 Motomodif: Mandello del Lario – It’s sure: 2006 is the year of Moto Guzzi. Lots of news and satisfactions for a brand proudly made in Italy. The last born under silver eagle’s wing is the Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport, a big bad naked with a racing spirit.
Looks like Breva, but it’s a whole different thing…
The new 1200 Sport looks pretty similar to appreciated Moto Guzzi Breva, but it’s a whole different bike: riding position, engine’s reactions and feelings on the street are more direct and dynamic. Looking the bike’s design you may think it’s a sporty kit mounted on Breva… well, getting closer to the bike you’ll notice that all details changed. The engine is always there, the legendary 90° V2 adjourned to be faster and more reactive than ever. The 1151 cc engine puts out a maximum of over 70 kW (95 CV) at 7,800 rpm with maximum torque of over 100 Nm at 5,800 rpm.
In other words, the legendary Moto Guzzi torque combined with evenly distributed power for satisfying fun riding whether on the motorway or through Alpine valleys.
Great attention has been paid to the air intake system that has been perfected with the addition of a special high performance filter. Intake and exhaust ducts have been further improved to increase the speed of gas flow and make the engine more responsive. ECU mapping has been programmed for sports use and offers a wider band of usable engine power. Starting, regardless of weather condition, has been facilitated by fitting electronic injection with a stepper motor that also guarantees perfect idling. Power output is hefty but smooth while emissions and fuel consumption are low and well within Euro 3 standards.
Performance is further enhanced by other technical additions like twin spark ignitions and having the injectors positioned directly over the inlet manifolds near the valves.
The alternator is between the cylinders. This makes the engine more compact and also offers significant advantages in terms of control and overall ridability. Lightened conrods, pistons and pistons rings help reduce weight and sintered valve guides improve smoothness and increased resistance to wear and tear. Other solutions have been put in place to improve lubrication: the oil pump has a higher flow rate and is more efficient; the cylinder head has a small hole that allows oil to be injected directly on to the exhaust valve; the crankase and the sump and heads have been modified to facilitate oil flow.
For those wanting the maximum from their 1200 Sports, Moto Guzzi has designed a track kit with redesigned hand-polished air ducts, the removal of the air filter box, the fitting of a special racing exhaust and a remapped ECU. This kit improves overall performance and improves the compression ratio.
Power is transmitted to the rear wheel via the CA.R.C. system (the Moto Guzzi patented “reactive” shaft drive). This transmission system that is an integral part of the light aluminium alloy rear swinging arm always offers a smooth precise response with none of the jerks that is so typical of shaft drive systems. The anti-shaft effect has also been got rid of and the particular CA.R.C. layout has allowed a one piece rear swinging arm to be fitted that adds to overall rigidity.
It works good!
New Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport test ride was an amazing experience: it’s powerful, with a great torque and agile like the best competitors. The handling of the 1200 Sport has a secret ingredient: the precision put into perfecting frame/suspension set-up. The high-tensile steel chassis is very rigid and together with aluminium single-arm forms a one-piece section housing the “reactive” shaft drive. The engine responds instantly to the rider’s requests and does exactly what it is asked. You will have a lot of fun running on a hill street, that’s sure. When being hard, the suspension provides impeccable handling and is always predictable. The machine goes round bends on invisible rails thanks to the fully adjustable 45 mm forks.
On exit, rear suspension provides perfect stability thanks to the progressive action single arm and fully adjustable shock absorber. Moto Guzzi’s patented “reactive” shaft drive looks changes in rear set-up that are typical of traditional shaft drives. The brakes soon take care bursts of acceleration with twin 320 mm discs and four piston calipers at the and a 298 mm rear disc with two floating parallel pistons. For those of you that ride all round in all weather, Moto Guzzi also offers an ABS version with traditional front discs. We tested that Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport is quite comfortable for the passenger too: it’s hard to find an aggressive naked that make possible to afford a medium range trip with a friend. It’s a pleasure to ride this new Moto Guzzi… it’s easy to control but offers great performances, making you never won’t to step down and turn off it’s unique engine.
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