I wonder if it’s done to stop people from ‘messing around’ with the forks? Shame really as it probably means a lot of people just put up with poor performance as the process to fix it has been made so difficult by MG
Yes, I was thinking the same about the tyre pressures.
I bought a V7 750 Special after having ridden touring Beemers for years as well as an assortment of mid range honda and suzukis. The Guzzi is a different animal altogether. Like you initially I was a little disappointed. After a couple of hundred miles it suddenly dawned on me I was so used to riding modern and often rather predictable even dull motorcycles I’d become a little stale and cosseted in my riding.
I thought back to the summer of '69 and the following decade of riding simple unsophisticated machines.
Jumped on the Guzzi and road like I did back in the '70s .
Hey presto I rediscovered why I started riding in the first place. Yes it might be a bit hard in your bum but what joy. You can rag it and chuck it about with gay (old usage) abandon.
Give it a go ride it as it should be ridden.
3 Likes
Hi Jamarick. Thanks for your post. At the moment my experiences of the V7 are heavily tarnished by the harshness of the ride. However, today I ordered some new rear shocks that will (hopefully) work better with my 65kg body weight. I do like the way that the bike corners on good smooth roads, so there’s an indication of how much fun it could be. It’s just that when you’re lent over in a fast bend on a rippled road surface and the bike decides to fire you out of the seat, it takes a lot of the fun out of things.
Regards
Tony
2 Likes
The stock V7 suspension is very basic, but the bike itself isn’t a high priced machine and doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t
A friend sold his V7 after 3 months for exactly the same reason of harsh unforgiving handling
You can transform the handling & ride but it means spending quite a lot
Andreani Evo Misano fork cartridges for the front (fully adjustable) £572 a set, and Matris shocks at the rear £975 a set
Not cheap, but quality suspension parts never are. I’ve used Andreani & Matris components on other bikes & always been impressed with their performance & quality
With these upgrades you can set the suspension sag, and compression / rebound to suit your weight and riding
1 Like
1 Like
I don’t think I’ve noticed anybody contrasting the 850 with its 750 immediate predecessor. I had one and, boy, that was a pretty challenging ride. All points taken on board but it’s definitely in the right direction. Both of them took me to Mandello, tho the 850 was much more fun over the four decent Alpine passes I was able to fit in.
2 Likes
A chap posted on YouTube exactly that, owns a V7 III (I think) and tried a dealer demonstrator of the 850. Made a video comparing the two. Bizarrely he seems to interpret ‘character’ as ‘things going wrong’ (viz, his V7 III 
), and so somehow, following this logic, thinks the 850 is ‘too good’, so he wants to keep the III! But if he didn’t have that and was after buying one, he would buy the new one. He did also say the stock tyres on the 850 were greatly superior to those on the III.
Go figure!
I had a 750 V7 III Milano and I now have a V7 850 Special and the new bike is so much better in almost every way. I had always wanted a Guzzi but the V7 III was a bit of a disappointment (poor brakes and a bit gutless), this one goes like I expected a Guzzi to go. The handling is good on the poor roads around here (OEM tyres are Michelins incidentally).
I smile every time I see it in the garage and almost every time I ride it.
5 Likes
Which of course is the only test that matters… 
3 Likes
When I refilled the legs with fresh oil, I made a dip stick out of rigid plastic. Put it down and see where the top of the oil is. Adjust free length with cable ties to set depth. connected that with fish tank airline to a 60 ml syringe.
I can now use the syringe to measure and squirt in the right amount of fluid.
If I want to check the fluid, half full the syringe with oil, put the ali pipe in the fork leg, squirt it in the oil and the pull it back up to suck up excess. Level is now fully sorted. Thinner tube works best especially on the lowest bit otherwise the oil can run back down the tube too easily. Made it from scraps except for the syringe- about £3. not elegant to look at but works a treat
Get the thin tube Ali or rigid plastic from a model shop. If you are in Cornwall, I have more…
3 Likes
Hi
Measuring the air gap [ 120mm ] is with the spring removed and the fork tube fully compressed , the capacity is 385cc , fork oil 7.5w
hope this is of help , Derek
2 Likes
That is useful to know thanks!
If you take it apart, is it possible to drill the fork to fit a drain plug? I think I read something in Guzziology V9, but not sure for which model. The text went something like " They included a place on the fork leg casting, but did not fit a drain plug. Drill, tap M6x1 and use a bonded washer to seal it"
1 Like
There was mention of looking for a flat bit where you would expect the plug to be. Sorry can’t be more specific.
There’s a guy in North Cornwall that does laser welding. Perhaps it’s possible to get a bit of meat stuck on? I got a fractured clutch lever repaired many moons back. Cannot see the join and it has not failed yet.
1 Like