[cycleworld.com] - 2024 Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten First Look

[Ninjette Newsbot]

Moto Guzzi’s V7 has been key to the brand’s success; now to celebrate 10 years of the Guzzi owners’ club there’s a new V7 variant: the 2024 V7 Stone Ten.

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Moto Guzzi’s 2024 V7 Stone Ten celebrates 10 years of its owners group: The Clan. (Moto Guzzi/)Piaggio acquired Moto Guzzi in 2003 and at EICMA 2007 introduced the first model of the new generation, the V7 Classic, powered by the Moto Guzzi small block displacing 744cc that was updated by Piaggio. The bike looked lean, elegant, and classic indeed, thanks to the adoption of a fuel tank that appeared to be transplanted from the legendary Moto Guzzi V7 Sport. The styling and the graphics were highly appealing for the worldwide community of ever faithful Guzzisti, but at 43 real horsepower the performance level was less appealing.

The original V7 Classic, in addition to the very nice styling and graphics, had another strong point, particularly on the local market: a very competitive price. The two factors granted the V7 Classic a small niche on the market that slowly grew through the years along with the evolution of the model and its variations. At that time the V7 and derivatives had conquered a much larger share of the market and in Italy its sales were second only to the Harley-Davidson’s XL883 and 1200.


The V7 Stone Ten is powered by Guzzi’s venerable small block engine. (Moto Guzzi/)Moto Guzzi forged forward with the V7 II and V7 III series, giving a harder competition to the Milwaukee small block wonder. The evolution to the hemi head gave that needed boost to the Moto Guzzi small block, in association with the displacement enlarged to 853cc for the V9 version. The V9 models were a bit of a styling flop, but the engine proved solid and in 2021 came the V85 TT revolution. V85 TT was a completely new model developed to respond to the growing success of the adventure class bikes. It fitted very credibly in the medium-displacement class thanks to its solid 80 hp at 7,750 rpm and 59 lb.-ft. of peak torque at a mere 5,000 rpm. The power unit was very competently harnessed in a new chassis that proved very competent both on the road and on the dirt. The Moto Guzzi V85 TT boosted the image of the Moto Guzzi small block V2 and created great expectations among the Guzzisti for a more powerful, sportier version of the V7 tourer.

That came at the end of 2021, when Moto Guzzi released the new V9 unit that is the general-purpose evolution of the V85 TT—less powerful, but more accessible. Smaller valves, smaller throttle body, milder cam timing brought the power down to 65 hp at a very moderate 6,800 rpm with 53.8 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 5,000 rpm, definitely a meaningful improvement over the previous V9 edition.


A special Arrow exhaust increases horsepower and torque on the V7 Stone Ten. (Moto Guzzi/)Today the range of Moto Guzzi’s V7 Stone offers a choice of stylish bikes with adequate power for all-around riding pleasure, from town to mountain roads, with a solid but friendly power delivery and traditional Moto Guzzi super-reliability. Harley’s 883 and 1200 are no longer, and the Moto Guzzi V7 is the bestselling 750cc-plus bike in Italy.

To support the Guzzisti brotherhood, and the Moto Guzzi V7 in the process, in 2014 Moto Guzzi created The Clan. This worldwide club has been successful creating a generation of passionate new Guzzisti who have connected, exchanged experiences, planned rallies, and gone on mass trips. Ten years later, The Clan has grown to 50,000 members and Moto Guzzi has created a special edition of the V7 Stone to celebrate the milestone: the 2024 Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten.


Special paint such as the checkers on the tank set the V7 Stone Ten apart. (Moto Guzzi/)This graphics of the new edition of the V7 Stone possibly is the most elegant and spirited with the top of the tank featuring a longitudinally split treatment with a black-and-white checkered band on the right and a glossy black on the left, the whole surrounded by red pinstriping. The tank sides are painted glossy white, with the Mandello Eagle in red. To underline the sporting spirit of the V7 Stone Ten, the shock absorbers have red coil springs, while the seat trim features contrasting red stitching. To make the V7 Stone Ten even more distinctive, the rearview mirrors are of the bar-end type, for a cleaner front top line. Red Moto Guzzi logo is painted on the wheel rims, while the valve covers are painted graphite gray. Each unit of this very special edition is identified by a plate on the handlebar clamp.


A plate on the handlebar clamp is an unmistakable identifier of the V7 Stone Ten. (Moto Guzzi/)From the technical point of view, the adoption of a special Arrow exhaust system increases peak power to a claimed 66.5 hp at 6,700 rpm and peak torque rises to 55.3 lb.-ft. at 4,900 rpm. It also of course adds a deeper note to the exhaust.

The new Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten will be available in the Moto Guzzi dealer network from April 2024 at a price of $9,990 in USA and $12,290 in Canada plus road tax and registration.