Little Guzzis, a year later

A year ago we wrote something about the 'little' Guzzis here. Now there is one driving here - quite often - daily driver.

The series of light (er) V-twins was born in 1977

Around 1980 there was a fairly large gap between the 500 cc models and the - then heaviest - 850 cc Guzzi's. That was filled by the little V-twins. In the beginning, those were two models: the V35 and the V50. The 350 was mainly intended for the home country for tax reasons. So the 350s did not come our way en masse.

An intermediate model

Management decided to solve this problem by producing a 1981 cc V-twin in 650, the Moto Guzzi V65. Just in the margin: I once bought a V65 with a flared crankshaft bearing for very little. That problem seemed easy to fix. NOT! Moto Guzzi did not supply undersized bearing shells and the crank could not be vaporized or welded. And another crankshaft? It could not be found. In 1985, the 850 cc models were almost all replaced by 1000 cc models, which caused the 'gap' to grow again and there was a need for a 750 cc model.

The small Moto Guzzis vary from normal 'naked' touring models with a slightly classic character to really sporty machines such as the Lario 650 with its eight-valve heads. Those heads were a thing of the early eight-valve machines. They really broke down. That is why 'many' still drive from home eight-valve models with two-valve heads.

The Natootjes

And then of course there are also the Nato 500s for people with a highway phobia. One more thing from the little Moto Guzzi's. The rear fork is mounted in the block. A worn universal joint can have so much play that it cuts the chainstay leg. Shaft drive is maintenance-FREE, not maintenance-FREE. Steel inserts have also been devised from the enthusiast world to prevent the light metal rear fork from gnawing. The switches on the handlebar don't really like rain. Replacing the air filter is a crime. In some models, the jiffy is so badly positioned that it is guaranteed to tip over. The gearbox has its vent through a mushroom on the block, making the top of the block greasy, the colored coating on the crankcases tends to peel off.

Buying rear tires remains a matter of paying attention

Because, depending on the tire brand, a tire with the correct size indication may be too wide for the rear fork. The Motoplat ignition cannot withstand cold, dryness, wetness, heat and vibrations extremely well. There are models that have long-term carburetion problems. Any lover of Italian stuff will dismiss it with a shrug: "Details ..."

Because that's the nice thing: The Guzzi world is clear and the MGCN has an excellent technical forum. Moreover, all 'character traits' or idiosyncrasies of these Guzzis are known and often already addressed.

In the meantime, there are usually (affordable) alternatives for the 'points of attention'. This way you can make a 'small' Guzzi just as user-friendly and reliable as its big brothers without much effort. And tinkering with a Guzzi yourself is a breeze.

The 'custom' models?

These remind many people of something small that tries a little too hard to look American. A toddler trying to look tough.

These light American look-a-likes are usually bought for small change to turn them into Café racers, bobbers, street fighters or more of that inconvenience.

A place of pilgrimage

And in the meantime there is at least someone who interferes with the little Guzzis from the used parts side: Teun Beuzel from Lochem is for the owners of small Guzzis the same as Richard Busweiler from Genemuiden is for Ural and Dnepr drivers: A kind of shelter for 'underdogs ', where the passion for the type is not hindered by marketing and revenue models.

Because in terms of marketing we speak in this corner of 'niche marketing'. And that is marketing to a small group of nice and often somewhat frugal thinking group of people as a 'target'.