In Cafe Racer magazine’s current June/July issue, we offer readers a complete road test of Moto Guzzi’s revolutionary water-cooled V100 Mandello, the first all-new machine from the Italian firm in years. The V100 is everything you might have heard it would be, offering cutting edge performance, corner-carving backroads handling and unique styling in an easy-to-ride package. The issue also features a fun story about some other groundbreaking Guzzis to emerge from the Mandello Del lario factory over the past century of research and development. Many American fans of the horizontally-opposed twins have no idea that Moto Guzzi were a true powerhouse in Grand Prix racing during the middle 20th Century, taking home titles and championships at tracks across Europe. The company’s fearless dedication to experimenting with new engine layouts, chassis configurations and wind-tunnel testing made Guzzi as revered a racing brand as ever there was.
Our feature story also includes some fun, oddball machines that emerged from the sprawling factory, including convertible, three-wheeled utility vehicles that were popular with construction companies and industry after WWII, farming equipment and yes, even a fiery, 140 MPH eight-cylinder racer that wore the brand’s trademark dustbin fairings back in the 1950s. All of these machines and many, many more are on display at the Moto Guzzi Museum located adjacent to the factory and if you ever have a chance to visit beautiful Lake Como, its a must-see journey.
I was fortunate enough to actually have a track session back in 2004 aboard Moto Guzzi’s scintillating MGS 0-1, a chain-drive racer built in limited numbers. The MG was an engineering exercise that proved the firm could still produce a cutting-edge sportbike capable of competing with the best from other Italian manufacturers, and it proved as capable on track as it was beautiful.
Once we started researching all that Moto Guzzi have done that’s considered truly outside-the-box, we could have written a 5,000 word story, as we uncovered technological marvels like the V7 Sport of the late 1960s, the Le Mans with linked brakes and so many other clever ideas.
Check it out now via www.caferacermag.com.
