Modern Vespa

Even with tough competition and past owner missteps Guzzi still chugs along.

https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/news/moto-guzzi-turns-100-in-2021/

I think the only two motorcycle brands in the world that can boast of having survived for over 100 years without stopping production are Moto Guzzi and Harley Davidson.

Benelli?
BMW started in 1923. Missed it by that much.

BMW began long before...and building aircraft engines ... in fact the stylized symbol is a spinning propeller. But Moto Guzzi began (in fact) in 1921.
Benelli was founded in 1911 but today it is no longer an Italian company, it is chinese. And therefore it is no longer in production since it is no longer italian, this magic trick can be done by others but i don't fall for it ....
Benelli is not an "uninterrupted" italian industrial reality, it's like having sold your soul to survive.

In the environment of today where something is produced is not exactly a disqualification. I can understand from your point of view how Benelli is dead. Like Royal Enfield being Indian but designed in Great Britain the Benelli is designed in Italy but built in China. Triumph's built in Thailand and Piaggios built in Vietnam with engines from Taiwan. In 2008 and 2009 Zongshen built Fly 150s. So Chinese Benellis are standard operating procedure.

Try to understand me ... try hard ...
I grew up when the big Italian brands were 100% but then ... the slow agony began.
It closes, reopens, changes ownership, closes, and so on for years and years and production decreases, becomes poor ... finally it closes. A foreign buyer arrives, invests capital and off you go! But in the meantime the keen biker is lost, escaped from another brand. The anger is a lot ... sorry, I have to get out then we'll talk about it.

For too many decades we only had one brand in this Country. Indian owners switched to British bikes rather than Godforsaken Harleys. Then the Japanese came along with better bikes and British bike owners moved to them along with the wave of "Nicest people on a Honda".

I feel your angst though and it's understandable. Rumi, Parilla, Lambretta. All excellent machines gone forever.

Keep this in mind. Until Audi bought Ducati the bikes were all of questionable quality. Now they have better quality control, a thunderous V-4 and rising sales.

I get understand your National pride is hurt but bad leadership led to the foreign takeovers.

Don't get me started with Matchless. - Re-writing history to promote overpriced coats seems very wrong.

There is question of german industry, it is first-rate technology.
There is a proprietary mentality, that is ... inventiveness is originally theirs.
Indeed, they do not even inspire (copy) and follow their own school of thought; and so it must be, develop your own ideas. Or build plastic scooters with the Matchless name to sell, just for the name.
Watch Royal Alloy, looks like a Lambretta but didn't need the Lambretta name; if it is good it will sell and earn its name and rightly so ... it is the natural order of things.

Oh, to be able to attend this event. Alas, the disposable income fairy hasn't flitted in our direction for a few years.

Moto Guzzi was 52 when my California rolled out of the lines:



48 years and 325.000 kilometers later, she's still running great...


But at the time she was built, Moto Guzzi was not Moto Guzzi anymore - It had been aquired by SEIMM some time before, and then came in Alejandro De Tomaso, Ivano Beggio, and Piaggio in the end.

But I don't really care about that.

My Guzzi runs great and is a pleasure to ride and can still reach 180 kmh without windshield, on her stock engine, on her stock pistons, and when I try to figure out how many times did they go up and down in their cylinders, how many drops of rain hit the bike in half a century of service, I can't but be proud of having inherited my dad's bike (and all I get in the end is a headheache due ti counting)...

Guzzi Gal, I like your hairstyle!

I rode a 500 Monza once. it had an excellent ride but in comparison to the 500 Kawasaki two stroke triple I was riding at the time it felt heavy and slow. Of course the Monza would have probably outlasted the H-1 by decades.

https://www.motorcycleclassics.com/italian-motorcycles/moto-guzzi-motorcycle/zm0z21jfzols?utm_source=wcemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MCC%20eNews%2002-11-21&wc_totalkey=9Asy3F3WllhLHDG0ZX9Ih7Ay3-aFZduoH8DfEQi0zLIx6aikLJuPTyGbORUs0z_vIJBkqwV0IzQ9oPjIJszC5g

https://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-italian-motorcycles/classic-moto-guzzi-motorcycles/1985-1987-moto-guzzi-v65-lario-zm0z21mazbut?utm_source=wcemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MCC%20eNews%2002-11-21&wc_totalkey=9Asy3F3WllhLHDG0ZX9Ih7Ay3-aFZduoH8DfEQi0zLIx6aikLJuPTyGbORUs0z_vIJBkqwV0IzQ9oPjIJszC5g

