Velocette Records

December 8, 2016

WHEN the covers of the Vanguard Roadster are removed at the New York Motorcycle Show on December 9, the moment will mark the launch not only of a new muscle bike, but also of a new brand with big ambitions. Vanguard is a bold startup that believes it can use the increasing digitization of manufacturing to ride with the pack of long-established bike companies, such as Honda, Yamaha, Harley-Davidson, BMW and others, who are ready to sell some 500,000 motorcycles. and scooters in America this year.

This may sound laughable. So far, Vanguard has built a grand total of one machine. At around $30,000, with a 1.9-liter V-twin engine, its price is top of the line (although well below the price of some superbikes, which can cost three times as much). But if Vanguard is successful, within a few years it will be selling several thousand motorcycles a year from a range of several different models.

What allows a startup to aim so high is how digital technologies reduce the cost of entry for manufacturing companies that were once considered the preserve of giants. This is especially the case in the long and expensive product development process. From sketches and clay models to component engineering and testing, it took an automaker five years or more to bring a new vehicle to market. It’s just as slow for bike manufacturers.

Some automakers can now do the job in just two, using three-dimensional computer-aided design, engineering and simulation systems. Indeed, the product – a car, motorcycle or even an airplane – exists in digital form where it can be sculpted and tested long before anything physical is built. It is also possible to simulate production methods.

This is the approach of Vanguard, created in 2013 by François-Xavier Terny, a former management consultant, and Edward Jacobs, a motorcycle designer. Despite the large producers’ lack of resources – at the moment the company has only a handful of employees – it used software (in this case Solidworks from Dassault Systèmes, a French company) to design a digital motorcycle before turning it into a real one. These systems benefit from falling prices and increasing performance in computing power. “We now have the same level of design and engineering tools as the big guys, which would have been impossible ten years ago,” Terny says.

Digital designs also give the company easier access to global suppliers who will offer the best prices for the parts they need. Design files can simply be emailed to a large network of engineering firms that offer their services online.

After road testing and further development is complete, production of the Roadster is expected to begin sometime in 2018 at a renovated industrial unit at Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City, which is now home to a number of manufacturing companies. This is another feature of how factories are changing rapidly: with digital engineering, cheaper automation and new production techniques such as 3D printing, it may be possible to speed up manufacturing in town centers.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Digital rider”

Get to know Moto Guzzi, who have been building some of the world’s most badass motorcycles for nearly a century.

MGX-21 (all photos courtesy of Moro Guzzi)

Few things become as haunting for motorcyclists as seeing a mint Moto Guzzi on the street. Although Guzzi’s have not always resonated with the market, Italy’s oldest motorcycles have always been distinctive, full of character and utterly unique. For superfans like Ewan MacGregor, who calls himself a “Guzzisti”, it’s a wonder that a brand with such a rich and dynamic narrative, studded with a lifetime of accolades, stays out of the public eye.

normal

Moto Guzzi was born on March 15, 1921 in Mandello del Lario, a small town on the shores of Lake Como where the company still has its headquarters. Owner and founder Emanuele Vittorio Parodi and his son, Giorgio, along with family friend Carlo Guzzi, helped create the brand’s first mass-produced motorcycle, the Moto Guzzi Normale, which had a single-cylinder engine producing a huge 8 horsepower. 2,065 examples of the Normale came out – not bad for a first try – followed by a slow but steady stream of bikes that included the 1928 GT 500 Norge, one of the first production motorcycles with rear suspension. Moto Guzzi also enjoyed success on the racetrack, with its lightweight grand prix motorcycles winning several world championships.

GT 500 Norway

World War II strangled motorcycle development, but at the end of the war Moto Guzzi made its way into the limelight by launching the Guzzino 65, also known as the Cardellino, which became the most popular bike. best-selling brand. But motorcycles were losing ground to scooters, like the venerable Vepsa, so Moto Guzzi tried to score with the scooter-looking Galletto in the early ’50s. It didn’t quite take off. With the decline in popularity of motorcycles in the 1950s, Moto Guzzi found itself in dire financial straits. The company withdrew from motorsport in 1957 and by 1964 Moto Guzzi was in serious money trouble.

Guzzino

In 1967, Società Esercizio Industrie Moto Meccaniche (SEIMM) took over the reins of Moto Guzzi, knowing that it would be difficult to make the company profitable again. At the same time, Moto Guzzi engineers were installing a V-8 engine, designed by employee Giulio Cesare Carcano for Moto Guzzi’s former racing program, in a production bike, the ’67 V7 700. The transverse V the air-cooled 90-degree-twin engine almost immediately became a hallmark and design hallmark of Moto Guzzi. In 1973, a company called De Tomaso bought SEIMM and, in turn, Moto Guzzi. Moto Guzzi started making money again and brought the iconic 850 Le Mans café racer to life, produced from 1975 to 1988.

