I appreciated your comments on Guzzi. I now find myself drawn back into the spell. I love the V-11 . . . saw one the other day at MI. Same with the Buell. It’s probably as much the story behind the bike as it is the bike.

When you’re young, it’s more about the gear. The story is about you and what the gear says about you. When you’re older, it’s more about the story, and what the story tells about the gear.

Excellent article with Dave.

I am a happy customer due to Dave and his Moto International staff. I own a very fun V11 Sport, 2003 ‘vintage’. So, I agree Dave is THE guy to sell someone a motorcycle.

The world wide web works in humorous ways at times….I came across your site via The Kneeslider (a good site created by a gent in PA, my former home state). The Kneeslider posted a topic about Twisting Asphalt’s “Twist The Throttle”. I saw your comment and found your website from Twisting Asphalt. Turns out, we are both in the Great Northwest riding bikes from the same, mighty shop on 77th Street. It could be Dave’s global presence more than the web ; )

Anyway – I’m commenting regarding the topics about “enough performance” and part of Guzzi’s model line-up…..

Isn’t it interesting that Buell sells much better in Europe than the US? Meanwhilie, Erik Buell’s whole premise is that “there IS enough” hp when riding on the street; but his best revenue stream is from another continent.

That sales fact is more frustrating when you consider the V11 Sport. “More-is-not-enough America” makes this bike more difficult to sell here than necessary. The reality is that this bike can run with the high-strung inline 4s where the road matters most. The V11 Sport’s potential was not fully tapped into before going to the Breva-styled V12 Sport. My wish for Guzzi is to step-up like BMW has done with their HP2 Sport. Guzzi should develop the 2nd version of the MGS-01, but make it street legal this time.

Riders (in/out of the Guzzi spell) still admire that bike, but no one can ride it on the street! Why dangle that beautiful motorcycle in front of the public, observe the positive reaction, and not deliver? Admittedly, Piaggio has had their hands full, as was mentioned above, but here’s hoping/requesting they still produce a street-going MGS-”02″. The price wouldn’t be an incremental bump from the V11Sport, but the Guzzi MGS-02 would still sell out based on the response the -01 received. Imagine Guzzi racing at Daytona with BMW against the Japanese….incidentally, the HP2 did very well in the 200.

Someone might argue the MGS-01 (or -02) will still have a “modern-looking bike with classic technology”. I would counter with: the BMW HP2 Sport is very high tech, looks good, and performs very well, regardless if its still air/oil cooled. If that still doesn’t satisfy them, then make the MGS-02 a naked bike with some honest styling cues from the classic era. I’ve photo-chopped the V11 Sport’s bodywork onto the MGS-01 chassis. Its buried in my blog.

The V12 Sport doesn’t do it for me because the Breva-style has replaced the bit of classic style the V11 Sport posseses. The V11 had achieved the difficult task of combining classic & modern aesthetics & parts without coming across as a 2-wheeled equivalent of a PT Cruiser. The V12 isn’t that bad, but I hope that analogy works.