THE GO-TO GUZZI
It is probably simpler to define what the Moto Guzzi is not, rather than what it is. It certainly isn’t a sporting V-twin, a layout synonymous with the Mandello factory. Instead it’s a single-cylinder 500 built to replace the famous and beautiful Falcone sportster.
Long before the now-ubiquitous, across the frame V-motors came into being, Guzzi made and raced single-cylinder motorcycles. The New Falcon, manufactured between 1971 and 1976, was a continuation of that heritage.
But it would take a full decade after time was finally called on the NF for large-capacity singles to be fashionable again – and that only happened after the niche was reinvented by the Japanese in the shape of Honda’s XBR and the Yamaha SR/X. In the early 1970s, when the Guzzi first prowled the streets, the very idea of a thumper, abandoned by even the remaining British manufacturers, seemed at best to be quaint thinking. Multi-cylinders were the thing: faster, revvier and, dammit, just more motorcycle for your money. So the newest Guzzi certainly wasn’t new and exciting, even back then.
Nor was it especially powerful or lightweight. Weighing in at 214kg dry, the next-generation Falcon would struggle to get airborne as easily as the outgoing model, being around 30kg heavier. Even the extra power, 26bhp compared with around 19 of
