Moto Guzzi Daytona at MPH (Houston) to be prepped up for sale by owner.

[p6x]

I was at MPH (Houston, Tx) today for an unrelated trip, and I came upon a Guzzi Daytona in their workshop.

Speaking to MPH's Mike Haven, the owner of this bike wants to sell it, as its just gathering dust in his garage. It is my understanding that it has not run for a while, don't know how long.

Nevertheless, Mike said the bike is in top shape, and they are going over everything. As you can see in the photos below, the bike is not tagged, and has only 8698 miles on the odometer.

I thought, well, since it is right there up for grabs, I should indulge. That was until I tried the clutch lever. It requires too much effort for my damaged left hand.

So if any of you is interested, let me know. I can go back and take a lot more photos, and ask Mike for the owner's contact.

Edited yesterday at 01:14 AM by p6x

[footgoose]

 

I'm wondering if RAM or someone else, makes a clutch for this model. My RAM single plate is a 2 finger pull.

Edited yesterday at 03:16 AM by footgoose

[Lucky Phil]

2 hours ago, footgoose said:

 

I'm wondering if RAM or someone else, makes a clutch for this model. My RAM single plate is a 2 finger pull.

They do.

https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=1698

Clutch pull will be highly dependant on the clutch cable condition esp if the bikes been idle for years.

Phil

Edited yesterday at 05:46 AM by Lucky Phil

[Weegie]

I didn't find the clutch pull on mine any heavier than other Guzzis, I did notice that the arm onto the gearbox could get gummed up with road debris, possibly due to the larger rear section tyre, so worth checking. As Phil states cable condition and routing also make a big difference.

Looks like an early Daytona, the forks on them weren't the best, quite a few replaced them with GSXR forks.

The oil pump which is a known weakness, but at that mileage not an immediate concern

The standard Daytona didn't suffer from the oil pressure and overheating issues I've had with the C kit cams, so of no concern.

The engine is great, totally different in character from a 2 v/v and IMHO a huge amount of fun to ride.

Apart from acess as the front being a bit cramped (due to the belts), they are easy to work on as any of the 2 v/v bikes too.

[GuzziMoto]

Yeah, the Daytona has a cable clutch, which can be more vulnerable to environmental factors gumming it up.

I would think you can add a hydro clutch to it if cleaning and lubricating the clutch cable setup did not provide sufficient ease of use. I replaced the cable clutch on my Husqvarna with a Magura hydro setup. It was, back in the day, also a common mod for my KTM 440, although I never did it.

My Daytona has GSXR forks and brakes. I have an upgraded oil pump in a box, I have yet to get around to installing. I agree, the engine character is vastly different from a V11 and great fun to ride. It feels like it has not only more power but much longer legs.

[Tomchri]

Is that the correct odometer on the Daytona ?

Cheers Tom.

[gstallons]

 

My 87 SE has that style odometer , so I am going to say this should be correct . Now , I am not sure about the miles on the bike.  IDK about the tach , I have not seen this style before ?

[Weegie]

11 hours ago, Tomchri said:

Is that the correct odometer on the Daytona ?

Cheers Tom.

My Daytona which was an early version in the UK had the 2 white clocks, the speedo was in kph with small mph markings on the inside (just like the mph one on that bike has kph markings on the inside)

My Magni 1100, esentially a Sporti had that style of speedo though, so I wouldn't rule out that its not original.

More likely it's down to what was available in the factory at the time and what the US regulatory bodies were demanding so bikes could be sold there. IMHO its a bit of an eyesore and that speedo style was used on the LM 1000s as I recall.

The tach is identical to all the Sportis and Daytonas I've seen too

Edited 10 hours ago by Weegie

[pete roper]

I’m not certain of any of this but I know there was a period in the US when speedometers had to have a light that came on when you exceeded a certain speed, 50 mph or some such nonsense? I would have thought that that predated the early Daytonas but I really have no idea. All I do know is that speedo seems to be equipped with such a light. Whether that means the speedo is non genuine? Whether I’m completely wrong? Or whether when building that run of bikes, (And it was one of Guzzi’s ‘Cash Crisis’ periods.) and they just found a box of speedometers under the bench and said “They’ll do!” I have no idea.

Anyway, Mike Haven is both honest and very talented, as is Davey, his offsider. As such you can be sure that any old bike they’ve revived will be as well sorted as it’s sensible to be.

Would I own an early Hi-Cam? F*ck off! I’m not that mad! But they are a lovely thing in their own special way………

[GuzziMoto]

14 hours ago, Tomchri said:

Is that the correct odometer on the Daytona ?

Cheers Tom.

That is the same as the original setup my Daytona came with. Mine was sold as a '93 Daytona.

It does have a marker at 55 mph, but not a light. It is from the days of the national 55 mph speed limit. Yes, at one point cars had a light for 55, but I have not seen a motorcycle with that. I have seen motorcycles like that where 55 mph was pronounced and was supposed to assist you in not going faster by making 55 obvious.

Edited 7 hours ago by GuzziMoto

[docc]

19 minutes ago, GuzziMoto said:

That is the same as the original setup my Daytona came with. Mine was sold as a '93 Daytona.

It does have a marker at 55 mph, but not a light. It is from the days of the national 55 mph speed limit. Yes, at one point cars had a light for 55, but I have not seen a motorcycle with that. I have seen motorcycles like that where 55 mph was pronounced and was supposed to assist you in not going faster by making 55 obvious.

The US national 55 mph speed limit was in force from 1974 to 1987. Even in 2000, when I purchased my V11 Sport, the vestigial "55" marker remained (thirteen years after the law sunsetted!).  When I designed my Speedhut replacements, I decided to highlight 100 kph as 62 in the remaining 55 zones is generally acceptable by law enforcement and the motoring public. Plus, it's a nice round number where the tach needles lays in alignment in fifth gear whistling along . . .

[gstallons]

Sorry for my input , I was having a senior moment and forgot exactly when the bikes were mfd.

[p6x]

Mike's own Daytona RS is in the museum I visited in 2023. I took some shots but I don't remember how the instruments looked.

A good reason to return there, anyhow.

One thing I do remember, is that I tried the clutch lever there too, and it was just as hard as the Daytona at Mike's MPH. He actually did remind me about it when we had that conversation about the Daytona in his shop. He said he purchased it as a testimony to Moto Guzzi's craft ability.

I am supposed to go back there today, I will ask Mike about the odometer.

 

[p6x]

If you scrub through the best review I could find about the Daytona, at 3:48 into the video you have a view of the instruments. The odometer is not similar to the one on the Daytona at Mike's MPH;

However, the bike shown has an odometer in km and speed in km/h. The one at Mike's has dual units, miles and kilometers. I remember from the old days, that one of my friend who had purchased a Commando directly from UK, had to change from miles to km to get it registered in France.

 

Edited 2 minutes ago by p6x