Anybody have a Moto Guzzi V7?

[rocker59]

pokeyjoe

[fireflyr]

Originally Posted by Pokeyjoe

Here are the shots I promised with the gauges lowered:





I also have the Euro turn signals installed.

Thanks John. I ordered a bracket from Todd a couple days ago. That bike looks great.

Pat

[kamikazekyle]

Bumped up the preload by 1.25 turns -- still haven't measured proper sag -- and that really knocked down the turning radius and upped the agility. It's so close to flickable it's scary. But where I live the only curves you see are corners at the ends of blocks. It had also just rained and with tires still not scrubbed in I didn't want to crank it across a crosswalk's painted lines or something.

Tonight the bike didn't really want to lock into first gear getting out the drive way. It was fine by the first block, though a bit clunky going across neutral until the clutch got some heat on it. The Multi was the same way in it's clutch -- also dry -- and even my CBR won't go into gear unless you double clutch or are in motion.

I just ordered some chrome crash bars, heated undergrips, and a other odds n ends. Some Rizoma bar end mirrors are on the to-do list, but at $100+ a pop, that's later on down the line.

Overall I'm glad I got the V7 over a Bonnie or CB1100 (or similar). I'm finding that I'm just a big fan of lighter weight, nimble bikes and dont' really have a lust for going mach 1. Still love me some nice, torquey acceleration, though. I guess thousands of miles per year of pure stop-n-go inner city traffic will do that to ya.

Originally Posted by McJamie

That's pretty nice.
I'm still unsure about what I'm going to get in the spring. A white one of these is on my shortlist for sure. You said you plan to tour with it, what sort of bags do you have in mind? Once you get a warm enough day to try, I'd be curious to see what sort of range you get per tank. It sure looks like a keeper to me.

I'm up in the air on bags at the moment. For the tail rack I have a decent textile Saddlemen semi-rigid duffel that goes well with the bike, but I'd prefer something more formed to the tail. I have some Motogear (I think) 21-31L soft bags that should fit fine thanks to the low slung exhaust and dual shocks. I purchased the OEM tail rack, which is a bit tiny but genuinely chromed and matches the bike well. It also has attachment points for the hard bag racks. I like the look of some of the leather bags, including the OEMs, but would probably prefer hard cases. As for those, the OEM's are OK looking but I really like the old school police special cases. I'll probably run with the soft bags first simply because I have them, then go from there.

Hopefully I can get out next week and wear down the tank a bit. By the end of this week I should have about a 3/4 highway, 1/4 city mix of riding. I added the bike to Fuelly and I'm the first US V7 Stone there (http://www.fuelly.com/driver/kamikazekyle/v7-stone). I'm expecting upper 40's if I'm lucky with a miracle, what with the cold weather and city riding. From my understanding (others with Racers and earlier Classics, etc can chime in), the small block gains mileage as it breaks in.

Assuming I get time off. Between December 24th and December 31st I'm working 88 hours :/

[Blue Ridge Wheeltor]

http://www.crashedtoys.com/Inventory...0ac016ed78f826

[sfrider300]

Originally Posted by Blue Ridge Wheeltor

http://www.crashedtoys.com/Inventory...0ac016ed78f826

Who crashes a bike after 118 miles? Crazy.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by sfrider300

Who crashes a bike after 118 miles? Crazy.

That's pretty good. When I worked in the motorcycle biz I lost count of the number of bikes that were crashed before they got out of the parking lot.

[Penderic]

I think that there are many new bikes sold after the new owner finds the bike is a little too fast and noticeable.

I know personally of one slightly used Honda Fireblade, with less than 200 Kms put for sale after the new owner got 2 huge speeding tickets in the first week. A Financial Crash!

Re: Transmission feeling difficult to shift cold (or hot) - I have tried many manual transmission lubricants and they make a BIG difference in the way your transmission feels. The best one that works for me is the Royal Purple Manual Transmission Oil - I think I have 75 - 90wt or 80-90wt.

Shifts are very good - silent clutchless upshifts a breeze - its a nice tranny (but it uses up a few horses).

[BlueBlazerIrregular]

Originally Posted by Bueller

That's pretty good. When I worked in the motorcycle biz I lost count of the number of bikes that were crashed before they got out of the parking lot.

