No more V11 LeMans ???

[V11UK]

After living with a Breva 1100 for 2 months and 4300 miles I can safely say that it is a 'real Guzzi' - albeit a properly designed one that works . It's a great all-rounder with plenty of power for real-world riding. It is smoother and more refined than a V11 but retains that unique Guzzi feel. I like the Breva's styling, it's modern, smooth and of a very high quality .

 

Chill out and stop knocking Moto Guzzi, be thankful they're still in business .......

[mdude]

good one, goffredo.

 

all this "last real..." stuff is reminding me of my grandmother moaning "it was all sooo much better before the war"....

[belfastguzzi]

You mean poserdrives

65937[/snapback]

yeh I might mean that

or maybe my granny made me say it

"it's not a real bike if it don't have a chain, anyway!"

[belfastguzzi]

A bike cannot be more a proper real Guzzi than the Griso: the design reveal the mechanics,

65939[/snapback]

Can't entirely agree with this. As per the other Breva thread, in photographs, the 'mechanics' of the Griso seem displayed in a slightly contrived, artificial and exaggerated style:

like this guy

 

If that is the direction that things are heading, then some people will be looking back with nostalgia.

 

I'm quite sure that the Griso is a better bike than the V.11 in lots of ways, but being better doesn't mean that everything about it is perfect or even desirable. Over-egging the pudding is un-necessary.

[dlaing]

Grrrrrr!

My bike is not half arsed, and it would take a round head with $10,000 worth of de-half assing to make me trade.

The V11 is a beautiful result of the evolution of form and function.

It did not need extensive testing because it is part of an evolutionary process, not one of them revolutionary processes that people get suckered into.

The round heads were half assed Neanderthals, and like the neanderthals compared to modern man, the round heads can probably do SOME stuff better than modern Guzzis, but I would not trade places to be a Neanderthal nor trade my bike for some half arsed round head of equal $ value.

Guzzis are still evolving and mark my words, there are going to be problems with the Breva and Griso. Already Guzzi missed the boat by making them less powerful than bikes five years before them...what a half arsed move!

But they have also evolved into being more like the small block Guzzis....progress????

Until the MGS01 arrived, there has been no better factory Guzzi than our sixspeeds, EVER!

As for the argument of how evolved of a bike a Guzzi is against the contemporary competition, yah, the round heads won. They could stand up spec to spec against Honda's 750 four, Harley and BMW. But today, the Honda, BMW and Buell Specs make the Guzzi look outdated by atleast ten years. But I suppose we don't mind that sort of thing, which is why a round head is still an excellent bike, like its not so half arsed six speed descendants.

[belfastguzzi]

hehe... there's life in this thread yet

[docc]

Seems all the guzzis I've known have been equally incomplete in one way or another. I've had a couple intensely complete Hondas that were fabulous motorcycles but I just couldn't bear to keep them and would climb over them in the garage to get my sport out for a roaring ride.

[docc]

Belfast, I think I know what you mean.... I figure the quality of a design can be judged by how it's form follows it's function.  For me, the purest design is entirely functional - nothing just as decoration, everything does a job...& everything complements everything else in the design. Not to say that things can't be styled eg: you have to have an engine/frame/seat etc, so make it pretty - but above all make it work. Nothing is there when something else could do the job simpler & better. A good example: Phil Irving's Vincent Rapide. Or compare Tamburini's 916 with the rehashed SS's Terblanche turns out. The early Tonti's pretty much fit too, but the Breva less so - as you say - overdesigned...fashion concious. 5.5" rims? no way needed - but a fashion requirement...or those strange redundant little chromed inserts by the s/a pivot (? what do they do?).... The V11 is just a nicely styled bodge cos the factory were bust but had to have new product.

 

Not sure that you can equate the V11 with the Cobra either, Docc. V11 just ain't that good! The Cobra, more like the Tontis is a classic design - because it is rigorously true to itself. I think any creative process can be judged the same way.

 

But as to "real/not real" motorcycles - well that's just bollocks isn't it? And same with "sport/not sport" motorcycles - a bike is a sport bike if it's ridden that way - & the V11 can be. Although like Goffredo I can't quite see the LeMans tag fits the V11 - anymore than the Bonneville name fits the overweight pastiche it's been attached to. Cashing in on heritage I guess...

 

KB

65933[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

That is well said although I'm not at all sure what a 'bodge' is.

