other models could be interchanged with this one if desired. But only you can decide if it belongs in your garage. It does not belong in mine, but honestly Moto Guzzi does not currently sell a motorcycle that belongs in mine. The V100 is close, but I would want either a naked version of it or an MGS version of it. I know, two extremes on either side of the current V100, but the V100 needs either less or more to be one I would want. As is it is right in that middle ground that just doesn't do it for me. As for small blocks, we have one and that is enough. And ours is way cooler to me.

Edited 6 hours ago by GuzziMoto

[GuzziMoto]

Also, based on what was said here and in the Norton thread, I feel I should add that any proper cafe racer is built, not bought. You could by a V7 Sport and make a sweet cafe racer out of it. I personally don't think it is supposed to be a cafe racer from the factory, but it does seem to be a decent platform to build a cafe racer, as long as you aren't expecting an overly powerful cafe racer.

Remove as much as you can off it, add a solo seat and a small flyscreen, some clip-ons, and higher footpegs. If you have the money, add better rear shocks. Done.