After bringing Moto Guzzi under the Aprilia umbrella in 2000, the company’s depth was a great help to Guzzi, and build quality improved within the year. The V11 Le Mans was introduced in 2001, the recipient of many special parts and paint schemes. Offered by a Mass. dealer, this example was stored since the buyer…
If pure speed, cutting-edge technology, or drive chains are your thing, then today’s Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000 probably isn’t the bike for you. But if race heritage, character, and v-twin torque are things you enjoy, you can’t go wrong with this big Guzzi. The Daytona is certainly not light weight, but it does handle: with…
With the other manufacturers building their exotic turbocharged 80s confections around more sophisticated four-cylinder designs, why did Honda base their CX650 Turbo on a bike that was so ugly, the British press dubbed it the “plastic maggot”? Well even though a simple, pushrod v-twin seems to go against the high-tech theme these motorcycles embodied, the…
After giving the LeMans token updates for several years, Moto Guzzi made some great modernizations in 1993 and named the result after another endurance racing classic – Daytona. With help from the brilliant gentleman racer Dr. John Wittner, Guzzi fielded the four-valve per cylinder 1000cc engine in their long stable chassis. Though built in low numbers and not…
Much like the Ducati 900SS FE we featured last week, today’s reborn Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans is a bike for riders who value a bit of history and real-world performance over high horsepower numbers, racetrack manners, and the newest technological acronyms. And when I say “legacy,” I mean legacy: the longitudinally-mounted 90° v-twin found…
When BMW stops developing the horizontal twin, likely they’ll stop putting the blue and white Rondel on the tank. But as noise and emissions regulations compelled them to cool the heads with water in 2012, the pinnacle of the air/oil-cooled generation remains the HP2 Sport. Dual overhead cams enable the 1170 cc engine to push…
Responding to pressure from the east with scores of refinements on the Le Mans theme, the archetypal Moto Guzzi is just now ( after 30+ years ) making the jump to “classic”. A stable, torquey heavyweight, this particular Le Mans has been beautifully maintained and upgraded. 1984 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans Mk. III…
Similar to Porsche’s flat-six engine, there will likely always be a horizontal twin BMW. Before and well, during the development of the S1000RR sportbike, the company continued to enhance the big twin’s sporty prospects, and the R1200S is the penultimate boxer ( bowing only to the HP2 ). This example has over 31,000 miles but…