Moto Guzzi Audace: The muscle bike that scrapes the
asphalt
Ostentatious, muscular and fierce, the Audace can be picked out immediately
by its front end, made stylistically lighter by the circular headlight unit and
the carbon mudguard mounted on a fork without any telescope covering. It
has no chromium plating so every mechanical detail, each small
exposed metallic part is dark as night, an ideal condition for fully enjoying a
bike in solitude with the striking beauty of the Audace.
Light comes through only in the stark contrast with the colour of the lateral strip that shows several
brand new details. Like the undersump lug that gives the side
view a gritty look, the metallic radiator
grille and the short megaphone exhaust which, despite its
rebellious look, is actually Euro 4 approved.
The side
panel covers have also been changed, lightened like
the passenger footpeg bracket. The platform footboards mounted on all the other
models in the range are gone here, as is the rocker gear shift control in order
to make room for sportier footpegs mounted farther
forward and the classic gear shifter pedal.
Particular attention was given to the saddle, covered in Alcantara skai with exposed
red stitching, lowered in terms of the seating position and
installation ready for the foldaway
passenger seat. The drag handlebar is also new which,
thanks to the forward position of the footpegs and the different seating level,
create a longer and more dominating riding position.
Another particularly elegant feature is
the burnished valve covers, the rear shock
absorbers with separate gas bottle and the alloy wheels personalised with the
Moto Guzzi logo, as well as the minimal mirrors. Powerful and aggressive, the Audace looks
as if it is crouched down on its haunches like a large feline ready to unleash
its explosive power to scratch the asphalt, leaving the mark of its oversize
200/65 rear tyre. The generosity of the 1400 cc "Made in Mandello"
90° V-twin is well known by now and on the Audace, thanks to the exhaust
system with redesigned fluid dynamics, is even more lively at high revs. As a
result, thanks in part to weighing a few kilos less, the
Audace is definitely quicker off the line. It will certainly be the one that is
most used with the “Veloce” output map and the one where the MGTC traction
control system will need to intervene most often…
Moto Guzzi Eldorado: operation flashback.
“If Roman gods had ridden motorcycles, the Moto
Guzzi Eldorado would have been chosen by Bacchus.” - This was how Cycle World magazine concluded their test of the luxurious
Italian bike, the latest evolution of the 90° V-twin with
cardan final drive introduced in the States in the late sixties by the importer
Berliner Group. The metaphor effectively highlighted the intoxication experienced
on a modern, powerful, luxurious and fast bike, painstakingly studied down to
the smallest details and extremely satisfying to ride. Forty years later the
experience is repeated in the shape and substance of the new Eldorado. Staying on the theme of mythology,
the new Eldorado leads us to Janus, the two-headed divinity who is the keeper
of all passages and transitions. By looking at it one can see clearly how this
Moto Guzzi has preserved the personality of its ancestor, drawing it from the
past to the future along the path of technological evolution and stylistic
continuity. The flashback effect comes out in
the details: the spoke wheels, the fuel tank with chromium sides, the oversize
saddle, the rear mudguard with the gem-shaped taillight, the bullhorn
handlebar, the passenger grab handle.
With a lower setup thanks to the new
sixteen inch spoke wheels that mount whitewall tyres (130/90 on the front and
180/65 on the rear), attention is drawn to the new wraparound mudguards. The
front has a particularly “clean” design which enhances the powerful front end,
whereas the rear, on the other hand, is the element that draws the most
attention on this ultra elegant Moto Guzzi. Its smooth and generous shape
integrates with the new full cover shock absorbers, the gem-shaped rear light
cluster and the classic rounded turn indicators.
