Mechanically it has many driveline features that are more like a car than a motorcycle. The engine crankshaft is parallel to the long axis of the machine, and drives a car-like clutch, gearbox, and drive shaft. It has a 17 lb. flywheel, reputedly because the Italian police like to go very slowly in parades! It has a car-like ignition and distributor. Electric starting is by a 12V Bosch starter motor that could be on a small car engine, and has a starter solenoid like car starters. In between the two cylinders, high up, sits a belt-driven Bosch generator (dynamo) that looks just like one from a Volkswagen, and the 12V battery is probably physically larger and has twice the voltage that many VW bugs had. The double-ended shifter can be operated by both heel and toe. The wheels have elegant alloy rims by Borrani, the same company that makes Ferrari wheels. It has large drum brakes front and rear.
For a while, around the time this machine was built, V-750 and V-850 Moto Guzzis were used by the Los Angeles Police Dept., the California Highway Patrol, and various other American police departments. In this role they replaced Harleys, and it seems that today this is one of the few "other" bikes that riders of Harleys will acknowledge. When I visited Italy recently, the police there are still making almost exclusive use of Moto Guzzi machines in their work, and as a result you see them everywhere. The only other police bike you will see there is the BMW R-1100 RT as used to some extent by the Carabinieri, an elite military style police force. In Italy, Moto Guzzis seem to occupy a similar position to Harley in the USA as a heavy domestic cruiser made by an old established company. As far as I could tell they do not seem to have the subculture of "bikers" that we have. Of course there are much newer machines now, but even on the most modern models Guzzi has still stuck with the same style of engine and driveline that you see on this old Eldorado. It's a very robust design!
This machine traces its ancestry to a 3 wheeled, 3 wheel drive military tractor that the Italian government had built in the early 60s, which used a similar motor. In the mid sixties the Italian government sponsored a contest to create a new police machine to replace the Moto Guzzi Falcone 500s they had used for years. This contest was based on very vague specifications for things like "minimal service for 100,000 km". Many companies entered the competition, but Moto Guzzi blew them all away with a new and radical design and a newly designed V-twin motor and thus the V-7 (700cc) was born. The model you see here is a similar-looking but somewhat updated version of the V-7, with a larger size engine with a ribbed case, 5 speeds ("cinque marche") instead of 4, a different rear end, and other mechanical differences. Cycle parts and body work were almost identical. All these early machines had a "loop style" heavy frame, which was later much redesigned to improve performance-- one of the products of this redesign was the famous V-7 Sport, probably the most collectible Guzzi.
On my trip to Italy I visited the Moto Guzzi factory in the town of Mandello del Lario on Lake Como in northern Italy. I got a nice surprise discovering the wonderful area of Lake Como. A long narrow lake shaped like an upside down "Y", it is surrounded by beautiful scenery and lovely towns. Menaggio, Belaggio, and Varenna were all wonderful to visit, and the ferry boat service makes it easy to get around and across the lake. Near the bottom two ends of the "Y" are Como and Lecco, two larger towns.
I made two visits to the factory, the first to see the museum and the second a tour of the factory where they have been building Moto Guzzi machines since 1923. The museum was an amazing collection of examples of all their models, plus experimental one-offs, a whole room of engines, and more. The tour showed a very modern factory layered on top of an antique facility, and I got to see things such as their famous wind tunnel. At the in-factory test track I was offered the chance to drive a brand new V-11 Sport around the track. This was a very cool feeling! In the factory service shop ("Assistenza Clienti") the men working there rummaged around in their many cabinets of literature and gave me a priceless factory parts book for my machine! It was just one more example of the generous spirit and passionate enthusiasm of the Italians in every aspect of life!
By chance I met up with a local motorcycle club Moto Club Erba, who were having a rally and show, and ended up showered with gifts again. I was also able to visit Hubertus and Barbara Escher from Germany, who have a business (see below) selling Guzzi bikes, parts, and accessories, and have a house in the village of Dorio on Lake Como.
