Moto Guzzi V 7 700

With the Ml Moto Guzzi had built a big, solid, reliable and comfortable touring machine with an incredibly flexible motor. At 700 cc, it was bigger than the R60 BMWs and also weighed more, at a 'heavy' 230-odd kg. It also cost $1500 at a time when an R60 sold for $1150 and a Triumph Bonneville asked $995.
The motor's muscles, along with the smoothness of the shaft drive, meant the Guzzi could be walked' in first gear with the clutch engaged, yet was good for more than 160 km/h and could cruise for hours at around that magic 'ton'. A heavy-duty chassis held everything in place and riders of the day praised the V7 for its high-speed handling. Perhaps the only shortcomings were the drum brakes which, despite their very large (230-mm plus) diameters, weren't as strong as they might have been for a big bike. Guzzi tried four-leading-shoe drums up front on later models before disc brakes took over.
Police models came standard with panniers and huge handlebar-mounted fairings. Private buyers could order these and other options with their V7s.

However, if the V7 established Guzzi's big twins, it also demonstrated quality lapses. The stands were less than ideal and the paint was below par, among other things. TWs first test bike had a broken speedo cable, the first of many broken test-Guzzi cables. Buyers found these things outweighed by the decidedly over-engineered robustness of the rest of their machines. As long as oil changes were frequent and regular - these early Guzzi twins had a relatively small sump and no oil filter - this was a bike which would easily last 100,000 km and more.
The V7 was made from 1967-70, before the first 757-cc V7 Special left the factory. The Special was even more oversquare in cylinder dimension, up three millimetres in the bore to 83 mm, with the same 70-mm stroke. This took power from about 38 kW to around 44. It also had a larger, more attractive tank.