The existing Moto Guzzi V7 II family gains a scrambler-style machine in the form of the new Stornello unveiled in Milan this week.
Featuring the same 90° 750cc v-twin engine found in its siblings (making a claimed 48 hp at 6,700 rpm) the Stornello gets a unique seat, exhaust, knobby tires, tank guards and aluminum fenders. Foot pegs are designed to be more suitable for off-road riding.
The “Stornello” name was used by Moto Guzzi in connection with a scrambler model it produced from 1960 to 1974. The V7 II Stornello will be available in the U.S. market, but Moto Guzzi has not yet announced pricing.
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I like it, but it would be hard to justify next to the Triumph and Ducati. I’d have to see the weight, sub 500 and it’s worth a look, but I fear 600.
Claimed curb weight is 410 lbs. The V7s are light bikes. They need to be considering they make only marginally more power than a three-year-old on a tricycle.
Another fine example from the current crop of usable bikes coming out from various mfg’s. My only input is this: in the lower pic, the crankcase area where the drain plug is, right behind the front wheel, would get creamed the first day out where I ride. Need skid plate.
It still not a scrambler. V Twin is twisted around from this model. I’ve spent half my life scrambling and hill climbing and never seen anything like this bike. AJS, CZ, Bultako, BSA…
Should have been in the Paris-Dakar in the 1980s then Bob – there were a few out in the desert then…..maybe not this model but Guzzis. They get all over the world. 🙂
Thanks, you are right I was too old then to be the Dakar.
The Guzzi V twin is THE format for twin cyl motors IMO. Really strong aesthetic that just looks balanced and made for a motorcycle. Yeah, its probably from a tractor originally but whatever. Looks great !!! Someday I will own one……or two!!
Try one – I did 11 years ago and they get in your blood alright!!
Beautiful but—–Where is the skid plate? Where is a real suspension? How about a SUMP that has an additional 2 quarts or so and maybe some HP and torque for a change or produce it with the new larger engine. Yeah and how about more dealers? I ride a 2012 Triumph Rocket 3 Roadster and maybe some high pipes, different tires and a good skid plate would make it a great adventure bike though it might be down on power:)
I’ve said it before but that big lump of an engine hanging out there on a frame with wheels screams motor cycle, motorcycle as well or better than any other.
Good job hiding the shaft drive. I had to look twice to see it.
I’m not sure all these nostalgia naked bikes are going to sell very well however. A fleeting fashion I will guess
Yes. Suzuki SV650. Old ones are 5 times cheeper then this thing in our region.
Very nice daily driver. Would be a nice addition to the V9 model line as well.
Agreed, it needs to be V9. That Guzzi architecture doesn’t lend itself to small bikes. This would be a great start for a café/LeMans kinda bike. No radiator, decent sized tank, sportier rubber, flat bars/clip ons, bikini fairing. Keep it simple, keep it light as you can.
Guzzi already makes a cafe version of the bike. I don’t think it comes with a period-correct fairing, but they must offer one as an accessory either from Guzzi or the aftermarket as I occasionally see a woman around here riding one with a fairing.
Love the plain simple look. I guess coming from the 50’s to now, starting with plain/simple bikes like a ’56 Harley 165 and ’59 Triumph 500 and still ride a KLR and 1250S Bandit.
Essentially the same idea: http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/~/media/Images/MCC/Editorial/Articles/Magazine%20Articles/2015/09-01/Restored%20to%20Ride%201968%20Honda%20CL450/honda-cl450-square%20jpg.jpg
I like it. Sure it’s basically just a styling exercise with little if any real improvement in off-pavement abilities, but that’s no different than many of the so-called adventure bikes. It looks cool, though, and will probably be enjoyable to ride. And looks count for a lot when it comes to selling bikes.
Looks like a good New Mexico bike. So many of our interesting rides include 2 track dirt roads and lots of miles on pavement. Currently I ride a Kawasaki W650, which though no dirt bike does work a lot better on dirt roads than pretty much any modern road bike. This bike would be similar, but with greater fuel range, lighter weight,fuel injection, and the shaft drive. I want one! Kind of hard to put saddlebags on it though.
I love New Mexico. Great riding out there – street, dual-sport or pure off-road. New Mexico has it all!
Azi calls his 10 year prediction: the retrobike market will crash due to oversupply, and late ’90s sport tourers / Foggy-era superbikes will fetch ludicrious prices.
Nice looking bike.
The whole scrambler thing is lost on me. It’s not a dirt bike. It is a street bike that will roast your ankles. Where’s the love in that?
I recall the Scrambler versions of just about any Honda model in the mid to late 60’s. Most were far from pure off-road bikes, especially the larger ones. It was a style. With Honda you had the CB, CL and eventually the SL versions of each bike/engine combo. You picked your style.
There were also XL Hondas dirt/ street bikes
I had a 67 CL77 ( 305 Scrambler..developed for desert racing out west) and we indeed rode them off road into the woods, the alternative being the BSA Firebird 650 Scrambler, the Triumph 650 Scrambler or a HD Sporster with knobbie tires all of which were bigger and heavier. In 1968 Yamaha brought out the AT125 and DT250 two stroke ” Enduros” which although taking a year or two to catch on changed dirt riding forever.
Doh, gettin’ old, I even had an XL250! I remember so many 305 Scramblers with their high pipes, sans small muffler and sometimes with Snuf-or-nots http://www.coolretrobikes.com/images/Ebay/Snuff-or-Not%20Ad.JPG
Those 305’s lead into the 350 and 450 Scramblers, hardly the stuff of great off-roading, but they did allow a modicum of off-road adventure without damage being done to street pipes.
