People who own guzzis seem to be very committed to the make mostly. Unlike harley i dont think it is an image thing at all. I realise lots of harley owners are not into the image side!
So just wondering what is the pull? The only one i have ridden felt like a bag of nuts and bolts rattling around and very unsatisfying. It was a t3 cali.
If a Guzzi appeals I thinks you just need to get one and see how you get on with it, just like any other bike really, everyone will no doubt have their own reasons for liking them.......
I've been around Guzzis since my late teens and have owned quite a few now. Bar one, all have been round barreled Tonti framed Guzzis but in many guises from standard 850's pulling chairs to a highly tuned 1000cc thing (also with a chair) that had big valves, head work, big carbs, cam etc etc. I've also owned a 'modern' Guzzi, an 1100 Griso.
Now, for me, there are many reasons that I love Guzzis but one of those reasons was thrown into sharp relief when I went out for a ride, yesterday afternoon, on my old T3 Cali with a mate who's just got a dog of an old Mille GT on the road. It's his first Guzzi after years of Brit bikes and Jap IL4's. We swapped bikes 'cos he wanted to see if some of the things that didn't seem quite right (compared to what he's been used to) were indeed faults with his bike or just a 'Guzzi thing'. You can guess the outcome I'm sure
Anyway, the thing that struck me while riding his bike was just how that thing, whatever it is, that makes a Guzzi a Guzzi is there in every Guzzi I've ever riden. They are all different bikes, different cycle parts, different engines even but from The Griso with it's modern handling, excellent gearbox and decent perfomance to my old shitter of a T3 Cali with it's sloppy gear change, crashy front end, mediocre performance and (well the list goes on)....... But as different as they are they all feel the same, I can't really explain it but that indefinable character is there in all of them. It may be the unique engine configuration that gives them that character but that would be too simple I think, there's more to it to that........
Oh, and of course, they look fucking gorgeous, nothing comes close to a nicely sorted, or an old shitter Guzzi
<a href="https://andressotoscastello.smugmug.com/UkGSer/n-5CFLKf/i-tLC3vXK/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-tLC3vXK/0/b8352c92/L/i-tLC3vXK-L.jpg" alt=""></a>
<a href="https://andressotoscastello.smugmug.com/UkGSer/n-5CFLKf/i-DNvVLgQ/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DNvVLgQ/0/5c1ff2d5/XL/i-DNvVLgQ-XL.jpg" alt=""></a>
Andres
The Germans were just sensible enough to realise that they had a winning formula and stick with it when others did not. Nor was I mocking, just being humorous and inverting a well known cartoon much used by Guzzisti. The fundamental formula is big twin torque with a cylinder arrangement that minimises vibration. Guzzi simply took their own approach to that. Other arrangements have their attractions but two cylinders and lots of mid range torque is where "character" is formed.
