Yes, it’s true. I don’t do clickbait. My Moto Guzzi V7 is sold, because I bought a Harley-Davidson Sportster Iron 1200.

But while I was wallowing in self-loathing, I realized something: These motorcycles have lot more in common then you might think. I know a lot of you guys love the V7, so while I still have it here, let’s talk about the Sportster and the V7’s:

• Similarities
• Differences
• Strengths
• Weaknesses

I think if you’re considering buying either Moto Guzzi V7, or the Harley-Davidson Sportster, you might also want to consider, or at least know a little bit about the other.

The Fight

We’re going to judge this like it’s a boxing match. At the end I’ll tell you who I think won, and you can join the conversation in the comments section here or on YouTube and tell me who you think won.

In this corner, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, weighing in at 564 lbs, with a record of 5,000 miles, my 2019 Harley-Davidson Iron 1200. And in this corner, weighing in at 435 lbs, with a record of 9,000 miles, my best mid-size retro motorcycle series champion, the 2013 Moto Guzzi V7.

Right away I’m awarding 1 point to the Guzzi for being 130 lbs lighter. The Sportster doesn’t feel heavy when you’re riding, due to a low center of gravity, but we’re still talking about a 30% weight difference over the V7, that’s a lot.

Harley: 0 – Guzzi: 1

But, I’m also going to award 1 point to the Harley for being six years newer, and having almost half the miles.

Harley: 1 – Guzzi: 1

Before we go any further, I’ll be mentioning a lot of mods that I did to these bikes and letting you know what each mod cost. But those prices are already included in these totals: I got roughly $3,100 US for the V7, and I spent roughly $3,400 US for the Sportster. That’s a point for the Guzzi.

Harley: 1 – Guzzi: 2

When it comes to the heritage of these motorcycles, they’re both well-established. The first Sportster came out in 1957, and the first V7 came out in 1967. I’m awarding 1 point to each.

Harley: 2 – Guzzi: 3

Both the V7 and Iron 1200 are torquey, fun, unique, V-Twin motorcycles. They’re raw, brutish, and when you ride one, you’ll feel like you’re riding a piece of unrefined motorcycle history, and that’s just the way we like them. So they get 1 point to each for fun factor.

Harley: 3 – Guzzi: 4

The motors really are what make these motorcycles worth it, and while they both impress me, the V7’s 744cc makes about 50 hp and 43 ft lbs of torque, but the Sportster Iron’s 1,202cc makes about 67 hp and 71 ft lbs. And it’s not that the V7 feels slow, because of the torque it feels quick in the city, until you get on a cruiser with 60% more displacement. I’m scoring 1 point for the Harley.

Harley: 4 – Guzzi: 4

Speaking of inner city commuting, both motorcycles are air cooled which can get a little hot if you get stuck in traffic in the summer, especially the Sportster, with the rear cylinder right under you. The V7’s taller seat height also helps a bit in traffic, and you get longer suspension, which we’ll talk about later, so I’ll give 1 point to the V7.

Harley: 4 – Guzzi: 5

What about riding year round? Well, the V7 is not happy getting fired up and warming up in the cold. The Sportster on the other hand, seems relatively unphased by it in comparison. Plus, all of that heat from that back cylinder is welcome on a cold day. Point: Harley.

Harley: 5 – Guzzi: 5

When it comes to technology, there isn’t much to talk about. Both motorcycles are fuel injected but lack ride modes, traction control, or even ABS, and I’m totally okay with that, but I can’t award points to either motorcycle here.

Harley: 5 – Guzzi: 5

The seat height on the Sportster is about 30”, compared to about 31.7” for the V7. The V7 comfort was okay but I find the pegs a bit too high. That’s something they changed in later generations of the V7. My Sportster on the other hand came with mid controls which were terribly uncomfortable at around 5’11”.

Luckily for about $100 USD I bought forward controls for the Harley, which moved my feet about 6” forward. The Guzzi started better with the taller seat height, so I’ll give it 1 point. But the forward controls on the Sportster are a big comfort improvement, so that’s 1 point for the Harley too.

Harley: 6 – Guzzi: 6

Speaking of improvements, just a little side-note to point out, that my generation of V7 is the V7 I, since mine came out, Moto Guzzi launched an upgraded V7 II, then an upgraded V7 III, and the current generation, the V7 850, so throughout this video just remember that we’re not talking about your brand new V7, we’re talking about mine from three generations back.

Hi by the way, I’m Adrian from YouMotorcycle, I make videos that help motorcyclists, and I’ve made a bunch of videos on Sportsters and V7s over the years, so if you want to see more videos on these motorcycles please hit the Like button and consider subscribing.

How about comfort when riding with a passenger? Well, it’s another case of the Moto Guzzi being stuck as it is, while the Sportster can be easily modified. The V7’s seat isn’t very long, and it’s pretty flat, so it feels cramped when riding with a passenger on the back.

The Sportster ships with no passenger pegs or even a back seat for a passenger. For about $100 you can get passenger pegs and a backrest, and for another $100 I got a used Harley-Davidson seat upgrade, and we’ll both be a lot more comfortable, so that’s 1 point for the Harley.

Harley: 7 – Guzzi: 6

For suspension, the V7 is once again better right out of the gate. The suspension isn’t amazing, but it’s much better than the Sportster’s terrible stock suspension. Luckily swapping out rear shocks is a common mod, so I was able to find some Progressive Suspension used shocks locally for about $175 US. Now I’ll give them both a point.

