Motorcycle Sport & Leisure

BMW is hedging its bets with the new F800R by bringing in just 200 of the affordable naked middleweight sportbikes. After riding the new bike we’re confident that the factory will need to place more orders to cater for demand from keen UK customers.

Though I’d never claim to be to be able to tell your fortune by looking at tea leaves in the bottom of a best bone china cup, it was obvious to me while attending the launch of Moto Guzzi’s V7 Classic in May last year that Guzzi would eventually arrive at producing something like the new V7 Café. That’s partly because I’m a bit of a Guzzi bore, and sadly enjoy flicking through photos and stats of Guzzis built in 1972, but mainly because Moto Guzzi, or should that be owners Piaggio, have decided to go whole-heartedly rather than tentatively down the retro route.

The V7 Café is the latest motorcycle from Guzzi to be given the treatment, and while last year’s V7 Classic suggested classily, but sensibly, what was on the cards, the V7 Café has burst on the scene, all luminescent paint and upswept chrome exhausts, usurped the Classic from its style throne, and taken over the current mantle of Guzzi’s glitziest roadster.

Like the V7 Classic before it, the V7 Café Classic is built around the Breva chassis and 750cc motor, and in reality, the styling team at Guzzi have just restyled the V7 Classic rather than designing a whole new motorcycle. Nothing wrong with that as the Breva 750 and the V7 Classic are both fine motorcycles, so using an already proven donor motor and chassis makes economic sense.

Last year’s V7 Classic took its styling clues from the large touring ‘loop frame’ V7 Special 750 bikes in Guzzi’s range back in the late 60s and early 70s; pearl white paint, pinstriping and period tank graphics, though its fuel tank is firmly copied from that of the V7 Sport, Guzzi’s iconic factory café racer sportster from the early 70s. That beautiful fuel tank appears again on the V7 Café, and while it’s not important to get bogged down in history, it’s nice to know what heritage Guzzi are trading on.

The Café has been designed specifically to mimic the beautiful lines of the V7 Sport (Google it if you’ve never seen one), and the result is very alluring. What really works in the V7 Café’s favour is that even if you don’t give a stuff about what Guzzi built in the past, it stands firmly in the present and apart from the crowd just on the way it looks. Italian design, even if partly plundered from 1973, is still a powerful factor in people buying Italian motorcycles, and the V7 Café doesn’t disappoint. The aforementioned sculpted fuel tank covered in lime green paint and flush aero-type filler cap is a work of art, and is coupled with a café racer inspired solo bum-stop seat. The chrome exhausts are much more aggressively upswept than the silencers of the V7 Classic, and spoked wheels, black faced clocks and lowered clip-ons complete the café racer feel.

Though it didn’t feel it at the time, basing the press launch of the V7 Café Classic in the middle of Rome rather than at the factory at Mandello was possibly a masterstroke, as we were brutally forced to do battle with the lawless Roman traffic and town test the Café until reaching roads out in the surrounding countryside. Like the V7 Classic before it, the Café Classic proved itself well able to cope with city riding, even with the lower clip ons rather than the Classic’s more upright bars. It’s a low, nimble motorcycle, and it’s this low height that makes it such a good first ‘big’ motorcycle for beginners, riders a little shorter in the leg, and for women riders too.

That doesn’t mean it’s unchallenging for more experienced riders, as there’s plenty to get excited about. The 750cc Euro 3 motor from the Breva is an excellent all-rounder, and has plenty of zip to accelerate away from oncoming traffic or dodgy drivers. Its torque also means you can cope with slow moving traffic or filtering easily enough by using third or fourth gear and just lazily gassing the throttle every now and again as required. The handling on the often badly rutted road surfaces in Rome is surefooted and it generally makes for a decent commuter machine.

Riding the Café Classic on faster, open roads is far more rewarding and much more fun, and again, the bike copes with the quickened pace and smoother Tarmac admirably. At an average 5ft 11in, I found the riding position comfortable enough, and had enough room just to sit further back and stretch over the tank to the clip-ons, though some of my six-foot-plus colleagues moaned that the bars/footrests/seat ‘triangle’ cramped their style somewhat. The clip-ons aren’t actually angled as extremely as they could have been, so they’re more like ace bars, but can be lowered on the fork legs and pulled forwards or backwards to a point to suit each individual – shame they’re not nearly as graceful as the V7 Sport’s famous swan neck bars. The single seat is good for leaning back against while taking the café racer stance, though completely useless if you want to take a pillion (difficult as there are no pillion pegs) unless they’re very small, and this could possibly be a deal clincher for some potential buyers.

This is an easy machine to
master, requiring little physical
or mental effort to progress in
a spirited fashion.

