Anybody have a Moto Guzzi V7?

I'm sick, can't stop thinking about this bike. Once you get that fever you got to have it.

And for the first couple of years of ownership, you will often find yourself just standing there, in the middle of the night, in the garage with the light on - standing there just staring at the bike, drooling .....

This bike draws a lot of interested people to approach you when stopped. They have never seen/heard one before or never seen one up close and want to ask you a lot of questions about it. Get used to it!

First of all:



Secondly, I too find the rear suspension a bit on the stiff side. But keep in mind (a) my other bike is a little enduro with a softer spring, (b) I am a skinny guy and (c) I haven't fiddled with the preload yet.

But as has been said before: don't let that keep you away from this bike!

Love that green color!

I took a trip to a dealer and was going to see about doing some trading for Moto Guzzi. I have a 2008 Nevada and was thinking about trading for a new 2012 Guzzi special. Main reason was the ECU went out after warrenty and I was worried about it for the long haul but otherwise it's a great bike.

Dealer told me the demand for the 2008 Guzzi was very limited so he wasn't going to give me much for it.

I told the dealer that the demand for the 2012 special wasn't that great either or he wouldn't have a brand new discounted 2012 special just sitting there.

The dealer got my address and number but it doesn't look like I'll be dealing with em.

Had a nice ride home. Bout forgot how much I like this bike.

The reality is, most Moto Guzzi dealers don't do a lot of volume, and don't take a lot of trades.

And, a Nevada would probably be right down at the bottom of the desirability list.

You can't expect anymore than low wholesale on a trade like that. You'd be much better off eBaying the Nevada, and then taking cash to your dealer. I wouldn't expect a dealer to offer you more than $2000 for a Nevada like that. You might be able to sell it yourself for $3500.

Love the look of that V7 Stone in green, lets see more pics of it out in the wild!

Buckaroo,

Was that Sloan's in Murfreesboro? If not, you might give them a whirl, they sell dang near everything and seem to like having used bikes on the floor. Rocker probably hit it on the head, though.

Sarah

elkgrichard, aka sonicboom, seems to be referring to my posts about suspension mods for my '13 V7 Special. Here's ground truth, not rumor: The stock suspension was too stiff for my taste. I weigh about 200# with gear and, try as I might, I could not get the shocks to absorb bumps. Removing all preload still left the shocks too stiff both in spring tension and compression dampening. After a bit of trial and error I cured that with some Race Tech shocks. The forks were too stiff also and Race Tech springs and emulators took care of that problem. These were pretty simple fixes to make the bike perform the way I think it should. Other riders are happy with the stock setup so this all comes down to personal choice. Suspension upgrades give me more bang for the buck than any other money spent.

I'm amazed that people will bitch about the cost of upgrading suspension but not bat an eye when it comes to aftermarket exhaust, racks, luggage, seat, or cosmetic bling. Being loud and flashy has a higher priority than quality suspension.

The fact is that most entry level bikes are going to build to a price point. One of the ways to keep cost down is to use basic suspension bits and size them for the 'average' rider. In this case the suspension must be set up for a 250# rider or maybe closer to 275#. Add a passenger and the stock suspension might be OK, not supple but OK since the dampening is so basic.

My Stelvio came with pretty good suspension. That's not surprising since it also came with a $16K price tag.

I had the same issue. For those of you that speak "sag", the bike, as delivered, has no free sag. If you set the race or dynamic sag correctly, you will still get launched off the seat at freeway speeds when you hit a bad seam in the tarmac. It's downright scary. I bought aftermarket shocks and installed RaceTech emulators and the bike was much, much better. I eventually sold the bike because of the brakes (I just didn't feel like throwing more money at it).

I replace my stock rear stiff shocks with aftermarket shocks too. Made a big improvement in the ride.

The chrome springs on my aftermarket shocks started to rust after a few years and I just swapped them out temporarily, with the chrome stock rear springs while they get sent out for powder coating.

The stock rear springs are very strong - I set the preload close to zero on the aftermarket dampeners and the old springs were very firm but still ok. I looked at the stock dampeners again to see if they were the cause of the rock hard shocks behavior.

I found that the stock rear shock dampeners have way, way, way too much rebound damping, and only 1½" piston travel before hitting the hard bump stop. The dampener gets completely compressed very quickly and doesn't have enough time to rebound for the next bump. They "pump" down.

I wish they had used properly matched suspension components on these bikes - it is the biggest sole complaint with the series.

Yep, tested a 2014 V7 Stone today....loved it...even though the headlight vibrated loose on the test ride, I attribute that to "character"

It is everything that I hoped the RE C5 might be, but wasn't.

Night & day experience between my last V7 demo in 2009, & now.

Headlight still attached after nearly a thousand miles Some more pics here.

Contemplating a 2011 v7 Classic- I'm 6'1" and normally ride taller upright thumper dual-sports. Will the Guzzi work with peg work, seat padding, bar risers. Last MG's I rode were 850 Eldorados CA Hwy Patrol bikes in '73 wrenching at a Guzzi dealer in Anaheim- I'd like to try one again- any thoughts? Thanks and arrivederci

I'm 5'11" with 32" inseam...the V7 Special works for me. I do have an aftermarket seat, which helps a lot. You are 2" taller but if the difference is above your legs that should not matter much. If you have longer legs I suspect you will feel cramped. I'm used to riding dual sport (Multistrada, Guzzi Stelvio) so I understand where you are coming from. Best bet is to just ride one of the new bikes and see for yourself.

My rear rack came by brown today, I better get with it and install it.

For you taller guys, if you've ever ridden an airhead Beemer, this would be familiar. Ergonomically, this thing reminds me so much of the BMW R75/7 I had for a few years.

Which aftermarket seat are you using? Got pictures?

I've had a few test rides and find the foot peg position to be a bit ackward. Thinking rear set would be more comfy for me, a higher seat would be a bonus.

Paul

I wasn't a fan of the peg placement in the showroom, however out on the road test I adapted to it pretty quickly. OK with me now.

Post deleted. See ignorance below.

For those who want the real low-down on Guzzi upgrades, feel free to reach me direct email on my Forum.