Beemer and guzzi twins?? advice sought

[fryske]

Anyone ever owned a beemer or guzzi twin - I 've been thinking about getting one - I'm specifically looking at 70's / 80's old style boxers or guzzi v35 / v50 etc

Anything peculiar to these bikes that I should watch out for??

Are guzzi's really as unreliable and babdly made as people make out?

Are older beemers really worth the dosh that people are asking for them??

cheers

[bimsb6]

i've had several bm's and guzzi's still have a soft spot for guzzi's
they are however an acquired taste .old guzzi electrics are a bit ropey
were when new so god knows what they would be like 20 years on .bm's
are very well built paint finish especialy ,they do however have a boring reputation .

[Guzzi Steve]

Old Guzzi's are great bikes.But do take into account V35/50's are mostly all well over 20years old now.So how good the bike is ,will mainly be down to the previous owner/s.Mechanically the small block V35/50's aren't as strong as the bigger 850/1000's.V50's do need the valves changing at around 50k to avoid valve breakage.Electically most old Guzzi's use Bosch components,just like BMW.It's the connectors,that tend to corrode & fail.That's where most of the problems arise in my experience.They are good bikes.I have ridden my MK2 LeMans for over six years now,& I wouldn't part with it.They are great bikes,with soul,& character.

>> Edited by Guzzi Steve on Saturday 19th November 22:36

[braemarblue]

Got a 1981 Mk 2 LeMans(45,000 miles), a 1990 California 3(50,000 miles) and a 1999 Daytona RS(8000 miles). All Guzzi and all owned from new.

The problems really are:

The LeMans Bosch alternator is c**p(probably the same as the old V35 and V50?) and breaks the rotor or the brushes. The rest of the bike has never fails apart from the odd cable. Greatr fun and would never sell. The bores were knackered at 40,000 so new pistons, barrells etc. Probably caused by running on rubbish Catsrol GTX in the 80's.
The Californian kept breaking throttle and clutch cables when new but better cables and rerouting slightly the clutch cable cured that. Run on 20/50 synthetic oil.
Daytone - the relays are siemanns and need to be replaced with bosch ones. Otherwise great.

Thats it reaaly - all great fun and no chains to fiddle with! And no depreciation.