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Moto Guzzi have recently launched the V7 café racer as the flagship of their V7 range. Although the café racer is a very cool off-the-floor option, it only is available in one colour scheme with the tank chromed and the frame colour best described as “nail varnish” maroon. Nothing wrong with the above if you intend keeping the bike standard but not an easy option if you want to personalise your ride.
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We at Retro Write-up feel that the V7 Classic is the one to buy. It looks very similar to the original ‘60s V7 and is a blank canvas on which the owner may easily express personal customising flair
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Which brings us to our featured machine- an original 700cc Moto Guzzi V7 . These bikes were the first produced by Moto Guzzi with the now legendary transverse 90° air-cooled v-twin motor producing 45 hp and a shaft drive to the rear wheel. A complete lack of business sense has never detracted from an Italian motorcycle manufacturer’s passion, flair and design ingenuity.
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Moto Guzzi’s firsts include everything from producing the first motorcycle with a centre stand to being the first to use a wind tunnel in aerodynamic design. In fact the person who designed the first dohc V8 motor ever used in a motorcycle for the Moto Guzzi Grand Prix bikes also designed the motor for the V7. The V7 was launched in 1967 and was created primarily to gain the contract for the supply of police motor cycles to the Italian government.
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Not many of these V7s were sold in South Africa, but as with most of the Guzzis, their reliability and their owners’ passion has seen the majority of those sold survive. Matthew’s V7 featured here is a fine example of how a 45 year old motorcycle still has relevance in modern motorcycling. Go and have a look at the new Guzzis.