Discussion
Took a ‘characterful’ bike out yesterday for a test-ride from Meras Motos in Chalon-sur-Saône. Took a while to get used to it, but goes pretty well once between 4 and 6k rpm, and steers quite quickly and precisely for a retro style bike. Weakest point is the suspension, not sure how fixable that is.
Too much slack in the throttle cable and gear lever set too low (a pain to get shift up with sportsbike boots on), which the dealer will sort out before it goes out again.
Would I buy one? Perhaps… the model the shop wants to move on at a good discount is coincidentally exactly the one I like the look of
Too much slack in the throttle cable and gear lever set too low (a pain to get shift up with sportsbike boots on), which the dealer will sort out before it goes out again.
Would I buy one? Perhaps… the model the shop wants to move on at a good discount is coincidentally exactly the one I like the look of
I had a V85tt for a while and it was absolutely plagued with reliability issues. To the point where as much as I love MG I wouldn't buy another product from them.
Mechanically the bike was sound but the electrics were horrendous.
Oil pressure sensor went at one point. Turns out they use a sensor from a 1980s Mazda.
The worst experience I had was when it threw a red warning saying 'Alarm Service'. There's absolutely nothing in the book about that warning or on most forums.
I rang the dealer at Brighton MOTO and they tried to tell me I'd cooked the engine by leaving it to warm up for five minutes before the error came on
After weeks of fault diagnostics and lurking MG forums I found out they have a sensor that if they decide the oil isn't clean enough they throw up a red warning and stick in limp mode. I popped a small amount of fresh oil in to take it from 3/4 full to full and the error went away!!
I lost faith after that and vowed not to buy another MG from the last decade.
Mechanically the bike was sound but the electrics were horrendous.
Oil pressure sensor went at one point. Turns out they use a sensor from a 1980s Mazda.
The worst experience I had was when it threw a red warning saying 'Alarm Service'. There's absolutely nothing in the book about that warning or on most forums.
I rang the dealer at Brighton MOTO and they tried to tell me I'd cooked the engine by leaving it to warm up for five minutes before the error came on
After weeks of fault diagnostics and lurking MG forums I found out they have a sensor that if they decide the oil isn't clean enough they throw up a red warning and stick in limp mode. I popped a small amount of fresh oil in to take it from 3/4 full to full and the error went away!!
I lost faith after that and vowed not to buy another MG from the last decade.
I owned a V75 10 years ago, it had a new ECU a new speedo drive but was not too bad to ride, comfortable but I would not recomend one because of the dodgy electrics.
The ECU went phut as I took it out of the garage so I was lucky. It was under warranty so when I got it back I put it on ebay and I was lucky enough to sell it.
There are better bikes out there.
The ECU went phut as I took it out of the garage so I was lucky. It was under warranty so when I got it back I put it on ebay and I was lucky enough to sell it.
There are better bikes out there.
Ooh… I have a V7 950! Quite like mine. Not fast and runs out of revs compared to what I was used to. But nice torque, comfy, and to my eyes pretty in an almost genuine classic bike way.
Triumphs are surely a better bike, but I wanted something a little left field, and wanted a guzzi as least once in my garage.
No regrets so far.
And of course, a gratuitous pic…
Triumphs are surely a better bike, but I wanted something a little left field, and wanted a guzzi as least once in my garage.
No regrets so far.
And of course, a gratuitous pic…
I have a ‘22 V7 850 which I bought new and has now covered getting on for 6000 miles. Rode it to Mallorca and back last year. Very comfy and didn’t miss a beat. Bought as an interim after big BMWs and KTMs but now I think I’m going to keep it. Not expensive to buy or run so feel it would be worth treating it to some new shocks, fork internals and pipes. The old V7 Le Mans are still winning races and there’s a race series for modern V7s in Italy so they can’t be that bad.
I had a V9 for a few years and I loved it. I thought the bike was a quality thing and it never let me down. I rode across Spain on it and bombing along the country roads with the thrum of the engine in the background was a joy. Hustling it along the more twisty roads was great fun too. It wasn't fast and there was a bit of a knack to riding it but once you had had that down it was all good. It looked great too - mine was a kind of metallic orange/yellow. I had to sell it due to a house move but I miss it very much. One day I will buy another Guzzi.
Long time V7 owner, purchased mine in 2019 V7 iii special. Lucky enough to have a few bikes but can honestly say that the V7 is the only one I look at the reflection in the shop windows as I ride by. It does absolutely nothing particularly well, in truth it's outdone by my daily SV650 commuter in every respect but one, the looks. They have a peculiar way of getting under your skin.
Reliability after the warranty period has been excellent, to be honest there isn't a huge amount to go wrong. In warranty I had a couple of CO2 sensors throw errors and needed a replacement speedo that flunked out, in the remaining 4 years nothing. Getting spares from dealers can be difficult and long winded. Oh and the suspension and OEM tyres are crap, I changed out for Hagon shocks and BT46 as soon as I could, they made a world of difference.
