• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

GuzziDrew

Just got it firing!
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Messages
8
Location
Seattle
My name is Drew, I'm from Seattle and I now own a 2016 V7 II Stone. Very happy with the bike. I am a life-long Honda enthusiast that fell in love with the retro styling of the new V7 II line. I would drive by Moto International on my way home everyday and they had a 2016 Russo Esserte Special in the window. That was the hook that brought me in the door.

I had been away from motorcycles for several years while raising my family. In 2014 I started to imagine myself back in the saddle, I started looking at the Honda CB 1100 (2014) and other standards, but completely missed the new Moto Guzzi offerings, as my route to work took my safely in the other direction from Moto International (MI). As I worked through the resistance to me cycling again with the wife, I changed offices (I work for WSDOT) and that's when I started to see this big red gas tank flash by me as I headed home.

One day, It was gone from the picture window. Oh no! Did I miss my chance? I stopped in, Dave was out of the country and would be back the next week. No the bike wasn't sold, but they did have plans for it. The next week, I connected with Dave. The plan for the Special was to convert it into a northwest version of the Stronello. Would they hold on over the weekend so I could talk to my wife about pulling the trigger on the purchase? Sure. Sweeeeet.

Wife says no.

Oh, well, I really didn't like the spoked wheels, too much chrome, the price was more than I wanted to pay yada yada there's other opportunities out there. Sob.

I start to track the MI website like a creepy ex. I see a bike come in for consignment. It's a 2016 Stone. Mono silver. P/O farkled with Hepco Becker C-Bow mounts, a battery tender, Throttlemeister , all stuff I had been looking at as possible mods when I finally worked out my supervisors reluctance and brought my first MG. It had about 1.5k on the clock.

Weeks passed. I stopped by MI several times, the Stronello sold, but this Stone was still there. It really didn't speak to me the way the Russo Esserte colors on the Special had. Meh, I'll wait.

Summer screams by. I watch MI. Research the V7 II models.

Break through with the wife. Bike purchase is a go.

I huddle with Dave. I ask him to get the owner to work on my on the price a bit, and if the P/O will throw in the HB saddle bags, I'll buy it. I guess the bags were a high $$$ item, but the P/O agrees. The last thing: That mono silver tank has to go. I ask Dave to order the Nero Esserte tank from the 2013-15 Special line, and then I will be happy. Why ride it if you don't care for how it looks?

So here is the before:
IMG 20161008 093531978

and the after:
IMG 20161008 163011

Wet like a NW bike should be.

I plan to modify it with a project or two a year as budget allows. The headlamp, the instrument cluster, blacking out the exhaust (not a chrome fan) maybe some rear fender mods, the front fender ect.

If this was TL;DR, then here's the Cliff notes:

New bike. Very happy.

GuzziDrew
 
Back
Top