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 yesterday at 03:00 PM 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 yesterday at 03:50 PM 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.

[audiomick]

2 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

... If you have the money, add better rear shocks. Done.

No, not done, if you have the money. I bet that the V85 motor would just bolt straight in. Practically impossible to get it legally registered with that here, I fear, but a really tempting idea.

Edited 21 hours ago by audiomick

[pete roper]

The only real difference tween the V85 motor and the V7 850 motor is the stupid TI valves isn’t it? I think this *New* Sport uses the big throttlebody as well?

Personally I think TI valves are more of a negative than a positive and anyway the 80 HP figure is a drug-addled dream, even at the crank.

[audiomick]

31 minutes ago, pete roper said:

The only real difference tween the V85 motor and the V7 850 motor is the stupid TI valves isn’t it?

Without knowing any of the details, I think there is a bit more to it than that. Although most of it might be in the engine management, I suppose.

As far as the 80 hp goes, the original only had about 70, didn't it? So what do you want for nothing...

[pete roper]

The original V7 from ‘67 made about 38 at the rear wheel on a very good day at sea level on a cool day with a very high pressure cell hanging around.

The 750 Herron head smallblock made much the same but was lighter. If a V85 makes much more than 55-60 I’ll eat my hat!

[audiomick]

9 minutes ago, pete roper said:

The 750 Heron head smallblock made much the same but was lighter.

Which is exactly the point. The big block motors exhibit loads of character, but they are tractor motors. The small blocks (I've got a V35 Imola and a Breva 750) are also boat anchors, but they are a bit lighter. A more or less modern motor with a proper cyclinder head (i.e. not Heron) should work fairly well.

The V85 TT has never been interesting for me, because I don't like chook chasers. However, the motor has been praised in many tests, and also by many people that I know personally. That new V7 with the "good" motor would possibly be exactly the combination that I would like. As long as it has clip-ons.

But it's all day-dreams anyway. Just nice to think about....

[docc]

14 minutes ago, pete roper said:

The original V7 from ‘67 made about 38 at the rear wheel on a very good day at sea level on a cool day with a very high pressure cell hanging around.

The 750 Herron head smallblock made much the same but was lighter. If a V85 makes much more than 55-60 I’ll eat my hat!

I was led to believe the V85 motor was very different from the the latest V7 "small block" derivatives (V7->V9->850).

Yet, there it is: "led to believe."

Is the V85 motor that different, after all, from the latest small blocks?

Along with the V100, are there three Moto Guzzi engine architectures, or only two?

 

[audiomick]

@docc I think there are only two, the V85 "series", and the V100.

The V100 is really new, water cooled, modern, and will probably (my opinion) be the basis for a number of new models.

The V85 and derivatives is a development of the "small block" motors that were introduced about 50 years ago. The big step, as far as I see it, is getting away from the Heron heads. They were praised as "efficient" and what-have-you, but in fact, as far as I can tell, the biggest advantage for the manufacturer was that they were cheap to produce. They have inherent limitations regarding how much fuel-air mixture can be inducted on the intake stroke, and limitations on the size of the valves.

The V7 IV, I believe it was, went to a head design with angled valves. Much better. The V 85 stayed with that, and made some more ground with it, as far as I can tell.

As far as the difference between the V85 models and other new "small blocks" goes, I reckon the V85 and the new V7 850 have basically the same motor, but the V7 range is "reduced" to be cheaper to produce, and, more importantly, to maintance a difference to the "premium" V85.

[docc]

Really? The "V85" motor is the same architecture as the V7/850/V9 "smallblock?"

I thought not, but what do I know . . .

[pete roper]

There are other differences.

I don’t think the V7-III and onwards have the semi-dry sump arrangement of the V85 although they all have the ‘Built in’ windage plate. From about 2021 the V7 series have a pressed up crank with one piece rods but they also adopted the roller tappets as used on the V85. From 2024/5 the V7 series also have variable cam timing. I have no idea of the details. Presumably some form of centrifugal advance mechanism.

V100 is essentially a ‘Generic’ Piaggio big twin turned sideways with the gearbox on the side rather than underneath.

[docc]

I bet this bike is a great rider. I am drawn to the lovely blue that has no pretensions toward the original, and iconic, V7 Sport of the 70s . . .

[audiomick]

1 minute ago, docc said:

I bet this bike is a great rider.

I'm sure it is. I took a test ride a couple of years ago on a V7 Special. I found the level of mechanical noise a bit surprising, but otherwise it was an extremely pleasant motorcycle. I don't expect that Piaggio has gone backwards in the intervening years.