But do not expect your dealer to get you out of trouble, they are few and far between and to be honest not very good generally. Happily the on line community is second to none so will normally come up with a solution.
In short I really like it, would it be my only bike, probably not but it might be the last one to go if that makes sense
Reliability after the warranty period has been excellent, to be honest there isn't a huge amount to go wrong. In warranty I had a couple of CO2 sensors throw errors and needed a replacement speedo that flunked out, in the remaining 4 years nothing. Getting spares from dealers can be difficult and long winded. Oh and the suspension and OEM tyres are crap, I changed out for Hagon shocks and BT46 as soon as I could, they made a world of difference.
But do not expect your dealer to get you out of trouble, they are few and far between and to be honest not very good generally. Happily the on line community is second to none so will normally come up with a solution.
In short I really like it, would it be my only bike, probably not but it might be the last one to go if that makes sense
stu67 said:
Long time V7 owner, purchased mine in 2019 V7 iii special. Lucky enough to have a few bikes but can honestly say that the V7 is the only one I look at the reflection in the shop windows as I ride by.
I already have something Italian that serves that role, but there's no reason I shouldn't have another stu67 said:
Oh and the suspension and OEM tyres are crap, I changed out for Hagon shocks and BT46 as soon as I could, they made a world of difference.
Hagon for the rear shocks, I presume. Did you do anything to the front?stu67 said:
But do not expect your dealer to get you out of trouble, they are few and far between and to be honest not very good generally. Happily the on line community is second to none so will normally come up with a solution.
If I buy in France the MG dealer is part of a multi-franchise mega-bike retail organisation (Ducati, Kawasaki, Aprilia, KTM, BMW, etc) and they have a pretty good reputation. Other positive is that their workshop is open on a Saturday, so I could take it there (45 minutes away) on a Friday night, ride back to my French place on a loaner bike, and then collect on Saturday evening.The idea is that the bike would stay predominantly at my weekend place in Burgundy. It looks like it will be 10% cheaper to buy in France, but I am awaiting comparative insurance quotes (my other bikes are insured at my primary residence in Geneva.) As a Swiss citizen/resident, I would not be able to ride a FR-registered vehicle back in Switzerland, without paying 8.1% import VAT and some processing fees.
If I buy in Switzerland, it is a similar 45 minute drive to Lausanne (the Moto Guzzi dealer in Geneva is a complete ar$e); they are a lot less flexible concerning opening times and courtesy bikes, but I am then free to ride it anywhere.
stu67 said:
In short I really like it, would it be my only bike, probably not but it might be the last one to go if that makes sense
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, and also to the others who replied above.Michael_B said:
stu67 said:
Long time V7 owner, purchased mine in 2019 V7 iii special. Lucky enough to have a few bikes but can honestly say that the V7 is the only one I look at the reflection in the shop windows as I ride by.
I already have something Italian that serves that role, but there's no reason I shouldn't have another stu67 said:
Oh and the suspension and OEM tyres are crap, I changed out for Hagon shocks and BT46 as soon as I could, they made a world of difference.
Hagon for the rear shocks, I presume. Did you do anything to the front?stu67 said:
But do not expect your dealer to get you out of trouble, they are few and far between and to be honest not very good generally. Happily the on line community is second to none so will normally come up with a solution.
If I buy in France the MG dealer is part of a multi-franchise mega-bike retail organisation (Ducati, Kawasaki, Aprilia, KTM, BMW, etc) and they have a pretty good reputation. Other positive is that their workshop is open on a Saturday, so I could take it there (45 minutes away) on a Friday night, ride back to my French place on a loaner bike, and then collect on Saturday evening.The idea is that the bike would stay predominantly at my weekend place in Burgundy. It looks like it will be 10% cheaper to buy in France, but I am awaiting comparative insurance quotes (my other bikes are insured at my primary residence in Geneva.) As a Swiss citizen/resident, I would not be able to ride a FR-registered vehicle back in Switzerland, without paying 8.1% import VAT and some processing fees.
If I buy in Switzerland, it is a similar 45 minute drive to Lausanne (the Moto Guzzi dealer in Geneva is a complete ar$e); they are a lot less flexible concerning opening times and courtesy bikes, but I am then free to ride it anywhere.
stu67 said:
In short I really like it, would it be my only bike, probably not but it might be the last one to go if that makes sense
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, and also to the others who replied above.
I asked my Swiss motorbike insurers (same company since 1999) to prepare some policy record documents and send them to Allianz in France, for them to calculate the transferable NCB.
Third-party only for a V7 Special is identical, TPFT is 15% cheaper in France, and fully comp a bit more than 30% cheaper over the border.
I think I'll go TPFT given its proposed storage and usage. Now to go away and do some head-scratching...
Third-party only for a V7 Special is identical, TPFT is 15% cheaper in France, and fully comp a bit more than 30% cheaper over the border.
I think I'll go TPFT given its proposed storage and usage. Now to go away and do some head-scratching...
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff