Moto Guzzi has been building motorcycles since 1921, making it the longest established European motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production. The factory in Mandello del Lario, Italy, was the birthplace of several industry firsts—including the first wind tunnel for motorcycles, and an eight-cylinder engine.
Since 2004, Moto Guzzi has been owned by Piaggio, Europe’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer. Although production is not huge compared to the Japanese and American makers, the company is now on a stable footing and has a passionate fan base—attracted by the air-cooled 90° V-twin engines. The transverse cylinder heads projecting on either side of the bike are an easily identifiable feature.
Moto Guzzi is extremely popular with custom motorcycle builders, who tend to focus on the iconic Le Mans series of bikes built from 1976 onwards, and the V7. More recently, the ‘new’ V7 and V9 models have been a sales success, and have featured prominently in Moto Guzzi’s own ‘factory custom’ sponsored builds.
Most custom enthusiasts refine and tinker with their bikes. Sometimes it’s to keep them in line with changing tastes and styles. Sometimes it’s to improve performance. And other times, it’s to fix age-related issues or the ravages of time. In the case of this sharp-looking Moto Guzzi, it was for all those reasons. It’s a…
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The launch of the V85 TT has boosted interest in dual-sport Moto Guzzis lately. And it’s about time: the competent Stelvio was killed off around three years ago, due to low sales and the cost of meeting Euro 4 emissions. If the new V85 TT is a little beyond your budget, one option is to…
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Moto Guzzi has a rich legacy of building motorcycles for Italy’s civil servants. The V7 of 1967 was originally designed as a police bike, and its longitudinally mounted V-twin motor went on to become a hallmark of the company. A couple of years later, the lesser-known Nuovo Falcone pottered onto the scene. The Nuovo Falcone…
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One of the wonderful things about customization is that it can breathe new life into otherwise unloved motorcycles. Need proof? Just look at the number of amazing Honda CX500s and Yamaha Viragos on the scene. This Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport is another poster child for realized potential. The original wasn’t the ugliest or slowest bike…
Read more »Kaffeemaschine is one of the big success stories in the European custom world. Founder Axel Budde specializes in high-end Moto Guzzi cafe…
Read more »Situated at the crossroads of passion and pragmatism, the team at Revival Cycles knows when it’s time to shred the establishment, and…
Read more »It’s around this time of year that all the top Japanese builders release their latest customs. Many workshops have spent weeks burning…
Read more »Clothing labels have been leaning on motorcycle iconography to market their goods for decades. Just look at Belstaff—the entire brand is virtually…
Read more »Moto Guzzi’s Bellagio gets a glamorous new set of clothes. Vladimir Putin gets a new motorcycle, with a little help from Kalashnikov.…
Read more »Would you customize a limited edition motorcycle? Moto Guzzi only built 600 units of the V11 Sport Scura, but that didn’t stop…
Read more »Death Machines Of London return with an aero-inspired Moto Guzzi. A BMW R 1200 ST gets the radical supermoto treatment. And a…
Read more »If there was ever a blueprint for the ultimate Moto Guzzi cafe racer, this is it. Kaffeemaschine’s latest build has the perfect…
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