Moto Guzzis are an acquired taste. If you’ve ever ridden one, you would immediately know what I mean. Their owners can be a quirky group, but you have to give them credit for their loyalty, and they tend to rack up the miles. The V11 was Guzzi’s attempt to grab a piece of the “sportbike” market in the late 1990’s. While this might look like a Guzzi take on a Ducati Monster, which had taken the world by storm, it was actually a mechanical and cosmetic reworking of their previous V1100 Sport. It used their venerable transverse twin and surrounded it with new seat/tank bodywork in the now-trendy naked style of the day. The color are an homage to the 1970’s V7 Sport, which had a red frame and similar greenish tank:
This V11 Sport has some nice Rizoma baubles – brake and clutch reservoirs, possibly a rear-view mirror, and looks like carbon slip-ons.
At 7,800 miles, this is a very low mileage Guzzi, but there is not much info regarding the mechanical history. I would like to have a talk with the seller about what has been done to the bike. The paint scheme does not appear all original. While it appears to be professionally done, I have never seen a two-tone paint job like this. Usually the tank, seat and fenders are all matching. The greenish hue of these bikes can be polarizing, to say the least.
But, the bike does look clean. You won’t be leaving your Ducati buddies in the dust, but if your tastes turn to offbeat Italians with style, this could be for you.
You can find this V11 Sport for sale in Lawrenceville, Georgia (just east of Atlanta) here on Craigslist for $4,900.