V7 Classic with Norman Hyde "M" Bar Conversion

So I have been looking for more aggressive handlebars to put on my V7 Classic.  The stock ones were nice but I wanted a better “look” and also a little more weight on the front tires.  My Parilla 250 has VERY aggressive clip-ons that are fine for such a light bike; for the V7C I thought that something that was a little more upright but lower than stock might be the ticket.

I posted on a few forums, and many chimed in and recommended the Laverda “Jota” replica bars available from numerous places on the web.  They are fabulous looking setups, but I wanted to see exactly how little I could spend and actually get some really decent bars.  The other choices were “swan neck” styles, and I did consider them, and finally dropped them when I’d have to take the triple trees apart to get them on the forks.  Well within my mechanical skills.  Still, I want to make it cheap and easy.

A good friend recommended Norman Hyde “M” bars.  I didn’t have pictures, and I’d ridden and written about Triumphs, for which these bars were actually made.  The clearance for the M bars is a substitute for the “Clubman” bars on other cafe bikes.  I bought my bars on eBay for about $45 bucks, and a set of cheap, nice bar-end mirrors from Amazon for another $19 plus shipping.

Fit and finish were awesome.  Installed in about an hour.  The cables were a little crowded, but everything ended up fitting nice.  I discarded the bar end weights that came with the original bars, and I saved them to install on a friend’s Aermacchi project that I’m completing.  The bar end mirrors installed quickly, and the adjustability and quality were damned nice.  Allen bolts in two different sizes do the clamping and holding.

I gave it a short ride around the block.  Everything was tight, but it’s Detroit, it was February and it was dark and cold.  I pulled in knowing that the install was sound and everything worked well when riding around the block.

And then it rained and froze for two days.

When the weather finally broke, I pulled the bike out of my man cave and threw a leg over.  First thing I noticed was the narrower bars caused me to twist the throttle and rev the engine, which is uncomfortable, to say the least.  Glad to say that after a few days this has completely disappeared.

It’s been a few days’ riding now, and I have over 100 miles with my hands on the new setup.  In a word, delightful.  Slightly less wind blast than the standard posture, and waaaaayyyy more feel.  The front wheels dance under my direction like they have never done before.  Fast and slow corners are much more comfortable to set up and navigate through.  The new position and the bars’ size and shape compliment this bike so well that the first thing I’d do is ditch the stock ones and put these on.

Comfort is another area.  I ride big miles on the Guzzi.  It’s over 20K miles since I purchased it in August of 2009, with a couple of really miserable Midwest winters to keep me off the road for extended periods.  I require bars that are comfortable on my arms and keep my back in a nice straight posture.  The Norman Hyde “M” bars are exactly what the doctor ordered.

Oh, and bar-end mirrors for me and my new setup?

For the first time ever I can actually see exactly what’s behind me.  I don’t have to move my shoulders around to see traffic.  I don’t have to squint to make out what the size, density and speed of things approaching from the rear are.  No vibration, no wiggle, nothing at any speed or RPM range.

So I can see everything behind me, ride comfortably with even greater confidence, and rock a nice cafe bike look for about $75.  What’s not to like?

V7 Classic with Norman Hyde “M” Bar Conversion

So I have been looking for more aggressive handlebars to put on my V7 Classic.  The stock ones were nice but I wanted a better “look” and also a little more weight on the front tires.  My Parilla 250 has VERY aggressive clip-ons that are fine for such a light bike; for the V7C I thought that something that was a little more upright but lower than stock might be the ticket.

I posted on a few forums, and many chimed in and recommended the Laverda “Jota” replica bars available from numerous places on the web.  They are fabulous looking setups, but I wanted to see exactly how little I could spend and actually get some really decent bars.  The other choices were “swan neck” styles, and I did consider them, and finally dropped them when I’d have to take the triple trees apart to get them on the forks.  Well within my mechanical skills.  Still, I want to make it cheap and easy.

A good friend recommended Norman Hyde “M” bars.  I didn’t have pictures, and I’d ridden and written about Triumphs, for which these bars were actually made.  The clearance for the M bars is a substitute for the “Clubman” bars on other cafe bikes.  I bought my bars on eBay for about $45 bucks, and a set of cheap, nice bar-end mirrors from Amazon for another $19 plus shipping.

