Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128005
m acclaimed as a step the right direction 'for the historic compa ny, which presen tly rival s N orton in d eriving th e least return from the most commercial potential in the wh ole wo rld of motorcycling, Bu t on ly now, a lmost two yea rs to the d a te th at it was firs t di spl a yed in pu blic, is the VII Spo rt abou t to make it to dealer showrooms around the world , It will be th e firs t in a se ries o f n ew models pla nned by the revitalized compan y' s new managem ent, an d the No rth Am erican investors who put them there (see sid ebar ), The unwarranted delay in its d evel opmen t was caused by previou s managing d irector Osca r Cecchinato's decision to sideline R&D of the VII en gine' s all-new six-speed trans mission , He did so in favor of creating a ra nge of Piaggio-powered Moto Gu zzi scooters conceived in search of num bers - the sa me formul a he foll owed in rescuing Ap rilia from the brink of disaster, It means that Guzzi now has to make up for lost time in marketing a bik e th at wa s w idely a pplauded at its Milan Show debut, both for its ev oca tive s tyling and uprated engineering, es peci ally th e co m p any' s long-overd u e s ix-s p eed gea rbox - th e fir st ever on a Moto Guz zi s tr eetbike, Wa s it worth waitin g for ? Well , a l00-mile sp in around the hills surr ou nding Lake Com o, on a launch test cu t sho rt by unseasonable thu nd ersh owers, provided only a tas te of the new Guzzi's po tential. Still, I managed to ride it hard en ou gh for long enoug h on a variety of roads to be impressed wi th the ste p forwa rd that the VII represent s com pa red to any pushrod V-twin Guzzi motor cycle mad e to date, Yet in producing such a ge nu inely improved, relatively modern-feeling motorcycle, the irony is that no ted Italian designer Luciano Marabese, the crea tor of previous Gu zzi mod els li ke th e Cen ta u ro , and w ho fashion ed th e VI I's neo-cla ssic s ty li ng while penni ng va rio us ben chmark d esign s in very d ifferent fields like cutlery, furni- , ture a nd Piaggi o scoo te rs , has borro wed heavily fro m Guzzi's arch iv e s to conceive th e VI I Sport. The green cycle part s and red fra me are th e givea way , b ein g th e sty l ing s ig n a tu re o f Gu zzi 's first-ever performance Vtwin sportbike, the V7 Sport, dating from 1971, which was both the com- Ul ::s en ::s c( 16 Afte r a two-year delay , Mota Guzzi has finally come forth with a new gene rat io n of its transverse-mounted V-tw in eng ine. The Vl l Sport model is the first to show off the new six-speeder, wh ich will be used in several models planned by the resuscitated company.