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2014 Breva 2 Valve - Last one ever?

HiFiRuss71

Just got it firing!
Joined
May 22, 2021
Messages
4
Location
Cambridge, UK
Hello from Cambridgeshire, UK. Pardon if this is a bit wordy, but I'm an ex-journo and like a story.

I'd been considering a number of different bikes to break a 15 year motorcycling duck (sold a Mille in 2006 and left the scene) but saw a 2014 Breva at a relatively local dealer and started to read up.

I'd always fancied a Guzzi.

I loved my 2003 Mille, but I was getting older and slower or basically, just in less of a rush. In my yoof, I was a salesman at a BMW & Suzuki dealer and had a lot of time for the 2V air cooled flat twins, despite what my 20 something mates would say when I pulled up on a demonstrator. People will take umbridge, but a Guzzi semed a natural resting point between my beloved RSV and the BMW R Series bikes, even if that is a tenuous conclusion.

Roll forward 20 years and it was Googling the price of a BMW R1100S parked at work that set me looking again and then checking the wallet to realise time and earnings have moved on and frankly, I could afford to itch that scratch.

TBH, I nearly went off the idea. Every bike that fell within budget seemed to have some sort of 'issue'. I guess the intervening years and the proliferation of internet forums causes information paralysis. I mean, I knew about all the issues my '80s & '90s Honda V4s were supposed to 'enjoy' but never suffered any such failures. I just rode the wheels off them and moved on.

Searching now, the Breva fitted the bill to a tee, but then I started seeing the 4V DLC issues and blah, blah,blah... another good idea is about to go south.

Hang on. There's a 2014 2V Breva just up the road with 1748 miles (seventeen hundred and forty eight in case that looks like a typo) miles on the clock at a Guzzi dealer. I start Googling there's nothing about two valves that means a damn for my requirements, except the cam train won't melt. I'm sure there's probably some other issue somebody will illuminate...

The following morning (today) I'm at the dealer staring at a full yearly service schedule (roughly 200 miles between each yearly service, give or take) and zero extra miles since the last service. Bar a black mark from a toe rub on the downpipe near the gear shift and a tiny dull rub mark on top of the tank (cover?) this thing looks like it's been ridden out of the showroom and straight back in again. £5995 on the sticker, bought for £5750.

This may or may not be a great price, but bikes of this mileage fall so far outside or guide book pricing, who knows? The downside is that it probably needs running in. I can cope with that in the pantheon of second hand bike issues.

The dealer explained that it had been a showroom model in [I think he said] 2012 that had a deposit put down and then for one reason or the other, the sale cancelled after a protracted wait. The bike ended up getting registered in 2014 and sold to a bloke who basically didn't ride it.

My question is, does anybody know of a later 2v 1200 Breva?

This is a purely academic question, because like my 2016 MX-5, I have absolutely no reason or intention of selling it. There's no technological or performance reason to do so. I can't promise I won't 'mod' it with a slightly fruitier can (and I do mean slightlier) and maybe a screen and luggage at some point, but it's a toy I can afford to not use, which even as I type it, sounds bad. It will be cosseted and used on days that suit it and me; that's all.

Russ
 
Hello from Cambridgeshire, UK. Pardon if this is a bit wordy, but I'm an ex-journo and like a story.

I'd been considering a number of different bikes to break a 15 year motorcycling duck (sold a Mille in 2006 and left the scene) but saw a 2014 Breva at a relatively local dealer and started to read up.

I'd always fancied a Guzzi.

I loved my 2003 Mille, but I was getting older and slower or basically, just in less of a rush. In my yoof, I was a salesman at a BMW & Suzuki dealer and had a lot of time for the 2V air cooled flat twins, despite what my 20 something mates would say when I pulled up on a demonstrator. People will take umbridge, but a Guzzi semed a natural resting point between my beloved RSV and the BMW R Series bikes, even if that is a tenuous conclusion.

Roll forward 20 years and it was Googling the price of a BMW R1100S parked at work that set me looking again and then checking the wallet to realise time and earnings have moved on and frankly, I could afford to itch that scratch.

TBH, I nearly went off the idea. Every bike that fell within budget seemed to have some sort of 'issue'. I guess the intervening years and the proliferation of internet forums causes information paralysis. I mean, I knew about all the issues my '80s & '90s Honda V4s were supposed to 'enjoy' but never suffered any such failures. I just rode the wheels off them and moved on.

Searching now, the Breva fitted the bill to a tee, but then I started seeing the 4V DLC issues and blah, blah,blah... another good idea is about to go south.

