Guzzi = Exotica

[Mi_ka]

Simple question by a wannabee Guzzista:

Why Moto Guzzi carries the aura of Exotism?
What are your thoughts on this?

Since I was a kid, back in the eighties, I was looking at Guzzis as obsolete but somehow exotic bikes.
Every now and then I was admiring a parked LeMans I and it always felt ... somehow... well exotic is the best word.
I even had the chance to briefly ride a (people's bike) V35 in '92. It felt like talking to a granny about electronic music but it still was a strange experience... this particular something....
The modern 8V models, eventhough aircooled, are pretty modern for me, so no granny thoughts about them.
And carry on with this aura of exotica in my eyes.

But why?

 

[ItalianSpiderman]

I think part of it may be because Moto Guzzis are rare and no other motorcycle really has the Moto Guzzi "look". I remember seeing my first Guzzi when I was probably only 8 or 9 years old. This was back when most kids like me checked out every airplane and motorcycle that went by with a certain sense of awe. (We would go nuts when a B-52 bomber flew overhead.) So even though I was young, I knew the MG engine configuration was unlike any other I had ever seen before.

Back then, I remember thinking the Moto Guzzi looked pretty cool - I still do! I guess that with certain people like us, they somehow create an indelible impression. It took me almost 40 years to act on it. :lol:

 

[Mi_ka]

Thinking more on this, I have the sense that the engine architecture is a small part of all this "exotica" aura.

Maybe it is related to the fact that Moto Guzzi always employed industrial designers (read it somewhere)
and all the post loop-framed bikes have a very strong design language embeded in their lines
(...not talking about the California, Nevada etc :whistle: )
This fact, along with the heroic long-reach forward biased imposed rider's position (one of the first firms with clip-ons, wasn't it?) and the elegant and precise V2-90 sound must be what was made the exotic image grow in my head.

Or is "exotica" a less subjective and more objective as a term?

 

[mickyvee_2010]

When I was a teenager, in the mid 70's, a group of us would ride our Japanese 250's to places like Sports Motorcycles in Manchester. Here, we would stare, slack jawed, at Guzzi's, Ducati's, Laverda's and BMW's. Apart from being rare and therefore, exotic, they were also incredibly expensive. My RD250 Yamaha had cost me about £500 brand new. To me at the time, it was a lot of money. A new 850 LeMans was £2300! A jota was £2700! To us, at the time, this is what made them exotic. Seeing one on the road was a rare treat. To actually own one was an Impossible dream. Now, in my mid 50's, I've had them all (apart from a Ducati). Unbelievable!

 

[Conteacher]

To tell the truth, we Guzzi owners are really very insecure and only find solace in owning a bike that nobody else appreciates. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Mi_ka]

I feel that both afformentioned parameters are part of the equation but have never been a prevalent factor for me...
For you guys? (Come on be honest!)

 

[Series4]

Dictionary definitions:
adjective 1. of foreign origin or character; not native; introduced from abroad, but not fully naturalised or acclimatised.
2. Botany, Zoology of, relating to, or designating a species which is not native to an area.
3. strikingly unusual or colourful in appearance or effect; strange; exciting.
4. unusual or rare: an exotic item impossible to buy.

That's why. We don't want to be the same as everybody else

 

[kampe]

I think it's beacause they are not your tippical everyday bike. The first time i fired up my Centauro it felt like it had come to life, shaking and barking. And i have heard that even on a motorbike tv show. It's something no other brand has i guess. You dont see them offten, some (younger) people don't even know the brand. I think that's why they are exotic and i like it that way

 

[Phang]

When I was a small kid, the Van Houten’s eagle on a red motorcycle tank in my father’s bike magazine caught my attention and I thought they spell the word “Motor” wrongly with a missing alphabet.

When I started riding moped during my teenage years, in my own bike magazine, I saw the Van Houten’s eagle again in an article about Magni Sfida 1100ie

It is the big air-cooled twins that placed in the right way, the sound it made and the Van Houten’s eagle which make the bike so special.

Seeing a bike bearing your favourite chocolate brand can have serious influences to a small kid.

