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Making my Moto Guzzi V7 850 mine.

Kildareman

Kildareman

Active member
Joined
Feb 10, 2022
Member Number
586
Posts
44
Location
Ireland
I've had my Centenario since September 2021. Bought second hand! My previous bike was a Tiger 800 I'd had for 10.5 years. Time for a change.
I had boxes arriving befor I even took possession of the Centenario.

First change was probably the reason the 1st owner couldn't get on with the MG - The hiccup. Initially I thought I was running out of fuel but on filling up I only managed to put 10 litres in it so I was pretty sure I knew the source of the issue. I collected the Centenario on a work day so on returning to work I whipped the left side panel off and made a couple of cuts. One M8 bolt later and I was finished. Going home in the evening and the hiccup was gone and the Centenario was a tiny bit lighter.

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Day 1
 
One of those boxes sitting at home came from TLM in the Netherlands.

I found on sitting on the Centenario that for me it was too upright.

So MGs own flatter sports bar

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Minor issue though was my gate post getting in the way, along with car with the sports bar only clearing the gate post with a complicated wiggle.

SW Motech 15mm risers solved this issue but it meant having to put the original bars back on until they arroved.

The sports bars fitted with bar end weights and my old CRG lane splitter mirrors on homemage adaptors

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Oh fitted the Mistral short exhausts as well (Another box arriving before the Centenario) - in satin finish with the cener stand bracket as well (you have to request it as an option from Mistral)
 
I bought the Satin Mistrals because I knew I wanted satin headers as well.

About an hour and a half of working on both sides, including the heat shields produced a reasonable result. Paint stripper failed. Wet and dry is the way to go.

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Found a couple of items that I really liked the look of from Baak. Typically these purchases are a bit of a leap of faith, doesn't matter how many photos there are. Thankfully though I wasn't disappointed.

Replacing the rear mudguard:

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The MG original being twice the weight of the Baak. Buy more importantly to me was the rear now gels with the rest of the bike.

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Second item was the fuel cap. Nothing wrong with MG cap but I found it a bit of a faff to unlock and then find somewhere to put it while I filled up.
I even tried a stop gap of an MG cap without the lock, but still the issue of placing the cap somewhere.

So the Baak Monza cap was for me the perfect alternative. Easy to fit, looks good and works.

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Fast forward a few "improvements"

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I changed the Baak rear light to a Motone Eldorado light - both are LED, but the Eldorado is larger and I think better made.
I found Unit Garage pannier racks and bags. The racks without bags are very unobtrusive and suit the bike. I didn't go for a heritage bag but the Khali bags.
I like the way they sit

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The biggest change though has been replacing the rear shocks. These are EMC units - Twin Alu with preload and rebound damping. Look good and improve the rebound of the rear end.
 
Tyres: Fitted Bridgestone BT32 front & rear - the front with the bigger aspect 110/80. With the original tyres the front especially felt very strange, not smooth side to side at all. Te Dunlop had a bit of a triangular profile in the 100/90. Going 110/80 has a smoother transition and inspires confidence.

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Did a long day, 502km and 5 photo rally points

Irish Photo Rally

irishphotorally.ie irishphotorally.ie

Decided to fit the moto guzzi screen as although the LSF Garage flyscreen looks great after some time at 120km/hr in 1 degree Celsius (feels like -10 or so) I thought a little less wind blast would be good.


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And quick riding conclusion. It works.

It also looks good and is really well made. The brackets are silky powercoated and the screen itself is nice and thick. There is no movement at speed.
 
I've been deciding whether to get a rear rack after my debacle with trying to fit Givi rack along with Unit Garage frames. Short answer is you can't. Correct rear rack now on order, as is some sato racing rearsets.

For info the V7 III and V7-850 have the same footpeg hangers and I eventually found the Sato racing reference, confusingly (for me anyway) babyface.co.jp


So now I have to wait patiently. I'm not know for that!!
 
Have now fitted the Unit Garage rear rack. It's as well made as the pannier racks and as strong as it needs to be without going full on overkill (Givi).

The Sato rear sets have been dispatched from Japan. Suspect the original hold was for the hydraulic brake switch and they arrived earlier than expected so kits are shipping. Patience is a virtue grasshopper!!

Anyone interested in an LFS Garage "Sport Cup" fly screen? Have changed to the MG screen. I added a MG eagle to it.

LFS garage.jpeg
 
Rear sets arrived. Woohoo. Google translate works double WooHoo

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Didn't include hydraulic brake switch in photo but can confirm you get one. Will have to either snip existing leads for MG switch or extend Sato switch wires. Will go with the latter I think.
 
Left hand side fitted.

Original footpeg location between mounting points left of centre.

Some MG parts are reused, bolts etc. The ball joint is reused and switched from inside to outside. I need to ride but am happy with the gear change position. Sitting on the 850 with one foot forward and one back feels strange! Happy with the position though.
Got mine from Webike in Japan so get Babyface logo on mine & not Sato racing (for western markets)
My Japanese is non-existent so I spent some time identifying all parts while still in the wrapper - see photo above. Once that was done it was all relatively simple.

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Right side fitted. Need to fit the hydraulic brake switch at the weekend. Very straight forward though.

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First ride and I realise I need to lower the gear change lever 1/2 to 1 turn of the adjuster oh and use the correct hole (upper) for the connecting bolt.
 
MrWellAdjusted said:
Love this bike. Paint bits and pieces silver to match the tank?
Click to expand...
I de-blacked the headers and heat shield. Was going to go with unpainted alu for the rear sets but thought no. Whats black becomes bright & bright black. Either that or I ticked the "wrong" box when ordering. :D
 
New left hand switch cluster on order - warranty, as the light switch, while it works, has lost it distinct 3 positions. No click.
 
Not really anything to do with making the Centenario mine but I started thread so I'll continue with it.

Checked and adjusted valves today at 8,500km. Just because I can. And I used a totally unnecessary tool but it does make things slightly easier. All valves were tight. Intakes at less than 0.1mm, maybe 0.095 and exhaust less than 0.15mm, maybe 0.145. All now in specification.


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