Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

'" '" " '" '" Q. M r- ~ aJ' > :;; '" '" ~ w Z W ..J U >U SQuare ~ a r bs l oo k n eat . N o w eve r~.o n e will b e us ing square car b u ret o rs. ENGINE 2 cy linde r O HV . 80 degree ' V' 4 stroke 82. 5mm x 70 m m 74 8.4cc (4 5.6 6 cu . in ) 9.8 t o 1 72 HP SA E at 70 0 0 rpm 2 Dell'Orto ty pe VHB 30m m 7.3 p in ts Batte ry Elec t r ic Type Bo re x st ro ke Displacement Compressio n ratio Cla imed horsep owe r Ca rbu ret io n Oil capaci ty Ignitio n Start ing Fuel consu mpt ion Perform ance DIMENSIONS Weight Wheelbase Le ngt h Width Heigh t Fu e l capacity Base p rice MOTO GUZZll Claim:~ ~~~.~ ~~~ VfI §rOIRT 495 1bs. 5 7.8 " 85.2 " 4 0 .7" 41 .7 " 5.7 gal. $2.500.00 (plus set up . fr t .• e t c.l ho rsep ow er o f 72 for the V7 at 7,000 rp m as o ppose d to th e Ambassad or's clai m ed 60 horses at 6 ,500 rpm . According to the rid er s ' m anuals of bo th bikes the overall gea r rat ios are th e same. Y et wit h the 5 speed b o x in th e V7 and higher inte rn al gear ratios in th e gea r bo x , the V7 has about a 12% high er r a t i o a t th e rear wheel than the Ambassador . Also , acco rdi ng to th e man ua ls, t he V7 is o nly 7 pounds ligh ter than its co un terpa rt at 495 po un ds . The bike we tested was the domestic mo del , not for impor t into the U.S . Th us o ur Mother Goose d idn ' t h ave directional sign als and the idiot lights varied from the "American" m od el whic h sp orts a high beam in dica tor whil e the " Italian" m odel ca rr ies a green ligh t tha t c om es on whenever eith er high or low beam are being use d. \\' e found the litt le green light usel ess because we feel t hat anyone of even sub no rm al in tell igence can tell w hen his headlig h t is o n since you are unable to see at night witho ut it. (ED•.Brilliant LCIlk , sim ply brilliant.} As far as th e absence of a brig ht ligh t indica to r , o n coming t ra f fic always lets y o u know whe n y o u 're kno cking th eir ey es o ut with the high be am . Th e lo w b ea m was virt uall y usel ess. When yo u adjus ted th e brights so y o u co uld see far eno ugh ahead the lo w beam illumi nat ed less than 15 feet ahead of t he bike. Whe n you adj usted the lo w beam p roper ly th e high b eam illuminated treetops . T hi s provided for an excellent co o n h unt ing ligh t hut left a lo t to be desired as far as nigh tt im e road racing wen t. So me of the in t er estin g features o f the Vi include the courtesy light under th e seat that au to matically co mes o n when y o u lift said seat; th e fuel cu to ff is { J~.~?~~~.~:~!.~!£f~:!~S o~ ~ - r . ' , • '.' ' / * / 2255 Harbor Blvd .. Costa Mesa, Calif. 9262 7 (71 4) 646 ·4 65 5 o r 646-2428 IF NO ONE BOUGHT STOLEN PARTS T HERE WOULD BE NO REASON TO STEAL THEM * Is Your Wife T ired Of ,Watching You R ? ide Pick Her Up A Dunecycle, The Family Fun Machine. Ride the sand du nes, play in t he snow, cl imb t he moun t ains. Duneycles are f u n f or everyone. Enter drawi ng for a free Dun ecycl e at these particip at ing dealers: O .J a. B·~ OU NECVCLE 11 4)' 1 C L A RK A V f- . AELU"L OWER AM'•. 3& l l G EA RY ' S M I N I B I K E S " C O CA R TS ' ~ 0 6 C A ROE N G ROVE B LVD . GAR OE N C ROVE ~3" ·7~2 7 BA RTON 'S RECREATION FUN VI[MICLI[S ~ J'1 E . ht ST . S A N T A ANA 5 .. 7·2.' 6 DI CKS CYCL E .. MOWER to' 6 S . MA CIENOA BLVD . HA C IEND A HEICHTS "' ·3"~ HE C REATION V E H ICLES &. S U P P L I E S t 6 6 ~ 3 R O S COE BLV D . V AN N UY S .'J 3....3t 4 N O R WA LK D UNE C Y C L E t t a 3 2 F I R E S T O N E BLV D , NOR W AL K " 3 ·0 713 Southern Californ ia Dunecycle Dealers A ssociatio n Sports \' 7, In fifth gea r at 5, 0 0 0 r's we were pushing th e sp eed o ove r the ton, that 'is to say, ove r 100 mph. Wit h the red line se t at 7,300 rpm we fo und o urselves breaking all know n sp eed lim its contin uo us ly u n til we star te d crui sing in fo urt h gear . \\'e stop ped using fift h gea r all toge ther an d wonder wh en, o t he r t han in a p roduc ti on road race, th e factory in tended it to be use d . (E D--If y ou 've ever been bl own off o n o ne of Eur op e 's "[reeuurys " you 'd kn ow.) O ur bi ggest dislike o f the bike, which is a c a r r y o v e r feeli ng from our ex periences with most Italian built bikes, was t he ele ctrical system . When we received the b ike the igni ti o n swi tch was already b ell y up , A toggle switch ha d b een jerry rigged under the tank and m or e th an one perso n who rode the bike liked the idea of a ph o ny ign itio n switch (rem em b er it was belly up) as they felt the all but hidden toggle switch was