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/128210
Mota Guzzi Breva V750ie :"':::::::;;;;:;;;;. . . . . ...-t Is very low, which should find favor among run short of Inseam. cantly more refined than its carbureted predecessor. The Breva's air/oilcooled two-valve push rod engine, featuring a new camshaft design and graphite-coated pistons delivering 9.6: 1 compression, feels silent and well-made, as well as tight and responsive, with none of the rattles and whirrs and other mechanical noise of previous pushrod Guzzi models. It's been comprehensively reengineered by Brovazzo's boys (Guzzi's intake of new technical staff among the 290-strong Mandello workforce now comprises a much younger generation of development engineers than ever before), which helps make the new model seem a lot more bike for the money than the cruder, seemingly more old-fashioned Nevada, even if at Euro 7660 (about $7600) on the road in its Italian home market, the Breva is indeed around IS-percent more expensive than its custom counterpart. Brovazzo plans to manufacture 2500 examples of the new model out of Guzzi's projected IO,OOO-unit 2003 production, rising to 3200 bikes or more if demand warrants. However, the Breva also appears to greater versatility as a result. Riding the Breva for a day through the hills and lakes of Moto Guzzi's back yard in the foothills of the Italian Alps reveals the extent of the transformation that Aprilia's ownership has wrought on Guzzi's products, which now appear to be built to their parents' standards of quality. After slinging a leg pretty easily over the low 780mm-high seat (there's an even lower seat option among the wide range of aftermarket Breva accessories Guzzi has catalogued for the new model, including hard luggage, which will indeed help make it an ideal bike for women), just the first half-mile aboard the Breva was sufficient to convince me that this relatively humble starter bike is a significant step up in terms of both engineering and quality of manufacture from any previous Moto Guzzi model. The 744cc engine (measuring 80 x 74mm) has been completely revamped compared to its Nevada ancestor, so that although its claimed output of 48 bhp at 6800 rpm is only a little more than before, the way it delivers this performance is signifi- 32 APRIL 23, 2003' cue I e n e vv s more sophisticated in operation than the Nevada or previous middleweight Guzzi models, with its perfectly mapped Marelli EFI, featuring 36mm throttle bodies linked beneath the fuel tank, with a single injector per twovalve cylinder mounted close to the cylinder head and pointing directly at the inlet valve, delivering clean, responsive pickup at all revs. This makes the bike feel controllable and easy to use, and even trying all the usual tricks to upset the management system, like cracking the throttle wide open from fully closed or playing back and forth on the gas leaned over around a long sweeping turn, didn't work. Not for nothing was Moto Guzzi the first Italian motorcycle manufacturer to fit fuel injection on its bikes, even ahead of Ducati. Coupled with the light, controllable action of the single-plate clutch, this makes riding the Breva in traffic or town very easy - though for a bike that is liable to be used by those with small, feminine-sized hands, it would have been appropriate to have fitted the bike with adjustable clutch and brake levers, which are missing from the new model. Still, the clutch is easy to modulate, and the steering lock and balance of the Breva are good so that making feet-up U-turns in a narrow road in no more than three times the bike's length is very easy - aided by the fact that it will pull away from rest at 1000 rpm in top gear, and with maximum torque of 40.3 ft.-Ibs. peaking at just 3600 rpm, the Breva is manageable and muscular at lower revs. This is a safe and controllable motorcycle, which, while vaguely sporty, is primarily one that lives up to the purpose Moto Guzzi has aptly designated it to fulfill. Turistica Leggera: It's a lightweight tourer. And one that will also accelerate wide open from just 2000 rpm with- out any transmission snatch, with an extra dose of eagerness from 5000 rpm upward on a bike weighing 400 pounds dry. Changing up at around 6000 rpm in every gear, the Breva's power may feel a bit bland and gutless in terms of performance to the more experienced rider, but it has sufficient zest in its power delivery to supply the promised enjoyment and fun biking for entry-level customers, which Brovazzo says was Guzzi's objective. It's far from being a slug, just not an outright sportbike, that's all. Yet if you rev it hard to somewhere approaching the 7800 rpm rev limiter, the Breva will remember it's named after a warm wind rather than a cold one, if not just exactly a Mistrale of motion. Horses for courses - and the 750 Guzzi engine delivers more than enough performance for its target audience. Even when ridden harder than it was really designed to be, the Breva's engine is smooth and free-revving there's no undue vibration through the seat and weighted handlebar and only a little through the rubber-clad footrests, which is no more than just enough to remind you you're riding a V-twin motorcycle, not a big-wheel scooter. The noticeable flywheel effect, especially pronounced by 750cc standards, makes the Breva seem improbably long-legged, particularly in top (fifth) gear. Though the actual gearbox is the same as the Nevada's, if not presumably rejected on grounds of cost, it would have been better to have closed up the ratios more compared to the cruiser, to give the Breva some added zest on acceleration. However, the five-speed gearbox has a much smoother, quieter change action than any previous five-speed Guzzi (except from bottom to second which produces just as much of a loud clunk as before),