Moto Guzzi evolved and grew, developing a stronger design language, implementing new mechanical systems and perfecting its distinctive longitudinal V-twin engines. But Moto Guzzi remained fully fledged under De Tomaso, and that didn’t change when Aprilia, another Italian motorcycle manufacturer, bought Moto Guzzi in 2000. It wasn’t until Piaggio Group bought Moto Guzzi in 2004. , 83 years after the release of Normal, let the brand have a chance to become a household name.

V7 Sports

New Moto Guzzi models began rolling out, each engaging and quirky in a way that appealed to some and repelled others. Riders were thrilled when the V7 returned in 2008, still powered by a 90-degree transverse V-twin engine, though it didn’t quite capture the appeal of its predecessor.

Yet it remains the best-selling model in Moto Guzzi’s nine-bike lineup. We are now seeing the fruits of a promise made by Piaggio in 2009 to invest more in Moto Guzzi, revamp its outdated Mandello del Lario factory and develop a more diverse product portfolio, which includes the recently released MGX-21, a big, black bagger who hopes to steal Harley-Davidson’s sales. But Moto Guzzi still hasn’t caught the attention of a new generation of bikers. Why ?

MGX-21

“With Moto Guzzi, we are now faced with what we call the ‘heritage brand dilemma,’” says Davide Zanolini, executive vice president of marketing and communications for the Piaggio Group. “Preserving decades of history and tradition, or changing to stay relevant in a rapidly changing market? Because relevance comes with change, heritage should not tell you where you are, but where to go next.

He continues: “Our biggest challenge is to make Moto Guzzi accessible and desired among younger generations of riders. The secret is a perfect combination of innovation and emotion, technology and soul, material and feeling. The means to that end are murky, but what is important here is that Piaggio clearly understands the predicament Moto Guzzi finds itself in and will work to bring the brand the attention it deserves, by feeding on a new school of Guzzisti.

“Over the next decade we want to see more young people riding Moto Guzzi,” says Zanolini. “More women and more enthusiastic riders are riding innovative and environmentally sustainable motorcycles that carry the authentic Moto Guzzi DNA.” Does that mean we’ll soon see an all-electric Moto Guzzi whizzing through the streets? “The Piaggio Group is extremely attentive to alternative motorizations, but at present, electric vehicle technologies are not yet at a stage of maturity that foresees a short-term application for the Moto Guzzi brand,” says Zanolini.

“The real solutions of the future are linked to the personalization of a motorcycle”, he says. “All Moto Guzzi are designed to be personalized according to the tastes and personality of the owner – a greater number of accessories, a flexible platform ready to be transformed on demand, the possibility of creating your own unique accessories.” Zanolini says Moto Guzzi will “look to the future without forgetting history and its past”, which is good since the future seems to be as fascinating as the brand’s tumultuous but intriguing past. Moto Guzzi could very well shake up the motorcycle world when it enters its second century of life, but it won’t be if the name Moto Guzzi means nothing to you. But I hope now it is.

Tags: Italy luxury motorcycles Moto Guzzi Rides

Most other satisfaction categories scored close across all brands, with handling being the other exception. Can-Am, with its distinctive three-wheeler, was rated as having average ride satisfaction, lower than all other brands. In our experience, Can-Am Spyders lack the natural agility associated with traditional motorcycles. That’s not a bad thing, but the driving experience is quite different. (The new Spyder F3 models aim to address some criticisms, increasing power and agility, and adding more adjustability for comfort.)

If you’re considering a big V-twin cruiser or touring bike, you’d be wise to take a Victory for a test drive. Victory not only excelled in owner satisfaction, but the company demonstrated high reliability, which puts it almost on par with major Japanese brands.

For a more diverse selection of models, Honda presents itself as a safe choice that performs well in both owner satisfaction and reliability.

Regardless of the brand, an important insight from our 11,000+ responding subscribers is that comfort matters. Be sure to focus on this factor during a test drive and, if necessary, explore handlebar and peg dial options to improve on the factory default setup. Many motorcycles, especially newer models, have extensive options for such adjustments.

Visit our motorcycle buying guide to see all of our reliability and owner satisfaction ratings.

—Jeff Bartlet