Phang

 

[FrostBittenCanadian]

Someone I worked with that never rode bikes but always liked, them, and new quite a bit about the different makes,here and gone , was quite shocked when he realized that the bike I rode was a Moto Guzzi. He told me what a beautiful sight it was to see one as it had been years since he had come across one. This struck me as kind of amusing because the difference between this guy and myself was like night and day. I'm a mechanic who ends up dirty everyday, this guy, expensive suit, loafers ect ect. Though we worked for the same company,we never really talked about much unless we had business. The thing that really made me chuckle was when he asked me if I had any problems with it, at the time I'd had shall we say a few.He just smiled and told me that was the cost of being cool. As opposed to, trying to look cool. Never really thought about it like that. He then Thanked me for having one so he could see it that day and went on his way, a couple of weeks later he left the company and went elsewhere. To him my Moto Guzzi was a pretty exotic motorcycle.
FBC

 

[Ad B]

Hi,

already 2/3 of my life I'm driving a motorcycle.
Since my 18e, the year I could get my driverslicence, I'm a member of my bikers club, MC De Kleppenjagers.
(http://www.mcdekleppenjagers.nl)
We drive all kinds of bikes, Japs, American and European, solo and side-cars, racers and choppers.
My first experience with Moto Guzzi also came in those first years.
A friend of my bought his first Guzzi, a Le mans I. At that time I had a Honda 750 Four (standard version).
At a sunny afternoon, I asked my friend to ride that Le Mans I.
Thát was very odd for me...
I had the feeling, during accelerating through the gears, that the bike drove a bit to the right.. :mrgreen:
And while starting to brake quite hard for a steep curve... I had to go on the throttle again before the curve....
mmmm...

Several years later...
I always had a lot of fun with my friends, one of them drove a Guzzi, while I was already driving my Harley.
We always, yes always, said to eachother when we walked along our bikes (didn't matter which first)...
"odd, I see something odd at your bike, don't know what, but I see something odd, strange...mmm..."
We both meant the way the engine was build in the bike. We walked on, laughed a lot and cheerd our beers.... :lol:

Now I'm driving a Guzzi...

 

[Mi_ka]

...He just smiled and told me that was the cost of being cool. As opposed to, trying to look cool...

Wow! I will use this!

 

[Bisonheed]

Guzzi's are a fairly rare sight in the UK (certainly in the North East) and I almost always draw a crowd with the Stelvio. GS owners are regularly quizzing me WHY didn't I buy a GS and is it THAT BAD as they say in the magazine tests ? My reply is alway's 'spot the other Stelvio' and 'I test rode a GS, XTZ1200 and Guzzi and bought a Guzzi - go figure'. Quirky it may be but it's exclusive and I can alway's find it among a sea of BMW GS', usually in the middle of a crowd...

 

[hood]

I went to ACE cafe Italian day recently and it took at least 15/20 minutes to get away from the bike as there were so many looking and asking questions about it.... I tell everybody to ignore the jouno's and go and try one for themselves and make up their own minds.

 

[Ad B]

Hi,

Several years later...
I always had a lot of fun with my friends, one of them drove a Guzzi, while I was already driving my Harley.
We always, yes always, said to eachother when we walked along our bikes (didn't matter which first)...
"odd, I see something odd at your bike, don't know what, but I see something odd, strange...mmm..."
We both meant the way the engine was build in the bike. We walked on, laughed a lot and cheerd our beers.... :lol:

Nice, to quote myself... B)
Now I have found a few pictures for the ones who can't decide for a Harley or a Guzzi... :unsure:


:mrgreen:

 

[octoguzzi]

Nice thread. Fun reading other's experiences and first exposure to Guzzis.

At the risk of dating myself, here's mine:

My first three bikes were a Sears (Puch) moped, year unknown, a 1964 Honda S-90 and then a '66 Honda CB160. My best friend also had a 160. The 160s were just large enough to (barely) maintain highway speeds and we would ride the 50 miles to the Peoria (Illinois) TT races every year and prowl through the parking lot looking for exotica. There we ran into a guy with an El Dorado. That bike didn't seem so exotic, but it sure was rare, at least to us. We'd never seen one outside of magazine adverts. And 700 cc's! Wow, it looked ready to conquer the world. I'll never forget the rider had a cup affixed to the handlebars with a damp rag in it so he could clean insects from his helmet shield without stopping. There was a beautiful, silver, faired Velocette Thruxton at the same race that was absolutely jaw dropping in the middle of the Illinios farmland.

Not too long after, my father and I attended the Can-Am sport car races in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin and I saw my first V7 Sport. Holy Shyte, now that was exotic! What a rocket ship! And stunning good looks. Yikes! It was everything the Eldo wasn't. I could hardly believe the two bikes had been manufactured by the same company, so similar yet so different.