I worked at two Harley dealerships in the 20th century and you are correct, sir.

AGREED!

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by BlueBlazerIrregular

I worked at two Harley dealerships in the 20th century and you are correct, sir.

AGREED!

I worked at both a Triumph/Ducati/Moto Guzzi dealer, and at an HD dealer (for a short time).

Facepalms were a daily occurence...

[kamikazekyle]

Quickie update. Filled up the tank the other night on the way to work: 3.8 gallons at 180 miles, netting ~47.4 MPG. 25% city with ~30% interstate @70MPH+, average temps 38-42F.

The fuel light was a bit weird, coming on at 167 miles. I filled the tank up until the pump auto-cut at the bottom of the bracket/shroud in the tank (which is good cause I'll be damned if I can see how much gas I'm putting in without splashing gas all over). With a manual stated 1.06 gallon reserve and 5.5 gallon tank, the fuel warning light is quite a bit conservative even if you take into account not being able to fill the tank to a full 5.5 gallons. Or the dealership gave me a bike with a partial tank :P. I also never activated the reserve fuel trip meter, though from the manual this might not be a feature on all models. Or I'm misinterpreting the manual.

Originally Posted by Penderic

I think that there are many new bikes sold after the new owner finds the bike is a little too fast and noticeable.

I know personally of one slightly used Honda Fireblade, with less than 200 Kms put for sale after the new owner got 2 huge speeding tickets in the first week. A Financial Crash!

Re: Transmission feeling difficult to shift cold (or hot) - I have tried many manual transmission lubricants and they make a BIG difference in the way your transmission feels. The best one that works for me is the Royal Purple Manual Transmission Oil - I think I have 75 - 90wt or 80-90wt.

Shifts are very good - silent clutchless upshifts a breeze - its a nice tranny (but it uses up a few horses).

I might try the Royal Purple at the first service for at least the gearbox and maybe tranny. I have some conventional 85w-140 I was using for chain lube and some semi-synth 80w-90 ready for the geabox. I figured since the clutch was a dry clutch the gear oil would matter less versus a wet clutch's engine oil. At least I never felt a difference on my Ducati, but was a chain drive, multi-plate clutch, and the gearbox shared the engine oil. If an oil change can fix the 40F or lower near inability to shift out of first, I'm for it. It's fine after a block or two and plenty smooth when it fully warms, but I get a bit nervous when I'm pretty much forcing the shift from 1>2.

[fireflyr]

Got the headlight / gauge lowering bracket from Todd and installed it. Much cleaner look.





Drilling holes for turn signals. I took this opportunity to remove the spacers from the front signals at this time.



Before:



The bike has a much cleaner look without all of the plastic.

[Pokeyjoe]

Originally Posted by fireflyr

Got the headlight / gauge lowering bracket from Todd and installed it. Much cleaner look.

Next: bar end mirrors. Get rid of those lollipops.

[fireflyr]

Originally Posted by Pokeyjoe

Next: bar end mirrors. Get rid of those lollipops.

Got some yesterday at Cycle Gear. Now to save for the 'good' ones.

[McJamie]

Originally Posted by BlueBlazerIrregular

I worked at two Harley dealerships in the 20th century and you are correct, sir.

AGREED!

I also worked at a Harley dealer. The best one I saw was when buddy was picking up his new Sportster, resplindid in it's over $2000.00 worth of completely non-functional chrome trinkets and his "I'm a real biker" lifestyle apparel. " I rode 25 years ago, I know what I'm doing", he said. OK buddy, off you go then. He zoomed off trying show how much of man he now was, in front of a couple of local real one percenter types, and made a hard left trying to go out of the parking lot, completely forgetting that his new Sportster's side stand was still locked in the down position.
I think he scratched or wrecked every piece of chrome we had just installed on the bike. I politely suggested some engine guards and some rider training might be a good investment before he gets his bike back.
He sold the bike( without fixing it) and we never saw him again.

We have another bike show this weekend. I might need to go take another look at the V7, and a couple others.

[fireflyr]

Originally Posted by Pokeyjoe

Next: bar end mirrors. Get rid of those lollipops.

Gone.