Fit and finish were awesome.  Installed in about an hour.  The cables were a little crowded, but everything ended up fitting nice.  I discarded the bar end weights that came with the original bars, and I saved them to install on a friend’s Aermacchi project that I’m completing.  The bar end mirrors installed quickly, and the adjustability and quality were damned nice.  Allen bolts in two different sizes do the clamping and holding.

I gave it a short ride around the block.  Everything was tight, but it’s Detroit, it was February and it was dark and cold.  I pulled in knowing that the install was sound and everything worked well when riding around the block.

And then it rained and froze for two days.

When the weather finally broke, I pulled the bike out of my man cave and threw a leg over.  First thing I noticed was the narrower bars caused me to twist the throttle and rev the engine, which is uncomfortable, to say the least.  Glad to say that after a few days this has completely disappeared.

It’s been a few days’ riding now, and I have over 100 miles with my hands on the new setup.  In a word, delightful.  Slightly less wind blast than the standard posture, and waaaaayyyy more feel.  The front wheels dance under my direction like they have never done before.  Fast and slow corners are much more comfortable to set up and navigate through.  The new position and the bars’ size and shape compliment this bike so well that the first thing I’d do is ditch the stock ones and put these on.

Comfort is another area.  I ride big miles on the Guzzi.  It’s over 20K miles since I purchased it in August of 2009, with a couple of really miserable Midwest winters to keep me off the road for extended periods.  I require bars that are comfortable on my arms and keep my back in a nice straight posture.  The Norman Hyde “M” bars are exactly what the doctor ordered.

Oh, and bar-end mirrors for me and my new setup?

For the first time ever I can actually see exactly what’s behind me.  I don’t have to move my shoulders around to see traffic.  I don’t have to squint to make out what the size, density and speed of things approaching from the rear are.  No vibration, no wiggle, nothing at any speed or RPM range.

So I can see everything behind me, ride comfortably with even greater confidence, and rock a nice cafe bike look for about $75.  What’s not to like?

Moto Guzzi V7 Classic – 20,010 Miles and Time for some Mods

Where has time gone?  I haven’t written anything about my V7 Classic in more than a year.  I guess life and the enjoyment of life kinda get in the way, plus just actually getting down to business and writing something out can involve a little mental effort.  Funny thing, life may have gotten in the way of writing more articles about this wonderful Moto Guzzi small block, but it definitely wove itself around it!

A long weekly commute for 18 months.

I took a position as an Enterprise Architect Consultant in Detroit mid 2010, and started an 18 month long period of living in an apartment in Grosse Pointe Park, MI, for 4 nights a week.  Weekends were spent at home after making the 300 mile journey back to my home in Oak Park, IL.

I started work around May 1 2010, and, until the riding season ended in Mid October, I never drove a car in Detroit.  Most of the commutes were made on the V7 Classic, so I was making two 300 mile trips a week on the bike, and then 30 miles a day commuting, along with some very fun trips, which I’ll get to in a bit.

Outside of Jackson, MI

The Little Guzzi was awesome.  I only had to take the train back to Chicago on a few occasional weekends when the weather was too rough to ride, and even then I had a couple of episodes when I got caught in a downpour anyway.

Moto Guzzi V7 Classic – 20,010 Miles and Time for some Mods

Where has time gone?  I haven’t written anything about my V7 Classic in more than a year.  I guess life and the enjoyment of life kinda get in the way, plus just actually getting down to business and writing something out can involve a little mental effort.  Funny thing, life may have gotten in the way of writing more articles about this wonderful Moto Guzzi small block, but it definitely wove itself around it!

A long weekly commute for 18 months.

I took a position as an Enterprise Architect Consultant in Detroit mid 2010, and started an 18 month long period of living in an apartment in Grosse Pointe Park, MI, for 4 nights a week.  Weekends were spent at home after making the 300 mile journey back to my home in Oak Park, IL.

I started work around May 1 2010, and, until the riding season ended in Mid October, I never drove a car in Detroit.  Most of the commutes were made on the V7 Classic, so I was making two 300 mile trips a week on the bike, and then 30 miles a day commuting, along with some very fun trips, which I’ll get to in a bit.

Outside of Jackson, MI

The Little Guzzi was awesome.  I only had to take the train back to Chicago on a few occasional weekends when the weather was too rough to ride, and even then I had a couple of episodes when I got caught in a downpour anyway.