At the front the Eldorado, like the Touring
and Custom models, is also distinguishable by its original complex surface
headlight with polyelliptical light equipped with LED daylight running light
(DRL). Speaking of digital technologies, the instrumentation is particularly
satisfying, contained in a 150 mm diameter circular panel with the analogue rev
counter scale finding its place along the external circumference and a
multifunction full-matrix suspended display at the centre, all packaged neatly,
like a luxury watch, in a bright chromium housing. You never get on the Eldorado, but
rather you settle comfortably into the saddle. Positioned just 724 mm from the
ground, the new saddle, together with the generous floorboards and the
comfortable bullhorn handlebar grip, is an invitation to take a seat, press the
start button and let the asphalt roll under your feet for at least 300
kilometres, which is the minimum range guaranteed by the sculpturesque 21 litre
fuel tank.
If the road is a never-ending Interstate
Highway you can activate cruise control by pressing the button on the
right-hand electric block and sail along as you listen to the throbbing 90° V-twin filtered by the big block's
elastic-kinematic mounting system, knowing that if you need or desire it, the
cardan final drive will be ready to unleash up to 120 Nm onto the tarmac at
2,750 rpm. Technically unchanged, the twin cylinder confirms its monumental
architecture enhanced by the polished valve covers with Moto Guzzi
silk-screened on them and the tight and smoothed cooling fins. The engine is an
absolute benchmark in its category for engine capacity-performance-consumption
ratio thanks to excellent thermodynamic performance combined with advanced Ride-by-wire
multimap electronic management. This technology allows the rider to choose one
of three engine management maps: Turismo, Veloce and Pioggia. And that's not all: the dynamic performance
of the vehicle is also kept under control by its latest generation traction
control system (MGCT) which can be adjusted on three actuation levels in order
to increase active safety without impacting performance and riding pleasure.
V7 II
RACER
Manufactured in
limited edition as the celebratory
plate located on the upper steering yoke indicates, the V7 II Racer
confirms the previous model's equipment and features when the total-black
look was introduced on the side
panels, mirrors, silencer brackets and footpeg guards in contrast with the bright 22 litre chromium fuel tank. In keeping with the numbers theme, the
number “7” remains on the top and tail fairings (which in the Moto Guzzi world
was a favourite for the 250 class world champion Enrico Lorenzetti), in
chromium.
The single seat
saddle is also back (although a two-up
saddle and passenger footpegs are available on request), covered in Alcantara
and Skai to match the leather strap personalised with the Moto Guzzi logo that decorates the crest of the tank.
The red frame is still
spectacular, itself inspired by the legendary first V7 Sport series with CrMo frame and the result of a special
painting treatment extended to the hubs, wheels and swingarm as well, which
accentuates the architectural purity of the frame. Moto Guzzi is also written
in red where it appears on the wheels, exactly like the most recent California
Custom.
Exemplary Guzzi styling is clear in the tail fairing and tiny Plexiglas top
fairing above a race number panel which
is reminiscent of the front of
the legendary Gambalunga. This
unequivocally sporty element is in perfect harmony with the front mudguard
design. Staying in the driver's seat, other new features are represented by the
brake and clutch levers, redesigned in order to achieve better
ergonomics, whereas at the rear you can
see the black tail light assembly as on all the V7 II models.
One of the most distinctive features of this special-edition is the widespread use of anodized
matt black and drilled aluminium. This
hand-crafted treatment, which requires superb artisan skill, characterises the side
panels, the throttle body guards and the silencer mounting brackets. Other premium components include the aft-mounted footpegs machined from
solid billets, the lightened steering stem and the steering yoke guard
consisting of a double chromed ring, which is so exquisitely crafted that it
looks like an ornamental feature.
A particularly gratifying feature, not only in terms of aesthetics, but
also because of their dynamic performance, is the presence of Bitubo
WMY01 shock absorbers with spring
preload adjustment in rebound and compression thanks to a twelve-setting adjustment knob. This is a bike made to be ridden strictly one-up, in black leathers, with
a skullcap helmet and leather studded palm gloves.
V7 II STONE
Eclectic and essential, the V7 II Stone now has new colour schemes: nero
“Ruvido” rosso “Impetuouso”, grigio “Intenso” and giallo “Denso”. They are all satin finishes and inspired by typical '70s colour schemes
that enhance the contrast of the new frame, built with more aesthetic welding
where brilliant paintwork has been applied to enhance the ingenious
architecture.