 

My comparison to the Cobras is based on my impression that the race team did whatever needed to adapt them to the track. They were not finely finished like the Porsches and Ferraris of the day. Pressed into service by long nights with hacksaws and hammers they were hot, cramped and poor handling. Treacherous even.

Also exhiliarating, passionate yet brutish and onerous. Flowing, fluid lines wrapped around an explosive and potentially ill-mannered challenge.

 

I think that describes the Cobra and the later spine frame Guzzis. Hmm, of course it allso describes my wife.

[Guest Barnapkin]

This "discussion" seems to have forgotten that regardless of the merits of the V11 vs. the breva, most of us bought the V11 beacause of it's character, torque, comfort, and style. We all knew at the time we signed our checks, that we were not buying a cutting edge motorcycle.

 

Would I like my V11 to stop shaking my hands through the entire ride? YES

Would I like my V11 to not stop drinking oil until the oil pan is 1/2 empty? YES

Would I like MG to finally warranty my tank for the paint bubbles from tank suck? YES!

Would I like my V11 to have a remote oil filter? YES

 

Does my V11 make an excellent sport tourer? YES

Does my V11 make me envy other bikes? NO

Does my V11 make me enjoy riding better than I ever have? YES!

 

I doubt that there isn't anyone here that wouldn't like MG to make a bike that does not make us say things that start with the word "would" without losing any character, torque, comfort, and style. I don't view character as a lame excuse for the bike's short commings, but the things that made the bike appeal to me. Maybe the breva's engine chassis, and suspension with some Lemans body work will be the best MG yet. I still have room in my garage.

[Martin Barrett]

Seems all the guzzis I've known have been equally incomplete in one way or another.

66052[/snapback]

 

And half a photo to emphasise the point

 

 

That is well said although I'm not at all sure what a 'bodge' is.

 

66053[/snapback]

 

A handy thread about bodging

[Guest Nogbad]

Would I like my V11 to stop shaking my hands through the entire ride?  YES

Would I like my V11 to not stop drinking oil until the oil pan is 1/2 empty? YES

Would I like MG to finally warranty my tank for the paint bubbles from tank suck? YES!

Would I like my V11 to have a remote oil filter?  YES

 

Does my V11 make an excellent sport tourer? YES

Does my V11 make me envy other bikes? NO

Does my V11 make me enjoy riding better than I ever have? YES!

 

66056[/snapback]

 

My V11 does not shake my hands to any uncomfortable extent

My V11 DOES empty its oil pan to half empty, at which point the light flickers when you cane it, necessitating topping up. Maybe there is something to be said for cheap dino lube after all.

I never had a tank suck incident.

I agree about the remote oil filter, but maybe you can get away with changing it every 20000 miles.....

 

I am with you on the last 3.

 

Just wait till these Brevas and Grosses are 5 years old and all the chrome has fallen off, and the "CARC" has croaked. That will wipe the smiles from faces of Goffredo, V11UK and mdude's modernist faces.

 

LONG LIVE THE V11 - The LAST REAL BIG BLOCK GUZZI

[Guzzirider]

I never had a tank suck

66065[/snapback]

 

 

You haven't lived until you've been sucked by your tank!

[Guest goffredo]

Just wait till these Brevas and Grosses are 5 years old and all the chrome has fallen off, and the "CARC" has croaked. That will wipe the smiles from faces of Goffredo, V11UK and mdude's modernist faces.

 

LONG LIVE THE V11 - The LAST REAL BIG BLOCK GUZZI 

66065[/snapback]

 

Ehr... my bike is a V11 Sport and I love it.

 

G.

PS: I know a person or two who insist that REAL Guzzi twins are ONLY the V120º chain driven bikes and they can back up their claim with even more rationale and data.

[Guzzirider]

There is no such thing as the last real Guzzi. If its got an eagle on the tank and made in Mandello then its a real Guzzi.

 

Many will argue that their V7 sport / Le Mans 1 / T3 / Falcone etc etc was the last real Guzzi but they are all wrong.

 

My V11 is the best Guzzi I have ever owned but I am not pompous enough to claim it is more real that a Griso or Breva even though I would not buy these bikes- they are real Guzzis and deserve our support and success.

 

 

Guy

[belfastguzzi]

And half a photo to emphasise the point 

66064[/snapback]