I like them both, with probably a slight preference for the Kawa.
Dad used to race a Suzuki Titan back in the days, before switching to off road where he raced Matchless and KTM. He also bought the first two Honda ever sold in my town, in a time when there was only a single Honda dealer in central Italy and it was 2-3 hours away from where he lived.
He finally bought the California in 1973, that was his 38th and last bike - he rode it continuously until 2008 when a stroke put an end to his motorcycle career.
I think dad was the most complete rider I've known.
Sometimes I really wish I had more of his passion for motorcycles, even if all my friends actually think I'm some sort of motorcyle geek

Sorry for ranting, back to topic - they're organizing lots of celebration for Guzzi's 100th birthday here in Italy.
They'll begin in a month or so in region Liguria, where the Parodi came from - Parodi being Guzzi's partner in their industrial adventure.

But I don't think I'm joining any of these celebrations, unless I'm vaccinated against the covid.
It's just too risky, in my opinion - and beside, the first motorcycle built by Guzzi-Parodi dates back to 1919, so I like to think Guzzi's already 102 years old

Mauro ... there really is a Guzzi in my garage but I have to decide to put my hands on it to fix it.

I owned a Monza III 500 for a few years. It really was a lot of fun to ride. If I had room in the garage I'd buy it back.

Visited the factory 5 years ago staying in Lecco, ate too much pizza and drank not enough beer. We talked about heading back this year. I guess not.

Buongiorrrno! (Here it is 10.30 a.m.)
I don't understand, are you coming to Italy and eating pizza? Naaaah ... too common. And the beer? Ouch! What should I read ...
There are many other good things that you will never find elsewhere! If you come back send me a message and I'll make you a list.
The Guzzi V 50 Monza was a brick ... Heavy and slow, uncomfortable saddle (first series) but with good brakes.
Practically like my tractor.
But you know ... here they say that a Guzzi is always a Guzzi and therefore sometimes it is bought with the heart. Not me.

One of the problems was I owned an 1100 sport at the same time. Often I would only remember what I was riding when I pulled out to pass a truck, which the 1100 was really good at. The 500, not so much.

I hear the kiwifruit is really good.

Yeeeeah of you guys are meeting, I'm joining!

Attila is that a Falcone??? Or Airone?? It doesn't look bad anyway, step by step you'll make her roaring again! I have some good mechanics you can address to, if you want!

Some years ago a friend's dad passed away, he owned a carpenter's shop and when we went there to do the inventory we found a 1954 Mi-Val Sport 125 lying under some wood planks since the late fifties....I brought her home and worked on her a bit and now she's running again! Ah these old 2 strokes....

You are the masters, I recognize this.
The problem is the climatic changes that here in the Mediterranean area are shocking and with rapid and destructive evolutions, it rains little and the heat is increasing.
The summer average in my area has risen from 32 ° C to 42-45 ° C ... too much.
You cannot irrigate kiwifruit with well water whose salinity has risen in 6 years, from 400 ms to 1200 ms! OK ... I'll come up with something different, maybe I'll plant hazelnut trees.

Airone 250 Sport 1950 year.

Like my dad's first Guzzi ever!

Ah no...mi spiace per te ma pur rispettando e difendendo i marchi storici italiani, io sono uno "Yamahista" convinto.

Ah no ... I'm sorry for you but while respecting and defending the historical Italian brands, I am a convinced "Yamahist".

To me, we should all be riding a Niken...!

No ... it's a nice exercise in technique but no ...
I prefer that the solution of the three wheels remains in the scooter field. I would like Guzzi to make a high-wheeled scooter like the old Galletto, that is. Every historic brand now has a scooter on its list.

I've always seen the first Aprilia Scarabeo like the new Galletto.....It even had the same colour!

Yes, I remember, but the characterization given by the brand was missing, which is very important especially for sales on extra national markets.

True, true :-/