KR TEST CLASSICS REBORN
Who says the ‘70s was the decade style forgot? Not Triumph or Moto-Guzzi who have just channelled the spirit of models from that era to create two stunning new retro specials. Big Dave has the story.
WORDS: Big Dave PICS: Osborne
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re you feeling OK?”quizzed the Co-pilot..
She couldn’t quite get over the shock off me fizzing about a Moto Guzzi, firing me e that look that couples who have been together for 30 years give each other. “Yes,” I assured her as I danced around like the late 70’s disco demon I was. “In fact,” I continued, “I rate the Moto Guzzi V7 as a very highly desirable motorcycle and have just written n that I want to have the new Bonneville SE’s babies!”
KR TEST CLASSICS REBORN
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Her surprise was not so much that I still had the ‘KC’ (as in KC & the Sunshine Band) moves, but more that I’d been carrying baggage about the models that both of these classic reproductions pay homage to for most of those 30 years….yet now I’m all ‘Get down on it!’ Which, I suppose, requires an explanation of sorts. In 1979 I just didn’t fit on a Guzzi. My pal Kim had one that he used to ride home from Perth to Adelaide for the weekend: 2,692km of mostly dead straight line each way – shortest route. It was a ‘bitser.’ Part Le Mans, part Sport and part something else that he used to keep pinned pretty much all the way across the Nullarbor Plain. On our numerous rides around the Golden West he spoke about it in that ‘religious zealot’ sort of manner that hard-core Guzzi-ists affect. It was no doubt much better specified than the original V7’s 42 horsepower and 240kg dry weight but my knees hit the middle of the cylinder heads and with no desire to suffer roast kneecap syndrome, the marque fell off my radar. Triumph’s Bonneville suffered a similar fate. THE BAD OLD DAYS The ‘79 Bonneville SE signalled the death knell of Triumph factory #2. Union lockouts, strikes and rebadged Heskeths dotted the Meriden headlines. The Black and Gold Special Edition Bonneville was a pretty good road bike in its own right. Air-cooled, four-stroke, parallel twin cylinder, 54 ponies, 200kg in a frame and geometry that was developed over nearly 20 years of dominance on road and track. But as any student of bike’s history knows, the ‘80s dawned and the quality and performance of the product from Japan against the Bonne’s reputation for Lucasian nightmares and porous castings, meant the market had passed them by. As the Ed said when he and I were talking about this piece. “I mean, what would you choose back then? A Kawasaki Z1 or a special edition ‘Royal Bonneville,’ built to celebrate the marriage of Lady Di and Prince Charles? PAGE 27: …cue some classic smaltzy 70s music to open feature….something like ‘Reunited’ by Peaches & Herb. You know…. ‘Reunited and it feels so good. Reunited ‘cause we understood….Then move to this page where we see Campbell cutting a dash on the Triumph Bonneville SE (top) then Todd S. and Linda G. putting the Bonnie and Guzzi V7 through their paces. FACING PAGE: That’s Linda (top) then Campbell (other two pics) on the Guzzi. Both are pukka roadsters with strong retro (look and feel) appeal.
The problem for us die-hards was that the ‘79 Bonneville SE appeared to take its styling cues directly from a Yamaha XS650 Special, which was altogether too cruel an irony, so it also slipped off the radar. I’M WALKN’ ON SUNSHINE… Yet 30 years later and I’ve gone all ‘Sunshine Band.’
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Guzzi’s site claims the bike was produced as ‘a 40 year celebration of Giulio Cesare Carcano’s original V7, the bike which marked the debut of the transverse 90 0 , V-twin, 703cc engine and the first Italian maxi-cycle.’ It actually turns out to be a really cool, good fun, 2009-style bike to ride.
KR TEST CLASSICS REBORN
Whilst Guzzi claims that the styling for the V7 Classic borrows the tank from the 70’s Sport model and the bling from a similar vintage Special,, to us non-afficianados it’s just a great looking Italian retro bike.
