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/128207
frantic on their Furia, will inevitably mean exposing one or both knees to an occasional toasting. That's because the Furia seems unbelievably short-assed for a Moto Guzzi model - which, with a 1405mm wheelbase, it undoubtedly is. That's a whopping 85mm shorter than Guzzi's own VII Sport - a huge reduction in length, which, matched by a 23degree rake for the Furia's fullyadjustable 41 mm Paioli cut-down upside-down forks (shortened by a significant 4cm from standard to reflect the very short wheelbase) and just 90mm of trail via the custommade triple clamps, results in agile handling and fast steering completely beyond anything ever produced in M,andello. Coupled with the excellent leverage from those wide but not overly high-set handlebars, this provides a perfect recipe for storming the switchback mountain roads and lakeside canyons surrounding Perego, aided by the muscular grunt of Guzzi's 1064cc 90-degree V-twin motor. This is fitted to the Furia exactly as supplied direct from Mandelio, apart from remapping the Marelli EFI to take account of G&B's freer-flowing exhaust system created for it by Ferrari/Sauber Fl exhaust suppliers Tubi. The exhaust system boasts a distinctive oblong angularlooking silencer cleverly occupying the wasted space behind the engine sump, beneath the gearbox. This is partly responsible for the Furia's sounding relatively mute by Guzzi standards though still unmistakably muscular as you ac'celerate hard all the way to the 8000 rpm power peak, revelling in the dose of extra power that comes on strong around 4800 rpm, to deliver a greater rush of revs. Part of the credit for that must go to Moto Guzzi itself, though, for the VII engine has always seemed much quieter and less clattery than its ,previous pushrod motors, for sure a reflection of the improved quality and reduced production tolerances Aprilia has introduced since takin,g over. The Furia's motor actually felt taut and sophisticated, not an attribute I've yet been able to lay at the door of a Moto Guzzi-engined bike before. But credit for the Furia's ace handling goes entirely to the distinctive chassis layout designed by 34-yearold Giuseppe Ghezzi, derived from his Guzzi Supertwin which defeated the Ducati deluge to win the 1996 Italian BoTT Championship, by winning five of the seven rounds - sporting satisfaction supreme for someone then earning a crust as a machine tool fitter, who'd been a Guzzista all his motorcycling life ever since passing his test on a humble V35. At that stage, Ghezzi & Brian was only a spare-time business, making Guzzi race parts for sale to fellow enthusiasts - but the partners' innovative spine-framed title-winner then spun off a street version, which finally began production in the autumn of 2000, with the shipment of the first batch of bikes to Japan. "It might have happened two years sooner, but at first we couldn't persuade Moto Guzzi to supply us with engines," says Ghezzi. "You might say our patience was finally rewarded!" Since then, around 70 street Supertwins have been manufactured on a handmade, bespoke basis, their TIG-welded chassis in turn forming the basis of the Furia, created in response to many customers who expressed interest in buying a bike but preferred something less radical than a racer-with-lights. The Furia features the same steering geometry as the Supertwin but, thanks to no fairing, a lighter exhaust system, and just a single front disc and caliper instead of the sportbike's pair, weighs in 17.6 pounds lighter at a claimed 409.2 half-dry (with oil, no fuel) - a massive 72 pounds less than the naked version of Guzzi's own VII Sport. This means the Furia actually has more zestful performance than a Supertwin, as I found out for myself when I briefly rode Giuseppe's own sportbike, on which he'd accompanied us to the local school to fulfill a promise made to one of the teachers (surely not the blonde Gwyneth Paltrow lookalike, Giuseppe?) to take one of each model over to explain to the kids what that funny man makes over there behind the warehouse.. _ Moreover, the Furia scales 10 pounds less that). an M900 Monster, and with a claimed 94 bhp on tap at 8000 rpm is ,} 6 bbp more potent than its desmodlJe competition. But it's in the handling department that the Furia really excels, thanks to the rectangular-section, high-tensile steel frame whose central spine, rather than doubling as the oil tank as on normal Guzzis (this is now separately mounted behind the steering heaa:), instead acts as the airbox, ~ed by a large duct behind the head- lamps. The air then enters the rearfacing throttle bodies from the spine via a bifurcated rear frame section embracing the linkage for the risingrate rear suspension, whose multiadjustable Ohlins shock is horizontally mounted above the gearbox, beneath the rider's nether regions. This innovative piece of packaging and the original thought that inspired it are what has permitted Ghezzi to reduce the Furia's wheelbase so much. Tpe payoff comes the first time you gas it up hard along a winding mountain pass then brake hard for the hairpin in front of you, getting ready to exercise your muscles conducting the V-twin shaftie along Racer Road. Sorry, but if you were relying on a workout to tone up your physique by street-surfing the Furia and pulling some pecs by heaving it from side to side, you're in for a disappointment, because this is the quickest-handling Guzzi I've ever ridden, allowing you to exploit the good grip of the D207 Dunlop rubber fitted to max out the bike's potential as a very serious canyon carver. Okay, the Furia's not a GP bike - but it steers beautifully on the brakes into a bend; you just need to think about tun;l-in, and it's done it for you, and best of all it changes direction as readily as an Aprilia Tuono, which is praise indeed. Tuono? Furia? Thunder and fury - very Wagnerian, except that pending KTM's arrival on the scene in 18 months' time with the 950 Duke to live up to tbat Teutonic ideal, these are the new Latin paradigms for the V-twin division of the Naked sports class. The good manners of the Ghezzi & Brian sportrod are emphasized by the way the bike holds a 'line at high speed or under hard braking, without weaving about as you often find a bike will do with such a short wheelbase, and such radical steering g,eom- r; y G •• etry by street standards. It stays very composed, but what's more, if you ahem - misjudge your turn speed and have to grab an extra handful of front brake to avoid hitting the Fiat Cinq loaded down with groceries that some local Italian mamma is enthusiastically pedaling in the opposite direction •around tbe corner as you approach it, the fur,ia doesn't sit up and start u'ndersteering straight ahead as other Guzzis I've ridden have done, in turn re,quiring an extra dose of muscle to force it back on line. This is a bike that just goes where you point it, one that's especially good at flicking from one side to another through a series of bends, thanks not only to Ghezzi's good frame design but also the reduced gyroscopic effect obtained by fitting the large but lightweight 420mm Braking perimeter front disc, drilled to reduce weight and heat buildup as well as improve water drainage. Gripped by Braking's own very light four-piston caliper, this single-disc setup surprisingly proved more than adequate to stop the Furia - fast. I'd expected it to need the Supertwin's doubled-up discs to do the job, but that's not so, and in fact the Braking rim disc delivers lots of feel in stopping the bike, plus it speeds up the steering just as the Buell Firebolt's similar front brake does but delivers noticeably more bite when you first squeeze the lever, so that stopping hard requires less effort, and also less distance, than on the American bike. The Furia's ultralight OZ fivespoke wheels are of forged aluminum construction, which makes them as light as if they were made of magnesium, but much more robust. Even with a four-pot caliper gripping the 220mm Braking "margherita" wave disc fitted to it, the 5.50 inch rear OZ nestling beneath its carbon mudguard is no less than 15 pounds lighter than