Anybody have a Moto Guzzi V7?

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.

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

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

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.

Gone.

I mentioned before that I really don't like fender eliminators for cafe bikes, but I wasn't happy with the plate arrangement on the new V7s. so I modified mine. Yet another 0 cost mod.

Before:


After:


There is a recess in the fender under the plate you can see in the last photo. It's there to allow for the wires running to the old license plate light. I have not negleted lighting the plate, btw. There is a black plastic "lens" in the bottom of the rear light that I am replacing with a clear one.

Rocker, it's all your fault.

Out with the old:



In with the new:

Small blocks rule.

Got some of my odds an ends installed, including some Stucchi crash bars. I thought they'd look a bit large, but they actually blend in really well with the exhaust headers without overdoing the chrome. I did love the Racer, but not the new chrome tank (not a big fan of spokes, either).


Stucchi Crash Bars for Guzzi V7 Series by kamikazekyle10, on Flickr

Question for you other V7 owners on the charging system. I ran some heated gear the other day and was figuring out how much I could get for accessories when I noted the voltage output. At first I thought it was my crappy cig plug voltmeter, but it later meshed with my actual multimeter. I read 15.30 volts when the generator kicks in at cold idle or above. At this rate I'm worried I'll cook the battery, especially since I got a 24 hour resting voltage of 13.02 after riding for half an hour on a battery fresh off the battery tender. Do all V7s do this, or am I looking at a fluke?

Side note, I figure I can run 70-90 watts of accessories (give or take) below 4K RPM without draining the battery. At cold idle running a 36 watt load drops the voltage from 15.30 to 14.2-14.3, which then goes back up giving it some RPMs.

Which set did you get? I'm looking for some cheaper stop-gap bar end mirrors until I decide if I wanna buy the Rizoma ones I was looking at.

I also dig the headlight stem spacer removal, which is on the to-do list for who knows when.

I don't have a small block, but the Griso hums along at around 14V once running. 15V sounds high, but not real high.

You are getting close to the output of the alt. when you start dropping the voltage below the normal charging level. I would stop when you get near 13-12.5V or you risk of dropping the voltage more and having issues.

Rizoma parts are excellent. A tad spendy, but very nice. So nice that there are China knockoffs showing up on ebay all the time.

SPEEDMETAL Billet Bar End Mirrors (web1006842)


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They were $70 on sale for $38. They'll do for now. I just used the stock bar insert and bolt and they stay put just fine.





I also removed the aluminum faux covers on the intake and those cheesy plastic sparkplug wire cover thingys. I hate bling (he says polishing the chrome tank).

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Mr. kamikazekyle, nice new bike you got there! Enjoy!

Your Stucchi crash bars mount differently than the bars that I have. I really like the looks of the different frame cover, mounted with two screws, just above your crash bars upper mount.

Is that cover made of metal?

My older style oem plastic frame cover is held on only with one screw, and I have been thinking of making a better secured nicer looking cover out of metal.

Gotcha. I'll keep an eye on it, and maybe have the dealer take a look on first service. I'm doing everything but the valves myself -- at least the first go round. So far any loads that expect at 12V source haven't been affected by the slightly higher-than-normal output, and so long as the regulator or battery doesn't cook, no biggie. And I mimic what you mention about dropping the voltage in my normal use. I hook up various loads (heated gear, resistive circuits, etc) to any new bike I get to figure out the spare wattage from the charging system so I don't drain the battery or overstress the system.

</FORM>Mucho thanks. I'm not a fan of the antennae-like mirrors and think bar-ends really add to the style of the bike, even though the Stone doesn't have clipons and isn't cafe'd. I just don't wanna dump $130ish per mirror on Rizomas just quite yet

I might also remove the intake covers like you have. On the Stone they're chrome-painted plastic. A lot of stuff is plastic, actually. Saves weight and costs for sure, but can look a bit cheesy. Thankfully the plastics blend pretty well on the Stone with the painted metal/chrome parts, at least for now. I might keep the sparkplug wire covers since I like the cleaner look, but if they eventually make aftermarket metal ones I'd spring for those. Or if I keep popping them off accidentally with my cover like tonight.

If I'm following you (the bit right under the steering head/frame joint?), that's a part that came with the Stucchi kit. On the Stone, there was no frame cover at all at purchase. The kit included a metal one (thin guage steel, I think), and instead of the one-piece rear bracket behind the lower screws it included two square nut mounts, like the ones that are used for the side cover screws.

Speaking of liking things, I dig your windscreen and side cases. I saw them posted earlier in the thread, but never asked about them. Been thinking of getting some sort of wind protection on my Stone for interstate travel or during winter to keep some of the cold out, but haven't looked too hard. On one hand I want to keep the bike as naked as possible as I love the look, but some sort of protection would be nice and help reduce fatigue as I do plan on touring and doing long distances on the bike.



And for anyone actually pondering a V7 and its mileage: I managed 42 MPG with 95% city and average temps around 38F, and 51 MPG with 15% city and average temps around 47F. Still dislike the overzealous reserve light coming on at like 2+ gallons left, but at least it's consistent.

Now...to figure out a way to get the damn stickers off. Goo Gone and WD40 have done nothing so far.

Heat with a hair dryer and peel off?

Sarah

I use one of these:
http://tinyurl.com/anzkpa9

heat the sticker for 30 seconds, peels off easy once gummy, use goo-gone for the remainder. I was able to do all the stickers on my NTX in about 30 min.

Yes.

WD-40 works good at removing the glue residue if you don't have any goo-gone.

Aren't you gonna miss that Stelvio out there in Colorado?

Yes, no doubt. But I had it 4 years and it was time for a change.

And if I was changing, I thought something smaller might be nice. The extended discussions about a small-block NTX really got me going, and let's face it, the Racer is pure bike porn every time I go out to the garage.

Now if I can just get the street to melt, maybe I can see what it is like to ride...

Would it be fairly simple to fit a 19" front wheel on one of these bikes? Thanks

Sarah

^ Here we go off the road onto a trail.