Moto Guzzi has a very loyal following for this stylish Italian motorcycle manufacturer. Technically speaking, the V7 Café Classic differs from its Tourer sister in having twin raised silencers that, apart from increasing ground clearance, provide a sportier exhaust note more suited to this model that, like its famed predecessor, boasts exceptional road-holding. The key to this legendary road-holding lies in its twin cradle frame with removable bolt-on lower components. Travel on the front suspension is 130 mm and works in combination with two adjustable rear shock absorbers with 118 mm travel. Braking is looked after by a 320 mm floating disc at the front and a 260 mm disc at the rear.
Like the first fluttering skirts of a Roman spring, Moto Guzzi's alluringly sleek V7 Café Classic intends to provoke a riot of impure thoughts along the Eternal City's cobblestoned streets.
Essaying Moto Guzzi's hallowed V7 Sport, which helped to vault the storied Italian marque out of a thorny patch in 1971, the Café Classic squeezes the Northern Italian heritage gland while managing to look entirely capable of fulfilling modern performance expectations.
Settle into the comfortable bullet seat and it becomes clear that full, upright mirrors clash with the sexy, café-racing spirit of this bike, especially when contrasted against the smart instrumentation and elegant, aero-inspired filler cap.
The engine's phlegmatic character, combined with the bike's lightweight tractability, low seat and moderate, wrist-friendly bars are further indications that Moto Guzzi is positioning the Café Classic as a racy-looking, albeit non-intimidating, lure to new riders.
By investing the Café Classic with a reasonably potent midrange and ample ground clearance, Guzzi has likewise crafted a bike that riders can grow into. The nearly flickable machine handles bends well, abetted by the firm Marzocchi 40mm fork and preload-adjustable twin rear shocks.
The Café Classic feels remarkably locked in as you push back against the bum-stop seat and lean it over. While the Café Classic's urbanized character shines within city limits, it is decidedly less at home on the highway.
Now Guzzi has borrowed more styling cues from its history and created the V7 Café Classic, which is, as its name suggests, a café-racer version of the basic Sixties/Seventies look that inspired the Classic. The differences between the Café and the standard Classic are purely cosmetic, including proper clip-on-type handlebars and upward sweeping silencers.
Other neat touches include wire-spoked wheels, plenty of chrome, Seventies-type horn covers, old-fashioned instrument styling and a classic Guzzi lime-green paint job.