Ghezzi & Brian Furia
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Speaking of 35 year old tractor motors, I would love to know what BMW has in the works for the new boxer engine. Rumors of 1200cc and nearly 40 lbs. lighter than the current model seem unlikely. Has anyone heard anything like this?
I'm waiting for the vid to download right now. This will hopefully be good, because multimedia is one of the major advantages of an e-zine.
I'm waiting for the vid to download right now. This will hopefully be good, because multimedia is one of the major advantages of an e-zine.
Looks like Erik (Buell) was on the cutting edge again! For me, I'll take the Buell, but either way, if you notice a lot of new bike into's, we're hearing about centralized mass, torque and driveabilty, and a low Center of Gravity. My tube frame Buells have all of that, and if you check out the used prices, at a bargain (for now). As more bikes like this come on line, more will understand the Erik's genius.
Looks like Erik (Buell) was on the cutting edge again! For me, I'll take the Buell, but either way, if you notice a lot of new bike into's, we're hearing about centralized mass, torque and driveabilty, and a low Center of Gravity. My tube frame Buells have all of that, and if you check out the used prices, at a bargain (for now). As more bikes like this come on line, more will understand Erik's genius.
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A Better Buell
I love it a V-Twin bike with the engine put in the correct way. Needs a face lift though. I'll bet it's engine mounts don't crack like the new Buells. Also because of superior placement and orientation of the motor I am sure it won't shake itself to death like the earlier Buells. I love the symetry of Moto Guzzi V-Twins. i.e. it doesn't look like a bicycle with an engine stuck under the top tube as an after thought like American V-Twins.
I love it a V-Twin bike with the engine put in the correct way. Needs a face lift though. I'll bet it's engine mounts don't crack like the new Buells. Also because of superior placement and orientation of the motor I am sure it won't shake itself to death like the earlier Buells. I love the symetry of Moto Guzzi V-Twins. i.e. it doesn't look like a bicycle with an engine stuck under the top tube as an after thought like American V-Twins.
Ultra-long gearing at 3200rpm for 60 mph? That's 18.75 mph per 1000 rpm's. Some old BMWs have that, and the present boxer series are geared at 18, as were the old 850 Guzzis. Sportster 1200s are geared at 21+, and the EU-spec ones at 24+! This Ghezzi Guzzi is geared the way all big tractor twins of 1100 cc or more always have been: to call it ultra-long shows too much time spent on 600 fours, I think...
Sorry but got to disagree. Lets see, 3200 @ 60 means 160 @ 8200, (max power rpm). Not only that 87 hp will never get you to 160, on a naked bike where you never spend much time above 100 and where you want a nice roll-on pull, that gearing is ultra long, at least in my book. It surely felt so.
Will have to check rpms for the new Beemers I find it hard to believe that they are 18 per 1000. Since they have 6- speed gearboxes maybe they can get away with an overdrive top without big gaps between the lower gears. Same story for the 6-speed V11. Buells have that kind of gearing and indeed, with their longer stroke motors that redline 1500 rpm before the Guzzi, they are much more realistically geared.
Since I clock 10,000 miles a year on my 850 Le-Mans daily hack and not on a whinny 600, I can assure you that revs at 60 are around 3600-3700. This results in a 125-mph top speed @7800.
In any case, even the guys at Ghezzi Brian acknowledged the fact that the original gearing of the California based gearbox was high for the Furia, hence the possibility to order shorter gearing.
Will have to check rpms for the new Beemers I find it hard to believe that they are 18 per 1000. Since they have 6- speed gearboxes maybe they can get away with an overdrive top without big gaps between the lower gears. Same story for the 6-speed V11. Buells have that kind of gearing and indeed, with their longer stroke motors that redline 1500 rpm before the Guzzi, they are much more realistically geared.
Since I clock 10,000 miles a year on my 850 Le-Mans daily hack and not on a whinny 600, I can assure you that revs at 60 are around 3600-3700. This results in a 125-mph top speed @7800.
In any case, even the guys at Ghezzi Brian acknowledged the fact that the original gearing of the California based gearbox was high for the Furia, hence the possibility to order shorter gearing.
The tractorist
A sense of humor must be a geographical thing cause the flaming messages are arriving to my mailbox too...
Being a life long guzzista, I of course know that the engine was not made for a tractor but as high performance replacement for the Fiat 500 car.
Nevertheless, in Italy at least, big Guzzis are still affectionately called tractors (with a pinch of self-irony).
I guess the myth started because the snow mule made by Guzzi also had a V-Twin but that engine is indeed unrelated to the bikes.
Hey, I still define my 850 LM III "A concrete slab with two tiny handles"!
A sense of humor must be a geographical thing cause the flaming messages are arriving to my mailbox too...
Being a life long guzzista, I of course know that the engine was not made for a tractor but as high performance replacement for the Fiat 500 car.
Nevertheless, in Italy at least, big Guzzis are still affectionately called tractors (with a pinch of self-irony).
I guess the myth started because the snow mule made by Guzzi also had a V-Twin but that engine is indeed unrelated to the bikes.
Hey, I still define my 850 LM III "A concrete slab with two tiny handles"!
I take your point that 87 bhp won't get you to 160. If you want top speed to happen at the redline in top gear, then yes, it's overgeared, but my point that it's the sort of gearing that is normal on big twins still stands, I think.
I don't know about 6-speed boxers. My '96 5-speed R1100R is geared at 18/1000 or a few fractions under, and my '77 R100RS was slightly longer. I know BMW made different rear drive ratios available at the time. I'm interested to hear about your LeMans: my LeMans II was exactly 18/1000, cruising at exactly 5000, or 90 mph, all day down French autoroutes back in the 1980s (Ah, happy days!). Maybe there's a difference between EU-spec stuff and US-spec: that's certainly true of Harleys, as I discovered, and converting them back to US-spec makes them a lot livelier.
I don't know about 6-speed boxers. My '96 5-speed R1100R is geared at 18/1000 or a few fractions under, and my '77 R100RS was slightly longer. I know BMW made different rear drive ratios available at the time. I'm interested to hear about your LeMans: my LeMans II was exactly 18/1000, cruising at exactly 5000, or 90 mph, all day down French autoroutes back in the 1980s (Ah, happy days!). Maybe there's a difference between EU-spec stuff and US-spec: that's certainly true of Harleys, as I discovered, and converting them back to US-spec makes them a lot livelier.
Re: What no Wheelies?!
Some people can, even 800 pound shafties, check it out:
Jean Pierre Goy on a K1200LT 1
Jean Pierre Goy on a K1200LT 2.
;-)
Some people can, even 800 pound shafties, check it out:
Jean Pierre Goy on a K1200LT 1
Jean Pierre Goy on a K1200LT 2.
;-)
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