2009 Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport 4V still isn't a Le Mans

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007 1200 Sport 4V.jpgRepresenting the current iteration of Moto Guzzi’s take on a sportsbike, the 1200 Sport 4V combines a 105bhp 1200cc v-twin with sports-oriented Marzocchi suspension and radial Brembos. Strangely, it’s not the most powerful model in the company’s range, that honor is reserved for the Griso power cruiser, which uses an eight-valve engine to achieve 110bhp.
>002 1200 Sport 4V.jpgWhen compared to model like the Breva, the 1200 Sport uses higher, more
rearward footpegs; lower bars; clear taillights and indicators and a
small headlight fairing that incorporates a white number board. ABS
brakes are optional.

006 1200 Sport 4V.jpgAll of this is a bit underwhelming. Come on Moto Guzzi, give us all-new
models instead of platform engineered sameness. Where’s our really cool, really fast
contemporary take on the V7 Le Mans?

008 1200 Sport 4V.jpg009 1200 Sport 4V.jpg011 1200 Sport 4V.jpgMoto Guzzi

  • contender

    Moto Guzzi seems to have lost its way somewhat.

  • Ed

    Mandello seems to be trying really hard to not make an actual sports bike. Yawn.

  • http://www.robotribe.com Robotribe

    If it went on a diet and lost at least 80 lbs., I’d be all over it. As is, it’s an HD Fat Boy in skinny jeans.

  • http://www.sideburnmagazine.com Ben Part

    Where’s are our road-going MGS-01 don’t you mean Wes?
    This blob spent too long in the Moto Guzzi wind tunnel with the heat turned up.

  • Remy

    This Guzzi definitely makes me think ‘cruiser’ quicker than I think ‘race bike’. I think it’s an alright-looking standard, though. :P

  • http://setthemfree.tumblr.com Sasha Pave

    Come on Moto Guzzi! Its not so hard, just take your Sport 1100 from the 90s and update it.

  • http://ridethetorquecurve.blogspot.com hoyt

    I am disappointed as well. I love my ’02 V11 Sport Naked. This is a very capable bike where the road matters the most. Nonetheless, I can only imagine what it would be like with the Griso motor and the MGS-01 chassis & wheels.

    The bike would sell too based on the response the MGS-01 received when it debuted. I saw a lot of riders (new and old) admiring that bike at the Seattle CW convention years ago.

    My photoshop skills are weak (and the free trial offer expired before I could refine this idea), but below is my wish for the successor to the V11….

    http://ridethetorquecurve.blogspot.com/2006/10/mgs-01-with-v11-sport-naked-bodywork.html

  • Anders

    This looks like a porky 50 year old in a pair of white shell toes with a too tight sportsjacket. Just weird. I want reborn MK III Le Mans, all angular, lightweight, usable and with a big, tourquey engine. Not a wannabe sportsbike like the MGS. A Gran Tourismo, a bike for doing a glorious one-day trip down to the alps.

  • http://ridethetorquecurve.blogspot.com hoyt

    “wannabe sportsbike like the MGS”

    ?

  • Anders

    yeah, you know, like a Guzzi built by Ducati. Nice bike, but not in any way cool.

  • http://ridethetorquecurve.blogspot.com hoyt

    Like the Ducatis the MGS-01 beat in the Sound of Thunder and BOT races in 2006 and 2007.

    The rider who raced the MGS-01 to victory in 2006 had never been to Daytona before that race.

  • hoyt

    “The Formula 1 class of the BOT (Battle of Twins) race is for motorcycles with no limitations on engine displacement or modifications. Yet that still wasn’t enough to stop Guareschi’s completely standard Moto Guzzi MGS-01 Corsa from taking first place in both races, held on 6th and 7th March 2006.

    On the first day, Guareschi’s Guzzi finished ahead of a Ducati 999S, while on the second it crossed the line in front of Ducatis, Hondas and the ambitious Buell XBRR.”

    http://www.motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/06_news/21_03_063.php

  • Andrey

    Hey Hoyt. I too love my V11 Sport although I long for something like an MGS 01. Was thinking of building my own. Interested? Where are you located? I am in Seattle.

  • c white

    It seems that moto guzzi wants to build everthing but,what people want, I think they want a MGS that is street legal,and not the over weight over priced things they are building now its not that hard to do

  • chiquet claude

    Dommage pour la fourche avant d’une gosse bréva 1200, la fourche avant de la griso v8 serait mieux approprié pour cette nouvelle1200 sport 4V.vraiment dommage elle aurais eu plus de gueule et sur tous pour guzzi qui fait des efforts pour luttée contre la concurrence mai pas toujours dans le bons sens, encor dommage .j’étais pour temps intéresser mai ?

  • http://boris.com Boris Backfire

    Heu guys, don’t forget that the average age of the Guzzi customers is slightly above 73 yrs. Seems they don’t want to risk any market break down

  • cliffyd 750 S3

    overweight? not really an issue for guzzi riders. the thing that really slows us up is those HDs or “mobile chicanes” as we call them getting in the way.

  • srla

    I wouldn’t expect americans to understand Moto Guzzi.

    The point of a Guzzi is not a WSBK bike that feels like a torture rack and goes three times faster than you can actually use on a public road.

    Guzzis are for people who enjoy curvy roads and want to enjoy them for longer than 30 minutes without getting half of their body numb.

    For all the power and light weight, a modern 170hp superlight liter bike wouldn’t outrun this Guzzi on a tight mountain pass, but the man on the Guzzi would be far more comfortable and therefore enjoy the ride more.

  • SJV

    srla, I couldn’t have said it better myself.