Moto Guzzi Norge first impressions

my brother has an ST3.

He came out to visit, and while he usually rides my '96 Triumph Sprint, I talked him in to the Norge for a spin. He loved it compared to the ST3. He said the fuel mapping was much better, and he was surprised a few times when he looked down to see how fast he was going.

Well, I finally got to MI yesterday to take one of their '07 Norges for a test ride.

I found the leg room a bit cramped- I have a 34" in seam, and the pegs felt high to me. I'm sure part of it is the fact that most of the bikes I've ridden in the last 4 years were standards or dual sports with less sporty seating arrangements. I could probably get used to it.

It might have been a matter of adjusting the shift lever, but on the bike I rode, the lever was coming in to contact with the fairing when shifting up. This caused me to miss shifts from 2nd to 3rd more than once. I would probably remove the leg fairings anyway, so really not a big issue.

I LOVED the sound of the bike- enough growl to get a little attention without being obnoxious. It was loud enough to force the woman in the lane next to me to roll up her window so she could continue talking on her cell phone.

All in all it was a good experience. The bike is heavier than I'm used to, but not bad. Good brakes. Handling much sportier than what I'm used to.

Looks like the OTD price would be between 10 and 11.5 depending on exactly which of the '07s I went for.

Thinking real hard about this...trying not to think about saving a buck or two and getting a breva or griso instead.

same as me, 34"

I thought to adjust my shift lever up the "usual" way, pop it off, rotate one spline, and back on, but that doesn't work, hits fairing. The way to do it is adjust the toe bit, it's on an eccentric. That seems to work fine.

The leg position is DEFINITELY a big change if you're used to riding a dual sport, but you'll settle into it. Also, though the stock seat is pretty plush, you can easily add an inch or two by adding foam and recovering the seat, which I did along with 1" bar risers. I'm 6'1" with a 33" inseam.

Also, about that OTD price, we should mention to folks that are not from around here, that the OTD price includes a 10% use tax brought to you by the good folks at the State of Washington. Out-of-state buyers of course would not pay this.

The Griso is a very cool bike but definitely not something you'd want to do a multi-day tour with, or even an all-day tour with. But a real head-turner and great fun. The Breva 1200 Sport, on the other hand, outfitted with luggage, is a good solid bike. Not as sexy as the Norge, won't turn many heads, but nice not having all the plastic and you still get that kick-ass 1200 powerplant.

The ergos for those three bikes (in order Norge Breva Griso) for a guy 6'2" with a 34" inseam with stock bars and seat--

• forward lean -- 7 16 19 (degrees)
• knee angle -- 73 75 70 (degrees)

You people are Giants!
I have a 28" or 29" inseam and my feet touch the ground but just barely. The pegs, and shifter and brake work perfectly for me. I guess my body type is more like the average Italian.
My choices were limited, since all of the other Sport Touring bikes have very tall seat heights.

Just for fun, I went back to Cycle-Ergo and plugged in the numbers for a rider with a 29" inseam sitting on a Norge. The knee angle goes to 87 degrees and the forward lean to 14 degrees. So, more forward lean of course because short legs means short arms, but having your knees at 87 degrees--no wonder the bike's so comfortable!

I want a Norge so bad. Someone please buy my car so i can fly out to seattle and get one!!!

I got my 08 Norge 2 days ago. It had 4400 miles on it. I absolutely love it. Coming from sport bikes for the last 20 years, to me the seating position is down right luxurious. I have a 32" inseam and just don't see how anyone can complain about leg room, but it all boils down to expectations and what one is used to I guess.

The only thing I see as an obvious problem so far is the fork springs.. which are way too soft. I'll likely throw in a set of aftermarket springs as soon as possible.

My other concern is that my shiny new ZX-14R might gather a lot of dust now.

So you pulled the trigger, huh? I think the forum rules state pretty clearly that if you get a new bike you gotta post pics of it!

With 1/3 the horsepower of your ZX, what's your plan for the Norge? Lazy sightseeing tours? Two-up touring? Trolling for cougars?

I'm hoping to combine the best of both worlds and do some two-up cougar trolling
It will be my daily driver and also the two-up bike for the Mrs. and me.

I don't have any good pictures of it yet!

Anybody reading this thread and thinking about buying a Norge?

Well, look what just popped up in the FM!

2008 Moto Guzzi Norge
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Congratulations Hank! as Drone said you must post some pics
no need to chase cougars they will come running now!

That looks like a killer deal. Mine has just a bit more miles and it is barely broken in.

The Norge really does not get fully broken in until almost 10,000 miles. It just keeps getting better up to that point.

jdg

Man, you guys are killing me!
I'll have to stop in to Moto Int after work this week and take a spin on one. I sat on a Norge at a show this winter and was suprised at how right it felt.

JA

They have several on the floor - love the white one!
[Say it again - I don't need another motorcycle]

Though the power on this bike is great, I'm bothered by decel popping. Not wanting to plunk down big bucks on a Power Commander or one of Todd's ECU re-flash jobs, I decided to try the FatDuc (thanks to jwdub for giving me the tip). If you don't know what this is, it's a device similar to a Boosterplug or an IICE Air. It fools the ECU into richening up the A/F ratio by convincing it that the ambient air temps are lower than they actually are. The FatDuc is also variable--you can dial more or less resistance into the circuit to find your sweet spot.

One problem is that the Guzzi ECU also monitors the O2 levels in the exhaust gasses and if things don't line up it throws a code. This shows up as an annoying red "check engine" light on the RID. The solution is to dial down the amount of adjustment until the red light goes out. I did that. Result? Marginal. I still have decel popping but it's not as bad as it was. So, live with it? Or pay Todd $500 (:eek1) to flash my ECU? Just to fix some annoying decel popping. Hmmmmmmmmm.

It's a shame he no longer sells the O2 Optimizer as a stand-alone product as that did what you are asking without throwing the code. I'm putting away my pennies to do the whole ECU/AutoTune/PowerCommander thing. If that works nearly as well as the O2 Optimizer did, I'll be way more than satisfied.

jdg

Here is the Norge, resting after going through the California Redwood Tree:

hey Scott,

how do you like the slot in the windshield?