Moto Guzzi V7 Sport Telaio Rosso
Moto Borgotaro in collaboration with Union Garage NYC put on a one-day motorcycle event in Brooklyn, NY showcasing some of the best examples of the original Italian sporting bikes of the 1970's.
Moto Guzzi V7 Sport Telaio Rosso
This very first 150 V7 Sports issued by Moto Guzzi came with striking lime green bodywork and frame highlighted with a bright red paint job. Love or hate the color combo, the Telaio Rosso was deliberately hard to miss.
Get down close to that bright red frame and give it a good flick and the thin-walled chromoly frame tube will ring several octaves above that of the heavy mild steel tubing used in later regular production series. The other differences are harder to discern—polished and balanced internals, ported heads, and a modified 4-speed box specially outfitted with 5-speed internals. But why would Guzzi sink so much money into hand-building the first 150 production bikes?
Because you only get one first impression, so Guzzi stacked the deck. These precious first few examples would go to factory racers and to importers and magazines for review.
Besides, Ducati in 1970 had released its own exciting new 750 twin, and fast-tracking the first run of V7 Sports let Guzzi steal some of the spotlight back from its southern neighbor
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID GENAT & JAMES TYLER REED