Bright lights, city living
Saffron sees how the Guzzi really handles its comfort zone
According to Moto Guzzi, the V7 has an ‘unmistakable metropolitan personality’, and although I’ve done miles on the motorways, visited villages, and even cruised along the coastline, my time spent in a city with the Guzzi had been minimal. So, I had to change that.
If you’ve ever ridden or driven in Birmingham, you’ll know all about the concrete landscape and sea of traffic lights. Tight, unexpected corners and diversions make up the patchwork road structure and without satnav it can all be pretty intimidating.
My Quad Lock mount was essential to find my way, but luckily, on my route, I didn’t go the wrong way up any one-way systems and navigated the congested streets with ease. The Guzzi made fighting the city roads almost fun. It nips along the tarmac without biting back at sharp turns or heavy braking, and when I stopped, the reassuring chug of the V-twin engine rocked the bike from side to side as if it was impatient to get going again.
My first stop was an industrial estate with crumbling sleeping policemen and gravelly ruts in the road, but the V7 skipped over them and the suspension for the most part kept the imperfect tarmac at bay. But the chips from the uneven road surface did take their toll on the matte exhaust, which now looks like it has been dabbed with the end of a Tip-Ex pen, something which wouldn’t have happened with chromed silencers.
The next stop took me further into the city centre, and as I delved into the thicker urban landscape, I realised how at home the Guzzi was. Even when swerving around potholes or pulling into tiny spaces to double check where I was going, the Italian didn’t break a sweat. And once I arrived at the next stop – where I only spent half an hour – no fewer than three people asked about the bike and commented on its alluring style.
The penultimate stop was a little further away from the city centre into the outskirts and a calmer neighbourhood, but it still had tight turns and confusing one-way systems. I backed the V7 into a line of bikes parked on the side of the street and couldn’t help but think the Guzzi really stood out with its bright orange matte paint and sleek retro styling.
I was back into the open for a mandatory visit to the National Motorcycle Museum – after all, I was in the area and it’d be rude not to. The Guzzi doesn’t quite fit in with the museum pieces but hopping in and out of the carpark was as slick as ever and the transition back to faster main roads was a welcome breath of fresh air after being stuck at sub-30mph for most of the day.
But the adventure did draw my attention to the once-smooth gear shift. Now with over 3000 miles on the clock, changing gear is becoming clunky and sometimes tough, which meant that flicking
‘People came up to ask about the Moto Guzzi V7’
through the ’box all day thanks to repetitive red lights and stop-start urban traffic started to become a little tedious. Finding neutral was also becoming somewhat challenging, which became exhausting in standstill traffic. On my last few rides, I’d noticed the change, but as most miles were fast paced, the harsher gear changes didn’t affect me too much and I’d forgotten by the time I was home. But if you wanted to use the V7 as a city slicker then make sure you’re on the ball for some routine maintenance from the off.
Now I need to dive into the garage and take the sloppiness back out of the clutch lever post and adjust the cable to perfection, then lube and adjust the short gear linkage to see if I can get back to a smoother-shifting retro ride.