a nice ant i-theft devi ce. \\'e let the bike sit fo r a week while we were at D a ytona a n d upon returning discovered the battery was de ad . Oh , those Italian e1ectrics. Other than the vibes sent o ut bvthe opposed cy linders at low rp m we found the V7 t o be an ab solu te ball t o rid e. Whetlier gob b ling up m ile after mil e o n the I nt e r s t a t e s or pl aying Yvo n Du Hamel o n t he back roads the bike ha nd led ex ceptio nall y well. Th e weigh t o f the b ike didn't cause the least proble m o nce you were rolli ng. Fast corn ering-ewe ll, just point her in and lay her over while me an t im e gr abbing gea rs and bra kes. T he Mo to Gu zzi V7 Sports ca n be p urchased a t your local Gu zzi dealer but take a fat wall e t. T he o ut th e d o o r p rice is 5 2 ,5 00 and wit h m ost of th e curre n t sta te of the art super b ikes ret ailin g for aro und 52,00 0 y o u might b e hesitant about shelling o ut an additional $500 fo r t his su per bike . Yo u might help yourself b y keep ing in mind that a Ferra ri , Masera ti , Lamborghini or o ther simila r I talian sports car d oesn ' t c o m e cheap either. And you know, so met im es it takes j ust a few mo re bucks to go fir st class. e l ec trically o p era te d in co nj u nctio n with th e ignition key ; th e fro nt forks are pu t into a lo cked sta t e when the ignition key is re moved; and t he engi ne can be st arted ei ther by using the starter b u t ton o n th e right side o f t he h andlebars o r , by sim p ly turnin g th e igni tion key to the fa r righ t ju st like yo u do o n yo ur van , car . truc k or what have you. Anot he r added fea ture is t he rear fe nder sec tio n th a t is hi nged so it will co m e up an d out o f the way for re moving the rear wheel. The bike co mes equipped wit h Ko n i re ar sh ocks and front forks that have a .striking resemb lan ce to Cerianis. The front stoppers are -t wi n dru m wi t h four lea ding sh oes and will put yo u on your head in less than a heart be at unless yo u have a se nsitive t ou ch. Most of us a t Cycle News don't and so we wo uld prefer a d isc brake setup. The rear brakes were ex cellent and m o re th an up to an y demands we p ut to th em. Th e st yling was typical It alian and that means neat . The six gallo n tank was ap p reciate d o u t on th e road and its size didn 't detract from it s appearance at all . Helping t he cafe racer appearacne are the c1ipon type o f han d leb ars th at ca n be adjusted up or down the fork tubes thro ugh an S" range. Add o ne of the best 'tool kits we have experienced , alloy rims and a new tri ck set of tires to t he " liked " list. O ur bi ke cam e eq uip pe d with a kilometer speedo but it had been chan ged t o a mph instrument b efore we tested it. Heading o u r list of '"dislikes" was th e short front fe nder. It was nice and sporty lo o king and all that, b ut dirt, wa ter an d wh a tever was thrown righ t into y o ur face . Our shorter testers had one maj or co m p lian t.. black an d bl u e kn ee ca ps. It seems as th o ugh anyone un d er 5'S" who rode the bike with the cli pons in the racy looking position wo uld bang their knees agai nst th e valve covers. As w i th m o s t opposed twins , vib ration is ba d at lo w rp m's bu t af ter the bike gets o ver 4 ,500 r's it smoot hs out with alm ost no noticeable vib rati on . Traveling on Interstates was a pleasure bu t did bring to light o ne quirk o f th e :, <1'- - - - ------- - -- ... ' : [C Ca~~m~ I , MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS TRAINING EARN INGS $7,000 - $15,000 YEARLY Cycle Center =" YAMAHA HUSQVARNA all models available " ,.... at t. . . ~". STUDENT DIVISION AM ERI CAN MOTORC YCL E I N ST ITU TE P.O. S o x 262 8 Dayt ona Beach . Fla . 3201 5 . 904 / 255 ,0295 NAME , YAMAHA! HusaVARNA Sates- Service - ParIS· accesscnes Ho m e s t u d y an d re s id ence traini n g avai l. ab le on a ll t ypes o f m ot o rcy c les. For t nfor, m ation write : ~CaIiIorrOa Cycle --------------- ,2 1 00 l. M C F.l d de n. Sil n l il A na . 1 7 1 4 1 ~58 ' 1 5 1 1 center , . ADDRESS - . STATE ACCESSORY SALE MAY 2nd to MAY 9th NG K STD . TYPE PLUGS ,. TUBES ANY S IZ E C. S . SP ROC KETS YA M, ENDUR O O R MX VENT ED MOT O X JERSEyS LEATH E R MOTO X PA NTS LACE UP BOOTS " WE DG E D" MOT O X SOC KS ..... • . . . .. . . ... . . . ...... . . . .. . . .... FI BE RG LASS APPROV ED HELMET S . . . . . . • . . . . . . . .. . . . T& 0 YAMAHA 24020 NARBONNE AVE . LOM IT A , CALIF . 907 17 (2 13 ) 534 ·231 1 FREE N G K P L U G W ITH TH IS C O U P ON . 2 IP . $ .5 5 2.00 1.50 7.95 44.9 5 24.9 5. .. 1.75 . 14.95 , •

• Cover