I see all these latest scramblers as being much the same. It’s a look.
As I recall, prior to the DT-1, scramblers were for the most part (excepting the “exotic” Huskys, CZs, Bultacos, etc.) simply street bikes with high pipes. Honda responded to the DT-1 with SLs (twins) and XLs (singles) which, especially the XLs, were more purpose built for off-road.
So, the current “scrambler” craze is actually fairly historically accurate, styling variations of existing street bikes. The difference now is that “real” dirt bikes are more accessible and vastly better off-road.
lol yea I had Snuff or Nots on my CL. Each iteration of CL after the CL 77 (and CL72 250cc) were more and more street oriented and less dirt oriented. Yes, they were basically just a look.
I was actually stuck in the woods on a log with a BSA 650 scrambler when I saw my first AT125 Yamaha. That guy was going everywhere like it was nothing. It was amazing considering the effort it took to go anywhere in the woods on the BSA.The BSA made a better .. well faster and more comfortable, street bike though.
Yes exactly what I was getting at earlier on this thread. Rode these bikes plus the Suzuki 500.
I remember it very well. The CB was street. The SL was more dirt oriented. and the CL tried to split the difference … but all Honda did was put mid-pipes on the street bike. They were AWFUL off road.
Looks-wise the CB’s looked more long haul while the scrambler versions looked more athletic around town. At least that’s the perception I had when viewing them. I like that there was choice. I like diversity.
That is a bike I could sit with a beer and just look at.
That’s better than the bike being stared at with a coffee in your hand. I think?
I agree. Nice looking machine. What kind of riding do most people do? Just cruising. I’ve had tons of standards. It’s a nice way to ride. I can’t ride with my feet out on front of me all day. I also can’t do the sport bike thing for more than half an hour or so. So standards are right up my alley. I test rode the V7 Classic when it first came out. Clutch. Shifting. Motor. All good. I only thought it needed a metal tank and sixth gear, both of which is now has.
I really thought it needed more power and better brakes. My legs got really tired from always having to activate the Flintstone Acceleration Assist feature. It’s hell on the soles of your boots too when you need to stop fast.
I want this soooo bad.
I would love to have this bike but not for dirt roads, i will stick with my KLR for that but use the Guzzi for just riding a cool bike. Looks 10 times better than the Triumph scrambler
Thank you Yamaha for starting a torrent of very cool ‘normal’ bikes being sold for very reasonable prices!
I think this is what these remind me of:
https://docsmotorcycleparts.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/img_1415.jpg?w=495&h=371
Basically this is a factory version of the scrambler kit you can add to any late model V7
http://www.garagemotoguzzi.com/en/stile/scrambler/
I prefer the early Stornello color combo of red tank and black frame. Take a red V7 Classic, install the kit and you’re all set. There’s a nice picture of just such a bike on the website.
Those pipes look ungainly as hell and will be in the way for some service items. Nothing off-roady about it. A skid plate would be real useful. I dig Guzzis but this is stupid. And ugly. And slow.
I don’t like being like this. But.
But you’re doing a really good job of being like this. Unless you just crawled up out of a cave. It’s obvious that the scrambler thing with what the announced hipster will be riding this year. Skid plates? Ugly? Slow?
All this visual off road worthiness is just a fiction. Sure the things will get along a little better off road. But so few of them will ever really get much of a chance to go off road that to speak about skid plates and the like is just silly.
All that stuff just is tassels on a clutch lever. It’s a decent standard. Thirty years ago it would be a serious road burner. A Guzzi is a Guzzi like a Harley is a Harley. You can’t measure them with a new yardstick.
That big oil pan looks like it would make a good skid plate.
For a moment.
I like Guzzi’s but there’s something even more here that catches my eye. I think it’s the red frame! There’s something very retro and appealing here for me but as mentioned, why not the new 900’s?
It makes my yet to be broken collar bone ache just looking at this bike.
Now that folks is a Scrambler. Best appearance of the bunch, brilliant.
Very cool. I wonder if that Arrow exhaust is an upgrade or if there is another “unique exhaust”?
I love the look, but why does it come with the V7-SuperWussy engine instead of new V9-StillPrettyWussy mill?
ROTFL
I’m confident in my manhood so I am ok riding a V7. 😉
A “smaller” displacement shafty? Do my eyes deceive me? I really like the looks of this bike! Can I find a dealer in my state? I’ll have to check. Why won’t the “big” manufacturers make smaller shafty’s?
All the Guzzis are shaft-driven.
Paul, they used to down to about 550-650 cc, but in recent years improvements in motorcycle chains, have pretty much spelled the death knoll for small displacement shafties from the Big 4. Truthfully most riders put so few miles on motorcycles that the new oring chains will last far longer than they will keep the bike, with very little maintenance. My last few chains have gone over 30,000 miles. Sadly, a lifetime for the vast majority of motorcyclists. In addition it’s less expensive for the manufacturer and for the consumer, and allows those consumers who so choose to alter the gearing inexpensively.
I am a shafty fan myself, and have 64,000 miles on one of my bikes that has a shaft which would be 2 sets of chains and sprockets on a chain drive bike, but has only been a few ounces of oil on a shaft drive bike. I’m afraid except for hold out MG. it’s unlikely we will see many shaft drive bikes in the future on bikes less than 1200cc’s.
That little fly screen looks like a Catholic religious leader’s hat. Would have to remove or replace that.
Yep, as long as things can be made tidy behind it when taken off, that’s what I’d do also.
I believe that it is actually a replica of a number plate rather than a fly screen.
Remember, it’s about looking like it is ready for the ISDT.