More cruisers ...?

[Guest Fox]

March 6 2005

 

New boss for Guzzi

 

 

 

After taking over Aprilia and MotoGuzzi last year Piaggio has now announced a new boss for Guzzi.

 

 

Daniele Bandiera joins the firm from car maker Alfa Romeo where he was responsible for launching many of the firm’s key cars. He has been tasked with turning the struggling company round and one of his first jobs will be a complete restructuring of the management.

 

 

Piaggio has said it sees Moto Guzzi as the key to breaking the American market so we can expect to see more roadsters, cruisers and tourers coming out of the factory doors once the new management team is in place, with sports bike such as the MGS-01 taking a lower priority.

[DeBenGuzzi]

I hope its all for the best, they need brand recognition again either by getting it on the track or through advertising if they can't get thier bikes out there no one will buy them, just my

[al_roethlisberger]

MG already sells far more cruisers than "sport" oriented models, and with the current financial state of affairs and MG just being purchased, I'm sure the new management is(or at least should) planning to do whatever is necessary to get the company healthy and profitable... then they can look at less profitable, showcase, or limited-edition models.

 

 

It has already been mentioned in a couple new briefs, and confirmed(as much as can be) from a recent conversation with a local dealer, that the V11 Sport models are basically dead, no more LeMans in the current form, and the focus will be on the big and baby Breva, Griso, and especially cruisers. After that? Who knows.

 

The only thing that isn't clear in the reports I have read is that they say they will keep one "V11" model, but I don't know if that necessarily means, but it seemed clear that the old models we've grown accustomed to will be phased out soon. But that's normal, and probably is late in coming. After all, the V11 "Sport" has been around basically unchanged for 6 years now, and MG has been playing badge and paint engineering with the model most of that time, as opposed to making any vast improvements.

 

I wish MG well, and hope the Brevas and Griso sell like hot-cakes, and then hope they do some minor updating/restyling of the cruisers(particularly the love-it or hate-it tank... <_ ... and then we see what comes later in a sporting hopefully sport-touring model.>

 

I'd also love to see MG develop a new engine, that remains different and iconoclastic to the rest of the industry, but also different from the current V. That would be great After all, MG used to be much more than just a one-engine design shop.

 

al

[robbiekb]

make mine a V8 please, oh and with a dustbin fairing

[DeBenGuzzi]

that would be marvelous if they brought back a version of the ole V8 racer, Super sweet, but the chances of that happenin? I'm sure I'll be knighted first.

[antonio carroccio]

Jo, Fox, where did you get this info???

I know that name anyway.

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

Jo, Fox, where did you get this info???

 

 

 

YO Antonio! HERE

[Guest Fox]

Jo, Fox, where did you get this info???

I know that name anyway.

45469[/snapback]

 

Yes, as TX said, MCN news http://www.motorcyclenews.com/nav?page=mot...NEWS_OTHER-NEWS

[Skeeve]

make mine a V8 please, oh and with a dustbin fairing

45414[/snapback]

 

Actually, I was thinking about what Guzzi could do as far as providing updated engine options [mental exercise: "What if *you* were suddenly installed as new chief at your favorite motorsickle company w/ orders to turn it around?"] and the quick & painless [o.k., "relatively pain-free"] route was a V-4 using essentially the current everything, water-cooled heads, air cooled cylinders, dry sumped so you can drop the engine in the frame & use some of the wasted space of the spine frame by using it as the oil tank.

 

Ipso facto, quid pro quo, a "new bike" with a development time measured in months, if not weeks. How so fast, you say? Simple, do an Honda NR750 routine with "paired" cylinders running off a single con-rod. Thus, only new cylinder, pistons & heads required, the cases can remain unchanged...

 

This is fun, but regrettably, gets us nowhere. [sigh]

 

Ride on!

[DeBenGuzzi]

Maybe you should send them a letter with some schematics telling them how easy it would be and Maybe, Maybe luigi will look into it. If he can find his reading glasses that is. or have someone tell ghezzi about your idear and see if it has wings.

[Skeeve]

.... or have someone tell ghezzi about your idear and see if it has wings.

45622[/snapback]

 

G&B doesn't do sports-tourers! There's no way that by adding metal that my proposed engine change can be lighter than what Guzzi has now, and the weight is a big part of the issue Guzzi faces on the sport-bike front, less so than power (altho' they sorta go hand-in-hand...) But sport-tourers can be a little porky & still sell; power & fuel economy are market breakers for that segment, both of which my idea would have some bearing on...

 

That said, does anybody here know what the mild-steel spine frame alone weighs? I'm kinda surprised Guzzi hasn't gone to an aluminium spine frame before now, since the construction is so simple ["Take 2 round tubes & one rectangular. Weld, drill, you're done! ], and with how easy it would be to set up a MIG machine for aluminum vs. the present steel. Even tho' aluminum weighs 1/2 steel, you can only save in the vicinity of 35%-40% of the weight, since you have to use more aluminum (thicker sections) for the same strength. But if the standard spine frame weighs 30lbs alone, you could save 10lbs easy, just by converting it to aluminum. But since I don't know what the spine frame by itself weighs, I'll just have to keep wondering how much weight could be saved. But at a power/wt. ratio of 500#/75ponies for the present V11 Sport derived models, that's under 7#/hp: if you could manage to save 14#, it would be like getting 2 free ponies all across the powerband!

 

Converting the Tonti frame to aluminum wouldn't be financially attractive, since there's so much more labor time involved in the welding, & the cruiser market overall isn't as focused upon performance figures.

 

Whee! This is fun; too bad it's all just pissin' in the wind...

[al_roethlisberger]

Some people prefer steel frames, whether on bicycles or motorcycles.... as steel flexes and absorbes shocks better than super-stiff aluminum. That's why a lot of high $$ bicycles are often available in several materials.

 

It just depends on one's personal preference. And a well-made steel frame doesn't have to be heavy... see Ducati

 

Personally, due to the desire for cargo capacity(weight) and long distance rides, I would prefer a steel framed sport touring bike.... not to say an aluminum one isn't a good option either, as obviously many manufacturers do indeed make very successful aluminum framed ST bikes.

 

 

al