The new incarnation of the push-rod, two-valve per cylinder V-twin is only slightly wider than its ALS steel tubular twin cradle frame. In fact the whole bike is slender and rather compact, but the upright riding position and wide, flat seat make it quite comfortable for a larger rider or even an occasional two-up jaunt. In much the same way, 30 years on and the new Bonneville SE will be on my short list of the just-damnsweetest looking bikes ever. A far cry from the inward ‘nooooooooooo’ of anguish that greeted the original concept. BETTER LOOK, BETTER FEEL The lines and demeanour of the ‘09 incarnation are far less soft-chopper and much more ‘standard’ than the original and it comes with a reputation of being unstressed and bulletproof in the way of all modern Hinckley twins and triples. Reliable and easy going. In other words, gone full circle. The air-cooled DOHC parallel-twin 360 degree crank engine measures 865cc and pumps out 50kW (68hp) of maximum power at 7,500 rpm and 69Nm (51ft.lbf) of maximum torque at 5,800rpm. It tips the scales at 200kg dry and the switch to EFI has improved the smoothness of the Bonne even further The slightly smaller ‘09 Guzzi is also somewhat lighter at 182kg dry and has a 35.5kw/ 47 horsepower output. The one thing common to both engines is that they like to rev and both have a very rewarding pulse about doing it. Opening the throttle on either is a whole load of fun. Whether it was dropping it to the freeway flow on the Bonneville or hammering the V7 over Woodcocks Hill, I found real joy in RIDING both of these vehicles. You can actually keep the throttle pinned through the first several gears and not worry about losing your licence. On a modern sportsbike it’s wham bam thank you mama and the fun is all over before you shift to second, if you have pretensions of keeping a licence long term. These mid-power retros are great ‘riders’ bikes on the Queen’s highways. GREAT REAL WORLD RIDES They don’t lack overtaking power or the chutzpah to power out of a sweeping corner, but they do require judicious use of the gearbox and throttle to keep them spooled up. Continued on page 36 KIWI RIDER 33
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Moto Guzzi has similar retro-style appeal to the eye and is remarkably similar spec-wise to the Bonneville. Ergos and distinctive dynamics of transverse Vtwin/shaft final drive mean the V7 Classic is more of an acquired taste than the absolutely neutral ‘hop-on-and-ride-away’ of the Triumph but for those in search of character that’s a positive not a negative. It’s hard to overstate just how good – for the body, soul and even bank balance – the current mix of classic looks and state-of-the-art design, engineering and detailing is either. These, literally, are the good old days!
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KR TEST CLASSICS REBORN Who’d have thought that from Triumph’s darkest hour could come a look which just seems so right today. New, now 17 inch dia. wheels, and gruntier, more responsive fuel-injected engine transforms Bonneville and now means you can compare it feature for feature (rather than majoring on old-skool look and feel) with similarly priced middleweight models. Whether it will tempt harder core riders off their SpeedMasters or Americas is yet to be seen but SE is sure to win plenty of conquest and first time sales.
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KR TEST CLASSICS REBORN
I find them more rewarding and an more fun than the current crop of hypersports bikes on the c open road. o I spend a lot of my time on the 160+ horsepower jobs going ‘sh*t! how fast!?!? j Every time I look down at the E speedometer. sp
On the retros I was in that world of my own; you know, when you have a bike in its sweet spot and are just enjoying the ride, tuned, zoned and focussed on the machine and the road? I was there when Mr Plod in his mufti rig appeared unannounced on SH16. There was that moment when you look down immediately at the speedo with hand and foot poised to wash off speed as surreptitiously as possible. But hang on. 95 km/h? Smile. Wave. Imagine disappointment in his eye.
variants of the 865cc parallel twin – most of which are decidedly old school. These bikes are ideal for someone coming off their restricted licence and looking to move up to very cool bike. They are great looking, quite beautiful modern machines. Their compact nature and low saddle heights – the Bonne now has a 17” front wheel and lower, sculpted saddle – mean they work well for both male and female riders. They are also fabulous for more experienced riders looking to put some joie de vivre back into their riding and not have to just ‘idle’ around everywhere, but rather to have to put some effort into the task of making brisk transit.