For years after, Guzzis never entered my thoughts despite being involved in the MC industry at several levels. Then one day my wife and I walked into our local Honda emporium and there sat a beautiful fire-engine red Lario. We were smitten and actually bought the bike on the spot. The bike had belonged to the daughter of a Guzzi dealer and was well sorted. Unfortunately the Lario proved disappointing as a two-up ride at our altitude (@ 9000' ASL). However it did begin our love affair with Guzzis, and we now own an '07 Griso, our eighth Guzzi...hence octoguzzi.

Regards, Larry
https://sites.google.com/a/wildblue.net/k0rs/motorcycles

 

[Rafael]

Well, Yes and No...

Yes: Many years ago I was on the freeway heading to a night club on my CX100 doing 80 or so. I carelessly passed a highway patrol cruiser lying amongst a pack of cars. Got pulled over, well they had never seen one of these before and took extra time to check the VIN, etc. They wanted to make sure some kid didn't just rip off this exotic machine. I laughed to myself – eased the sting of the ticket just a little. We've all run into fellas that say “ I didn't know that still make those, I had one 30 years ago.” or something like that.

No: From a design standpoint the engine is just 2 cylinders sliced off the front of the ubiquitous American V8. Oddly guzzi's current one and only engine design was used by a dozen or so companies. They either went belly up or dumped the design. Hmm. The best known non-guzzi v-twin is the Indian 841. So to me a guzzi is as American a apple pie. Ironic that guzzi is recognized for a run of the mill tractor motor but not, generally, for its innovations found on every brand today.



When I was shopping for my first bike I was looking at BMWs. My criteria: simple design, twin, logical, easy to work on, torque, a gradual power curve, etc. I already had an aversion to multi-cylinder hi-rev buzzing back then. Anyway, one day on my lunch break I walked past a bike parked between cars. Something caught my eye. Whoa, a beemer with the cylinders up where they belong. Within a month I owned my first bike, a used Eldo. - the driving course and gear followed. When my buddy picked up a used 70's beemer, we found out that Guzzis were superior in acceleration, braking, suspension and sturdiness. Things have change since then, but that's another story - search your old bike magazines to find out the most popular bike in Germany in 1981 or there abouts...

Guzzi is the only brand I've ever owned, I suppose if I had more to spend on motorcycles I would have owned some other brands too. Currently I'm pining for a 750 Shiver - a KTM adventure would be great, but we'll see how much I get into the dirt thing. (I mean more than a Stelvio can handle). There always seem to be great deals out there used guzzis. Why should I spend more on a lesser bike? A perfect fit isn't so exotic to me.

 

[Guy R]

Wow, this question will do your head in!!!!!!!! Being from Australia everything is exotic according to the definition :? . I just get them. Is it the cylinder orientation, the way the engines feels - especially on the over run, the unusual engineering and design which is not the accepted norm but somehow makes sense. I don't know if I like Guzzi's because they are different or whether I relate to them because I'm different. Who cares - just enjoy them!

 

[Tonerjockey]

In '74 I was in the market for my 1st new bike. I wanted something to tour the US with. Interstate hauler, heavy, strong enough. The only bikes of that type I knew of were Harleys and Guzzi's. BMW were, to me, too light.

I bought the '74 Eldo LAPD brand new and 2 complete rebuilds later, still have it.

When I start it up, and my hot rod friends ask me "What's that noise?" I answer "That's the Guzzi Sound... people pay extra for that"... sooner or later.

Love it.

Alex

 

[dnovo]

Guzzis exotic? No, just a bit different (transverse V twin dice the 60s, although Honda used similar architecture for a while in their 500 and 600 models) and not seen that much as never sold in large numbers. Not mechanically complex compared to most other Marques and fairly easy to run and maintain. The build quality on the newer models is quite good, but they still have that Italian Exotic aura about them, which I like.

On the other hand, my '10 California Vintage is the best 'bagger' Harley never built. Better engine, superb brakes, and suspension that leaves Harleys well behind when the road starts to curve. Looks enough like one that Harley owners waive, and then look shocked when we roll up to a light together.

I heard them referred to as a two wheel Lancia, an Italian car that was famed for doing things different from other companies just to be different. Pretty much sums up Guzzi.

Dave