Moto Guzzi V7 Classic – 20,010 Miles and Time for some Mods

Where has time gone?  I haven’t written anything about my V7 Classic in more than a year.  I guess life and the enjoyment of life kinda get in the way, plus just actually getting down to business and writing something out can involve a little mental effort.  Funny thing, life may have gotten in the way of writing more articles about this wonderful Moto Guzzi small block, but it definitely wove itself around it!

A long weekly commute for 18 months.

I took a position as an Enterprise Architect Consultant in Detroit mid 2010, and started an 18 month long period of living in an apartment in Grosse Pointe Park, MI, for 4 nights a week.  Weekends were spent at home after making the 300 mile journey back to my home in Oak Park, IL.

I started work around May 1 2010, and, until the riding season ended in Mid October, I never drove a car in Detroit.  Most of the commutes were made on the V7 Classic, so I was making two 300 mile trips a week on the bike, and then 30 miles a day commuting, along with some very fun trips, which I’ll get to in a bit.

Outside of Jackson, MI

The Little Guzzi was awesome.  I only had to take the train back to Chicago on a few occasional weekends when the weather was too rough to ride, and even then I had a couple of episodes when I got caught in a downpour anyway.

Moto Guzzi V7 Classic – 20,010 Miles and Time for some Mods

Where has time gone?  I haven’t written anything about my V7 Classic in more than a year.  I guess life and the enjoyment of life kinda get in the way, plus just actually getting down to business and writing something out can involve a little mental effort.  Funny thing, life may have gotten in the way of writing more articles about this wonderful Moto Guzzi small block, but it definitely wove itself around it!

A long weekly commute for 18 months.

I took a position as an Enterprise Architect Consultant in Detroit mid 2010, and started an 18 month long period of living in an apartment in Grosse Pointe Park, MI, for 4 nights a week.  Weekends were spent at home after making the 300 mile journey back to my home in Oak Park, IL.

I started work around May 1 2010, and, until the riding season ended in Mid October, I never drove a car in Detroit.  Most of the commutes were made on the V7 Classic, so I was making two 300 mile trips a week on the bike, and then 30 miles a day commuting, along with some very fun trips, which I’ll get to in a bit.

Outside of Jackson, MI

The Little Guzzi was awesome.  I only had to take the train back to Chicago on a few occasional weekends when the weather was too rough to ride, and even then I had a couple of episodes when I got caught in a downpour anyway.

Moto Guzzi V7 Classic — Exactly Enough Power

The Moto Guzzi V7 Classic has been a resounding success for this company that is now approaching 90 years of continuous production.  It is a comfortable, good-handling and very stylish ride.  I’ve found it to be extremely reliable, a great 500-mile per day bike, and perfectly adequate on power.

In fact, that’s the number one topic of questions and comments about the V7 that I’ve answered.  Further, if one surfs the many Moto Guzzi Forums, whenever the topic revolves around the V7 Classic, there’s always a group that says “I’d get one if it had 80hp”, or “it’s a nice, beginner’s bike”, or “what were they thinking with only 48 hp?”

2009 Moto Guzzi V7 Classic

The V7 Classic is all about balance.  Balance in riding position.  Balance in handling.  Balance in power-to-weight.  The V7C is about 100lbs lighter than anything else in the Guzzi Inventory.  Putting a bigger engine into it would mean bigger frame, CARC rear-end, different wheels and tires, longer wheelbase — a different bike that is NOT a V7C  (perhaps it’s a Bellagio?).  The V7C is a very integrated design.  It is light, great handling, super for the city, more than adequate for the highway and definitely fast enough, especially with the torque characteristics of the wonderful small-block V-Twin.

Moto Guzzi V7 Classic Owner’s Review — The First Week and Before

And so it was, upon the demise of my 1200 Sport and State Farm Insurance completely taking care of me, I took a hard look at what and how I would be riding over the next couple of years.  The 1200 was a great bike and I fully expected to replace it.  I purchased it because I wanted it for the long distance tours I had planned to get to this year and the next few.

I realized that my new job and just-outside-the-city lifestyle really meant that for the next couple of years, 99+ percent of my riding would be within a 150mi radius, with many, many days of riding through the streets of Chicago at 30-ish miles per hour.  This is not the venue, mission or best possible circumstances with which to operate a 1200 Sport.  This mustang needs road.  I need a bike that is a better choice for these distances, light on its feet and able to make me grin while I tackle the third-world roads of Chicago and surrounding cities.

