Friday bike

Sometimes the Friday bike is something I've seen, or something I remembered, or just something that I found on the Web. This weeks' I found when searching YouTube for videos about touring in the Alps, and this turned up.

Two riders in Austria with Moto Guzzi Nuovo Falcones, this weeks Friday bike.

The Nuovo Falcone (New Falcon) was built from 1971 to 1976, and is basically a reworking of the older 'Falcone' model. (Nowadays they would say 'reimagined!') It was a fairly low powered 500cc single with a distinctive horizontal cylinder, stacked silencers and a truly huge flywheel casing. Many were used by the Italian Police and Army before being sold off.

See what I mean about the flywheel! However, I think it's a very smart and 'balanced' looking bike, and I love the single saddle and mudguard mounted luggage rack.

Not sure about the silencer, and note how civilian (and civilianised military) bikes had a rather precariously positioned pillion saddle in place of the rack.

It was not one of Moto Guzzi's successes, and even Guzzi enthusiasts don't rate them highly, but I think they've got a rather 'chunky' style. Examples occasionally come up for sale.

This example is on  Ebay at the moment (at a rather silly price!)

Some websites with more details: one, two, three, and here's a video of an owner starting his. Listen to how slow the tickover is, heavy flywheels have their advantages!

Note comment from owner: Cruising speed is 80 km/h. It is possible to ride faster (100-110 km/h) but it is not very comfortable then. Top Speed is 125 km/h approx. (80 km/h = 50 mph, 125 km/h = 78 mph) .