The rest of the bike, from the mirrors to the shock absorbers, from the mudguards to the wheels and even the side panels is dominated by black, now also extended to the tail light assembly and the new brake and clutch levers. This is a look that enhances the chromium on the silencers, the instrument cluster profile, the shock absorbers and even the tight finning of the engine's aluminium cylinders. The technical characteristic that differentiates the V7 Stone from her big sisters is the lightweight alloy wheel rims, a unique modern concept on a decidedly vintage design.
V7 II
SPECIAL
Of the V7 versions this is the one that most approaches the original
spirit of its ancestor, beginning from its graphics, christened “Essetre” (S3) and
inspired by the famous 1975 V750 S3. Following this graphic concept, the V7 II now has three glossy colour
bases: classic black with orange stripes to faithfully revisit the colours of its famous ancestor and two brand
new schemes on metallic red and light blue with a silver stripe.
The tank on both
bears the historic embossed logo
and the wheels, spoked with lightweight alloy rim channels, are also done in
black finish instead of chrome. As with the Stone, the Special also has
a new frame that stands out, besides
for the different engine and shock absorber mounting distances, for an improved finish in terms of welding
and paintwork, as well as for the redesigned black brake and clutch
levers and the new rear light cluster. Unlike
the Stone and the Racer, the V7
Special has a fork stanchion protector instead of the dust boots that are fitted on the other models in the
range.
Moto
Guzzi MGX-21 (Prototype)
The
motorcycle is the product first of a humanist culture and then a technical
culture. The way a population creates its mechanical steeds and in which
direction they evolve, stems from the same values around which the culture is
shaped. There is a breed of motorcycles that is bound to the deep heritage of a
nation that went west in search of the frontier and its own identity. An epic
which became culture and which, many decades later, would be christened and its
story told, choosing the road as the focal point of the narrative. And narrated
by a generation that rode just for the sake of riding – to live.
The long and straight roads, the voyage itself intended as
the place “of arrival” and one destination was as good as any other. Out of the
mythology of the voyage and two wheels came the legend of the bike and the
biker for those spaces and locations which always represent a frontier. Moto
Guzzi was born in another part of the globe with a lake and mountains accompanying
it since its first steps, but the spirit of these bikes quickly recognised
travel and the horizon as the preferred destinations. Moto Guzzi immediately
became a citizen of the world, but in more than ninety years of history it has
built an identity strong enough that today, well founded in its values which
are acknowledged by bikers on every continent, it can afford to have an eye
toward the influence and incentives that the motorbike culture promotes,
keeping intact – even enhancing – its uncompromisingly Italian spirit.
Today Moto Guzzi progresses quickly, committed to developing
a range of exceptional bikes which are built around the largest and most
powerful beating heart that the eagle brand has ever made, the impressive 1400
cc V-twin. And so, alongside the new Eldorado and Audace, introducing the
spectacular MGX-21. Motorcycles built in the grand Guzzi tradition, exploring
new territories with a courage and boldness that Moto Guzzi has always had.
MGX-21 is the emblem, the most extreme summary of this fascinating and
courageous project. It is a surprising idea that opens up a new path to touring
according the Moto Guzzi. MGX-21 takes and combines elements, seeks out the
influence of different cultures but drafts each foundation to lead everything
back to the riding experience which belongs to every Moto Guzzi. Only those who
have very deep roots, those who do not suffer from an identity crisis can
afford such an extreme style. Moto Guzzi can dare, can look forward, even far
into the future, without uncertainty, without the fear of venturing beyond the
frontier. Here is the spectacular 21” front wheel, extraordinarily evocative,
here is a new and comfortable environment for the rider, but above all, here is
the legendary rideability of a Moto Guzzi. And so the MGX-21 project is born
with an unmistakable goal: to be a Moto Guzzi “inside”, to always feel the road
running beneath its wheels, to always feel the rhythm of the large1400cc
twin-cylinder between the rider's legs which, as has been the case since 1921,
is hand built on the shores of the Lario and ready for any frontier in the
world.
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