Past Perfect: Moto Guzzi V700 Special

By Robert Smith
Published on May 23, 2012
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Moto Guzzi V700
Moto Guzzi V700
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The bike retains the original switchgear.
The bike retains the original switchgear.
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Moto Guzzi V700 Odometer
Moto Guzzi V700 Odometer
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The period legshields were standard on police and military bikes.
The period legshields were standard on police and military bikes.
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The wiring harness was remade from period cloth-wrapped wire, and it’s all laced together using waxed linen cord.
The wiring harness was remade from period cloth-wrapped wire, and it’s all laced together using waxed linen cord.
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The period legshields were standard on police and military bikes.
The period legshields were standard on police and military bikes.
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Moto Guzzi V700
Moto Guzzi V700
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Owner and builder George Dockray aboard his creation. “It has way more power than a stock Guzzi,” he says.
Owner and builder George Dockray aboard his creation. “It has way more power than a stock Guzzi,” he says.
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Moto Guzzi V700
Moto Guzzi V700

In our back to the future world, everything old looks new again. Cool bikes from the past are hot, and retro has become the new “new.”

Some credit must go to Honda for their recasting of the classic British racing single with the 1989 Honda GB500. Triumph and Kawasaki picked up the theme with their retakes on the traditional British twin (Bonneville T100 and W650, respectively), and Ducati upped the ante with their Sport Classics. In Europe, Honda aped their iconic CB750 with the CB1100, and Guzzi’s flashback V7 Classics and Racers have recently been flying out of showrooms. All of this is well and good: The classic bikes of our misspent youths are re-created so another generation can enjoy them. Inevitably, though, these reprised rides lack what we misty-eyed geezer bikers are wont to call “character.” With fuel injection, liquid cooling, solid-state electrics, precision steering and suspension, the intimacy between man and machine has waned, the relationship more distant. The starting rituals, unplanned roadside maintenance and mysterious malfunctions are mostly a thing of the past. Some would applaud that. Motorcycles were ornery back then: Now, most have as much character as a dishwasher. So what if you could take a classic motorcycle, and without changing its soul, bring its reliability and functionality fully up to date — retaining its essential character while consigning any orneriness to the trash can?

That’s essentially what dedicated Guzzista George Dockray has done for the Mandello maker’s first V-twin, the 1967 model Moto Guzzi V700.

Three becomes two

Moto Guzzi’s 700cc V-twin (actually 704cc) traces its roots to the Mulo Meccanico, a three-wheeled, three-wheel-drive military vehicle designed to go just about anywhere. The rear wheels could be fitted with short tank tracks for extra grip, and the powered front wheel could literally almost climb walls. Guzzi’s Giulio Cesare Carcano designed the Mulo and its engine — an air-cooled 90-degree V-twin with overhead valves.

In spite of its rather industrial appearance, the engine found a ready home in Carcano’s next project. A touring motorcycle, it would be the largest capacity motorcycle Guzzi had ever built, all its previous road machines having been singles. Yet a growing awareness of the huge market for big bikes in the U.S. was leading several Italian companies like Laverda, MV Agusta and Ducati to build bikes in the 700cc-plus category.

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