Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

p any' s and Italy' s first ever 120 mph plus mot orcycle. Just 150 of the 'Sette in Vu, Telaio Rosso' we re made, and as the previous owne r of one , I kno w better than most what an und erra ted bik e this was by the sta ndards of the era. Don 't make a similar mi st ak e by u n d erestimatin g the V11 Sport: this isn 't just ano th er fa celi ft fo r th e 1100 Spo r t it re p lace s, b ut a co m p re hen s ive ly improved product which gives new life to G uzzi 's fu el - in je ct e d t w o- v a lv e . pu shrod eng ine package. Th ou gh d etail imp ro vem ents ha ve b een m a d e to th e 92 x 80m m 1064cc engine itself - includ ing a revised combust ion cham ber wit h altered inlet porting and squish band, new piston sha pe wi t h 9.5 :1 com p ressio n , di ff ere n t exha us t pipe d esign, and altered mapping for the Ma relli EFI - the key to the Vl l 's increased riding appeal is the alln e w six-speed transmissio n a nd hydrau lic clu tch. Both of these improvements am used for the first time ever on a Moto Guzzi mod el. Borrowing hea vily from Formula 1 racecar technology (bu t with a patent, ap plied for by Guzzi, to cover motorcycle use) , the long itu d in al clus ter sits behind the engi ne, as before. But this time its new casing is a w hoppi ng 70m m/2.75 inches shorter than the old five -speeder, tha nks to the innovative des ign wh ic h sees th e use of two laysh af ts, and a single mai nshaft. This more com pact size not only allows the wheelbase to be sho rtened fra ction ally to 147 1m m (while s till putt in g more weight onto the fro nt whee l to enhance b ra ki ng a n d co rnering g ri p), it a lso allows a 50mm longer d rive sha ft to be u sed . Thus th e wo rking ang le of the twin CV joint s in the shaf t fina l dri ve h as been red uced - for less w ea r and grea ter reliability. That all sou nd s just fine on paper, but it's eve n better in practic e. For starters, chang ing gear is u nbes imp ly because you' re n ot drea d in g eno ugh for most ride rs to pu t both feet lievably crisp and qui et compared to the making the next gearshift. fla t on the ground at rest. Some sho rter The sho rter engi ne and Marab ese's a rc h aic trans m iss ion o f a ny V- tw in testers have complained that the fron t of Moto Guzzi mad e to date, whose clu nky clean-shee t styling combine to d eliver a the sea t is too wide, so Guzzi plans to changes mark ed your passage th rou gh a narrow it before p rod uction beg ins in mod ern riding s tance qu ite unlike any town by echoing off the wa lls of hous es othe r Guzzi m od el to d a te, eve n th e Sep tember. The re's a choice of three colas the next gear we nt home. It was orig iDay tona . This comes fro m the clip-e ns ors - green, silver or black, all with a' red nall y co nceived for th e th ree-w h eeler (adjustable for heigh t and wi dth), from frame. The expected retail price is in the delivery truck Guzzi d esign ed for th e neig hborhood of $11,000. Ma ra bese's sty ling, a n d th e s pi n-off tran svers e V- twin s ha ftie mo to r - 30 chassis geo me try, whic h sees the head You feel a part of the bike when yo u . ye a rs ago. T he n e w s te p aboard, e nsconced transm ission could n' t beh ind the s ha pe ly 5.72be m o re d iffer e n t : ga llon tank, which has a t here ' s s t ill qu it e a p a d atop it li ke th e V7 lo ng t h row t o th e did, just in case you were lev er, but th e change going to wear a puddingactio n is almos t faultb a s in h e lm e t to ride it, less, if a littl e s low, and wan ted to get yo u r and clu tchless u pshifts chin down. Yeah, right. are a cinch . Try do ing The tucked -i n ridi ng tha t o n an o ld fiveposition doesn't mean a speeder, and see how six-foo t r ider's k nees many tim es yo u ge t it must make friends w it h wrong . Best of all, the the jutting-out cyli nders, neutral ligh t doesn't as on ma ny othe r Guzzi lie to you - in fact, neumodels, and a ll told you tra l is easy to find. 50 get the feeli ng th is bike now you can let th e was produced by someclu tc h o u t in confi one who actually rides a dence at th e green motorcycle everyday. light, without stalling Ride comfort from the the motor. And when WP cantilever .rear shock yo u d o use it, the new is surpr is i ng ly good, two-pla te dry clutc h (Top) Although noting that it still vibrates more than he'd li ke, European editor given that it needs a stiff has a ligh t and very Alan Cathcart pra ised the V11's technical improvements, descri bi ng the V11 as a s p r in g and re duce d progress ive ac t ion, cafe ' racer fo r the new millenium . 64m m travel to coun te r w hich, co u pled wi th (Above) The 1064cc , fu el-inj ect ed, two-valves-per-ey linder motor incor por ates t h e effects of the s haft the b ike ' s excelle nt Moto Guzzi ch aracte r In a mor e compacl package. The engineltransmissio n fina l d rive. Ce rtai nly, it's turn in g ci rcle , ma kes pac kage Is much short er fr om fro nl l o back than was the old vers ion . once aga in the bes t I' v e U-turns in tight places sa mpl ed o n any M ot o so easy. Both cl utch G uz zi , a n d t he fu lly a n d bra ke le v e r s on th e bik e a re angle for the 40m m Mar zocchi upsid eadjus table shoc k will allo w yo u to di al d own fo rk red uced one d egree, to 25 ad jus table, bu t a black mark goes to the in the bike' s setup at the rear, while at loud ringin g noise from the clu tch whe n the front the Marzocchis offer com presdegrees. The chassis is a revi sed ve rsio n of you pull the lever in - that need s fixing. sio n- da m p ing adj us tmen t in the righ t Mo to G uzzi's tradition al box-sect ion Still - tha t apart, the six-speed er is a leg, and rebound on the left. These ar e palpa ble im proveme n t w hic h impacts steel spine fra me layout, w hich offers a too sof tly s p rung in s tock g u ise, but you r whole enjoym ent of riding the V11, sea t hei ght w hic h a t 32 in ches is low mi g ht respond to adjustment; I di dn't 17

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