Both bikes are a lot of fun to ride nonetheless and don’t require the selfcontrol that a litre monster or supersports needs these days. They are also excellent commuters suited to narrow work but will happily perform as a pleasure ride or very cool weekend recreational vehicle. They suit someone not interested in high tech doohickies unless it’s for making the bike perform better and more reliable than the ‘originals’. The instruments are simple and there are no countdown computers, GPS or headphone sockets. These are about you, a motor and two wheels. ‘And...that’s the way uh ha ah ha I like it uh ha ah ha, that’s the way uh ha ah ha...’ KR
TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE SE
I just dig ‘em for that. I was really into the ride, feeling the engine, zoning, grinning, and it was all quite legal.
ENGINE Type: Air-cooled DOHC parallel twin w/ 360°
Both vehicles will happily leave most of the tin-tops behind at the traffic lights and do all the other things that were expected of a ‘Superbike’ in 1979 – yet way better than the originals. To stop, the Guzzi has a fl oating 320 mm stainless steel disc with four opposed calipers of differing diameters up front and 260mm disc at the rear. The Bonne has a single 310mm disc with Nissin two-piston fl oating caliper front and single 255mm disc at the rear.
firing order 4-stroke
MOTO GUZZI V7 CLASSIC Air-cooled OHV transverse-mounted 90° V-twin 4-stroke
Displacement: 865cc
744cc
Compression: 9.2:1
9.6:1
Bore/stroke:
90 x 68mm
80 x 74mm
Starting:
Electric
Electric
Engine mgmt: CDI
CDI
Fuel system:
Keihin multipoint electronic fuel injection
Weber-Marelli electronic fuel injection with 36mm throttle bodies
Clutch:
Wet, multiplate
Dry single-plate
Transmission: 5-speed
5-speed
Final drive:
Chain
Shaft
FRAME Type:
Tubular steel twin cradle
Tubular steel twin cradle
Swingarm:
Tubular steel
Aluminium alloy
Suspension:
Front: telescopic forks 41mm dia. Rear: twin chromed pre-load adjustable coilover shock absorbers
Front: Marzocchi 40mm telescopic forks. Rear: Light alloy swingarm with twin preload adjustable coil-over shock absorbers
Brakes:
Single 310mm rotor disc w/2-piston floating Nissin caliper front & single 255mm disc w/2-piston floating Nissin caliper rear
Single floating 320mm s/steel rotor disc w/Brembo four opposed piston calipers front & single 260mm s/steel rotor disc w/twin-opposed piston caliper
Wheels:
Cast aluminium 7 spoke 17 x 3.0 in. dia front & 17 x 3.5 in. dia rear
Chromed steel 2.50 x 18 in. dia. rim with wire spokes front & 3.50-17 in. rim with wire spokes rear
Tyres:
Metzeler 110/70-17 front, 130/80-17 rear
Metzeler Lasertec 100/90-18 front & 130/ 80-17 rear
Wheelbase:
1490mm
1449mm
Rake:
Rake: 27°
27.50°
Trail:
106mm
109mm
LxWxH
2115 x 790 x 1130mm
2185 x 800 x 1115mm
There are more and more retros appearing in the market. Offerings from Ducati, Harley-Davidson and Honda are on the showroom floors or the drawing board.
Seat height:
740mm
805mm
Dry weight:
200kg
182kg
Triumph have dined out on the retro rage and offer seven different
Both sets of brakes work well within the performance parameters of the bikes and their overall handling and suspension is also in line with their power outputs. Both have a smattering of hi-tech under the old school skin, both bike’s fuel injection was stumble free and easy to live with but mostly they are unadorned, basic, essence demotorcycles. TARGET MARKET Who are they for?
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DIMENSIONS
Fuel capacity: 16l
17l
RRP:
From $15,590
$17,990
Test bike:
Triumph NZ Ltd
Triumph NZ Ltd