The 750cc 90 degree transverse V-twin motor, which produces approximately 50bhp at 6800rpm, is smooth and very capable, though a little vibration can be felt on the footrests when really caning the bike, but it’s not enough to spoil the ride. The press release joyfully claims the motor has “torque for fun and all the power you need”, and I can’t argue with that. It’s one of those motors that holds no surprises for the rider, no power bands, no fuelling glitches, no problems – it revs freely and smoothly all the way through the range, and at motorway speeds of 80mph-plus it feels unburstable and robust. There’s no red line indicated on the classy black faced dual digital/analogue Veglia clocks, and top speed seems to be dictated on how low and flat you can contort yourself into a café racer crouch, so at one point I was very pleased, er... very surprised to see that at an indicated 180kph/111mph the Café felt strong and stable while cracking the ton. It’s no sport bike however, and cracking the ton is about as far up the speedo as you’d want to go, especially without a screen fitted.

Though still very similar in appearance to what was found on the old 750 Targa and other similar small-block Guzzis from the past, the drive box and shaft drive system is just plain unintrusive, and on a bike like this, an advantage to the owner in terms of more time spent riding than adjusting chains. The single plate clutch too is light and easy to use, though I find I still have to occasionally fine tune the free play at the bar adjuster, but that’s been the same on most Guzzis I’ve ridden. No need to play the gearbox which has five speeds all sensibly spaced out, and once on the move, I only tended to use fourth or fifth, such is the torquey response from the motor. Changing gears is slick and precise, still very Guzzi compared to a Jap machine, but no false neutrals of yesteryear.

As the bends get tighter, the Café Classic proves itself a stable and neutral handling machine. The rake on the steel tubular frame and headstock is 27 degrees, and it certainly seems to turn quicker than other Guzzis. The 40mm Marzocchi forks, though non adjustable, and Sachs rear twin shocks adjustable for preload only, are up to the job and even when rounding fast bends and being confronted with mad stray dogs or cows in the road, the little Guzzi never shook its head in disdain. The Metzeler Lasertec tyres performed well too, and it’ll be even more of a fun machine with stickier rubber fitted.

The front 320mm single disc with Brembo caliper is adequate but I’d have preferred twin discs just for that extra safety factor, and I fully expect in the future that another disc will be offered as an option or bolt-on kit. The 280mm rear disc setup works well in conjunction with the front disc and lots of engine braking and listening to the Guzzi V-twin boom from the exhausts, which have apparently had their internals modified to supply said sound. And that’s also important, because the type of person who purchases the V7 Café will be expecting to buy something that looks good, sounds good, works like a new bike should, and makes them feel good too.

There’s no reason to suggest why the Café Classic can’t deliver the goods. The finish on the Guzzi is excellent and I’m genuinely surprised that I can’t really find fault. The paint on the tank, sidepanels and mudguards is deep and lustrous, and the old fashioned gold Moto Guzzi eagle decal and Café Classic decals sit under coat after coat of clear. The black coating on the motor also looks thickly applied though only time will tell to see how it fares after a winter or two. The rider view of the handlebars and clocks is uncluttered, and the switchgear falls easily to hand. The clocks themselves are handsome and effective, and even the top yoke which is generic across the 750 range of bikes has been treated to a chrome doodad thing that masks where the bars of the other models are mounted – you can always clip your keys to it. Attention to detail means the steering stem nut has been drilled for that racer look, and the seat has the Guzzi logo neatly embossed into it. Chrome grab handles mimic those found on the old V7 Sport, handy for bungeeing things to if required.

Minus points are few. The sidepanels, as on the V7 Classic, don’t hide storage space underneath, just some electrics, and I gave up trying to remove the seat after fiddling with it for a minute or two, but if you want lots of storage, get a Gold Wing. The Guzzi’s yellow engine management warning light seemed to stay on for long periods of time, but I just kept riding, ignored it and it went out again, intermittently. I’ve heard the V7 Classic suffers from a similar issue, dodgy Italian electrics maybe, but it didn’t affect my test bike whatsoever. Still no centrestand as standard: annoying but as this bike is meant to embody the spirit of a café racer, traditionally stripped down – for speed – of any extraneous bits, begrudgingly allowed.

For those who want something different, the Café Classic will definitely appeal, and it offers genuinely exciting Italian motorcycling combined with special looks and a hint of exclusivity. The single seat may put off as many potential buyers as it appeals to, though I understand there will be a dual seat available, or take one off a V7 Classic.

At £6169, slightly more than the V7 Classic which sells at £5873, the Guzzi will appeal to new riders and retro fans alike, though the price may be a factor in these economically challenged times for many would-be purchasers. As a modern take on the café racer theme, though watered down compared to the snorting roadster and racer that the V7 Sport was, the Café Classic can at least boast a genuine factory café racer as its grandad, making the Guzzi as authentic as they come, and it’s a great feel good bike that’ll scratch, pose, tour and take you to work.

MSL OVERALL RATING

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* MSL July 2009 - Issue no. 586