You already figured that I’m getting a Guzzi?  Well I looked hard at the Ducati 1000GT, the Triumph Bonneville and even considered a maxi-scoot.  I hit the forums and asked more and more about the V7C.  The more I heard from the people that actually owned it, the more I started warming up to the idea.  Finally, I read a Wall Street Journal Comparison of the Bonneville, Sportster and V7 Classic.

Me and my new V7 Classic 8.11.09

So I now own one 

Moto Guzzi V7 Classic Owner's Review — The First Week and Before

And so it was, upon the demise of my 1200 Sport and State Farm Insurance completely taking care of me, I took a hard look at what and how I would be riding over the next couple of years.  The 1200 was a great bike and I fully expected to replace it.  I purchased it because I wanted it for the long distance tours I had planned to get to this year and the next few.

I realized that my new job and just-outside-the-city lifestyle really meant that for the next couple of years, 99+ percent of my riding would be within a 150mi radius, with many, many days of riding through the streets of Chicago at 30-ish miles per hour.  This is not the venue, mission or best possible circumstances with which to operate a 1200 Sport.  This mustang needs road.  I need a bike that is a better choice for these distances, light on its feet and able to make me grin while I tackle the third-world roads of Chicago and surrounding cities.

You already figured that I’m getting a Guzzi?  Well I looked hard at the Ducati 1000GT, the Triumph Bonneville and even considered a maxi-scoot.  I hit the forums and asked more and more about the V7C.  The more I heard from the people that actually owned it, the more I started warming up to the idea.  Finally, I read a Wall Street Journal Comparison of the Bonneville, Sportster and V7 Classic.

Me and my new V7 Classic 8.11.09

So I now own one 

Moto Guzzi California Vintage – Day 6 – Time to take ‘er home.

This is the sixth in a series of articles about living with and riding a California Vintage from Moto Guzzi.  The previous one is here.

I knew this day would come…

Ok.  It’s not my bike.  I’ve shared that.  I had less time with it than the Breva 1200 Sport.  I took the Breva back, loving the bike, but I knew that it had to go on, eventually, to a happy owner.  This time it’s different.  The Guzzi got under my skin.  This bike is the “girl you take home to Mom”.  I wasn’t ready to let go.  

I woke up early and decided to take the bike from Northridge down to Newport Beach in Friday Morning Rush Hour to have lunch with a college buddy.  I hadn’t really experienced the center of Los Angeles in very heavy traffic, and I figured that I-5 at 9am would be a perfect crucible.

This isn’t a short trip.  Over 70 miles on LA’s inner city freeway into the heart of Orange County.  I would be traveling across areas that are some of the busiest in the US.  Names like East LA interchange, where the 110, 10, 5 and 60 all meet in a pasta bowl of roads, and further south, the “Orange Crush” near Disneyland beckoned.  I would definitely be doing some lane splittin’ today.  I hoped that the big, police-bike-inspired Guzzi was up to its heritage.

For a Cruiser, the Guzzi isn’t exceptionally wide.  The seat is pretty mellow, really, and the bags don’t stick out further than the handlebars, as far as I could tell.  The mirrors protrude slightly further, but not so much.  Ride height is perfect for heavy traffic.  You sit up high and can look all but the largest SUV drivers right in the eye.  When you’re in the canyons between them, this and a good set of headlights is definitely a plus.

The day started out warm and proceeded to heat up to the typical, Santa-Ana winded Indian Summer day that is famous in the region.  I can’t believe I moved from Phoenix for the cooler temperatures of Southern California only to find this.  If you’re off the beach, you’re in the desert.  Don’t let anyone fool you. A great test for the bike.  Stifling hot, heavy traffic and a big cruiser.  Not as much fun as canyon carving, but if you live in LA or any big city, considering the purchase of this wonderful, big Guzzi, you sure as heck want to know that it can live in traffic in tough conditions.

Off I go.  Once onto the 5 South, I cruise in comfort until I reach the northern reaches of downtown LA.  Traffic is backing up.  I began to weave between the well-spaced cars as they moved along at 45-55 mph.  Absolutely no problem.  If anything the front windscreen was too efficient in that it moved the air around me instead of through the vents in my jacket.  I continued as the traffic deepened and the myriad ramps of the East LA interchange approached, signaling that stopped traffic and real, slow-speed splitting was in my future.