Hang on. There's a 2014 2V Breva just up the road with 1748 miles (seventeen hundred and forty eight in case that looks like a typo) miles on the clock at a Guzzi dealer. I start Googling there's nothing about two valves that means a damn for my requirements, except the cam train won't melt. I'm sure there's probably some other issue somebody will illuminate...

The following morning (today) I'm at the dealer staring at a full yearly service schedule (roughly 200 miles between each yearly service, give or take) and zero extra miles since the last service. Bar a black mark from a toe rub on the downpipe near the gear shift and a tiny dull rub mark on top of the tank (cover?) this thing looks like it's been ridden out of the showroom and straight back in again. £5995 on the sticker, bought for £5750.

This may or may not be a great price, but bikes of this mileage fall so far outside or guide book pricing, who knows? The downside is that it probably needs running in. I can cope with that in the pantheon of second hand bike issues.

The dealer explained that it had been a showroom model in [I think he said] 2012 that had a deposit put down and then for one reason or the other, the sale cancelled after a protracted wait. The bike ended up getting registered in 2014 and sold to a bloke who basically didn't ride it.

My question is, does anybody know of a later 2v 1200 Breva?

This is a purely academic question, because like my 2016 MX-5, I have absolutely no reason or intention of selling it. There's no technological or performance reason to do so. I can't promise I won't 'mod' it with a slightly fruitier can (and I do mean slightlier) and maybe a screen and luggage at some point, but it's a toy I can afford to not use, which even as I type it, sounds bad. It will be cosseted and used on days that suit it and me; that's all.

Russ

Howdy, Russ, from the top of Virginia.

No problems with others' prolixity. I am a retired lawyer. :giggle:

I do not profess to know all the Guzzi models and years of manufacture, but have to say I was startled to see your mention of a 2014 Breva! I (sort of) understand that you all might use the registration year as the model year, but even 2012 seems a stretch.

I like the B11. My brother had one; I rode it quite a bit. In many ways, it is, when fitted with w/s, panniers, etc., superior, IMO, to the Norge as a sport-tourer.

Maybe they sold those later in the UK than here, but I thought the last would have been c.2011, if not earlier. I would be VERY suspicious of a later-claimed one. Moto Guzzi is not alone in selling older models as newer ones, but I would insist on seeing the certificate of origin before.

Now, there is a 2/4v 1200 Sport that was sold later. That, too, is a very nice machine, but I did not think that it made it to 2012, much less 2014.

I may be wrong, but, if so, will look forward to learning my error.

All of that said, best wishes in getting a(nother) Guzzi. :clap:

Bill

Proud Member of Moto Guzzi's Envy-of-the-Industry Post-Sale R&D Program!

1998 V11 EV (104K miles)
2004 V11 Ballabio, Sold ... sigh ... Grazie per il tuo servizio! (26K miles)
2007 Norge (84K miles)
2010 Griso 1200 (28K miles)
2016 V7 II Stornello (8K miles)
2017 V7 III Special (11K miles)
 
A look at the Vin number can reveal the earliest it can be. I understand that Vins are not created by the manufacturer but by the country's registration authority. Later model Grisos kept appearing long after the last one came off the assembly line.
 
Hi Russ, welcome from an ex-Moto-journo. I enjoyed the read. Per what Dave posted above, the VIN # and/or Date of Manufacture plate on the steering head will let you know when it was made, despite the (possible first) registration date. This is the decoder; https://guzzitech.com/forums/threads/guzzi-vin-decoder.6035/
The Breva 1100 was a single model year for us here, 2005-6. In 2009, most of the 2V motors gave way to the 1200-4V/8V. Only did the 1100-2V live on until 2012 with the California model. Hope that helps. If the bike runs well, and you like the ride, you won’t go wrong with it. Probably one of the last of the best 2V’ers from Guzzi.
 
Hi Russ, welcome from an ex-Moto-journo. I enjoyed the read. Per what Dave posted above, the VIN # and/or Date of Manufacture plate on the steering head will let you know when it was made, despite the (possible first) registration date. This is the decoder; https://guzzitech.com/forums/threads/guzzi-vin-decoder.6035/
The Breva 1100 was a single model year for us here, 2005-6. In 2009, most of the 2V motors gave way to the 1200-4V/8V. Only did the 1100-2V live on until 2012 with the California model. Hope that helps. If the bike runs well, and you like the ride, you won’t go wrong with it. Probably one of the last of the best 2V’ers from Guzzi.
That's a handy little tool - Just like the ones for decoding vintage Raleigh racing bikes.

To be honest, I'm not really hung up on when it was made (although you can be sure I'll have a look now!) it was more that it was a 2014 plate and presumably a very late registered example.

Russ
 
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