Harley: 8 – Guzzi: 7

Despite the V7 being the lesser powered motorcycle, it’s equipped with better braking components like standard braided brake lines and Brembo brake calipers. The Sportster gets neither. One point for the V7.

Harley: 8 – Guzzi: 8

For overall fit and finish, I have no complaints with either motorcycle, and both are holding up their finishes well over time. 1 point for each.

Harley: 9 – Guzzi: 9

When it comes to highway performance, once again the V7 starts off strong. But obviously the V7 is greatly outmatched here.

However, right out of the box, the V7 feels a little more stable on the highway the Iron 1200.  V7’s power should have it trying to keep up with an 883 Sportster more than a 1,200, but even though it has less power, but you feel more stable on it. The mid controls and the Sportster’s skinny peanut tank make it difficult to wrap your legs around the motorcycle tightly for control. Instead I felt like my skinny knees were flailing in the wind.

However, once I put forward controls on the Iron 1200, I got more leverage on the motorcycle, and despite the tank being too skinny to grip, and the air box sticking one leg far out of the way, I felt much more in control of the motorcycle at high speed.

The Sportster family also comes with a ton of touring oriented options, new or used, easily available, and from very expensive down to very cheap. The V7 does not have nearly as many options, and whatever you do find, you’re usually stuck paying the brand new price for it. So, 1 point for the Sportster.

Harley: 10 – Guzzi: 9

Reliability and maintenance seems like a toss up. Neither motorcycle has given me issues and they each have different strengths and weaknesses.

The Sportster’s belt drive is relatively maintenance free, until it eventually needs adjustment or replacing one day. But the V7’s shaft drive only needs a fluid changed every two years.

Oil changes are arguably easier on the Sportster because you have no drain plug, just a little stopper to pull out, but you do have to change your transmission oil too. On the V7, you have two drain plugs, one weird filler cap, and the gear oil to change every two years, but no separate transmission oil to change like the Harley.

Basically they’re both derived from old motors and do things a little different, but both motorcycles are easy to work on, so I’m giving each one a point.

Harley: 11 – Guzzi: 10

Almost done. Here’s something people don’t often think about: Dealer and service support. Most people watching this are going to be in the United States, and have one, or two, or five Harley-Davidson dealers a lot closer to you than your nearest Moto Guzzi dealer. You’re probably also going to have Harley-Davidson specialty shops a lot closer to you than your nearest Moto Guzzi specialist.

By some weird twist of fate, my nearest Moto Guzzi dealership is Studio Cycle, the dealership I started working at out of school, and they’re only 15 minutes away, and the nearest Moto Guzzi independent specialist is Carlo at Moto Motori, and he’s about half an hour away. So somehow I probably get better and friendlier Moto Guzzi support, but I know I’m going to be the exception to that. So, for me, I’m scoring a point for Moto Guzzi, but if you’re keeping score yourself you might give one to Harley instead.

Harley: 11 – Guzzi: 11

And of course, in my comparisons, I research the prices and wait times of some of the most commonly replaced parts for you guys. Please hit that Like button if you’ve ever had to replace any of these parts.

	Moto Guzzi	Time	Harley-Davidson	Time
Clutch lever	54	7-10 days	38	7-10 days
Handlebar	83	7-10 days	113	7-10 days
Front brake lever	20	Today	46	7-10 days
Foot brake pedal	43	2 weeks	195	7-10 days
Shifter pedal	164	3-4 weeks	114	7-10 days

That’s $364 for the Moto Guzzi parts, compared to $506 for the Harley-Davidson parts, and on average an 11 day wait for the Moto Guzzi part compared to a 8.5 day wait for the Harley-Davidson part.

Neither of these companies have a warehouse in Canada, so all of my parts go from whatever country of origin, through customs to the United States, and then through customs again to me, which drives up the price I pay, and the wait time too, so if you’re already in the US, things will look different for you, but I’m giving 0 points to both companies for this.

Harley: 11 – Guzzi: 11

And the last thing I want to compare is the sound. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the Moto Guzzi V7 might just be one of the best sounding motorcycle from factory. Mine sounds even better because it has Mistral exhaust pipes on it.

But one of the upgrades that I did on the Sportster was put some aftermarket Screamin’ Eagle exhausts on it for about $210 US. And when you pair that up with the low idle at around 950 to 1,050 rpm on the Harley, versus about 1,300 rpm on V7, both bikes sound better than most, but I have to give this to the Harley.

1 point for the Harley.

Harley: 12 – Guzzi: 11

The Scorecard

And then there’s one more, kind of personal reason why I like the Harley better, but that’s worth turning into its own separate video, and it wouldn’t apply to you guys anyway, so which one do you think is better?

I score this fight at 12 to 11 for the Harley. What about you?

The way I see it, the V7 is the better motorcycle right out of the box. However, spending about $500 on locally available premium used parts, and cheap online new parts, really transformed my Iron 1200 and made up for it’s weaknesses.

The V7’s a great motorcycle. I’ve loved having it for the past year and a half. I wasn’t looking to get a Harley or to sell the V7. I still think the V7 was a better mid-size retro motorcycle for me than my Bonneville or my Interceptor, but this Iron 1200 just came up at a price that was too good to turn down.

See, I can’t make my V7 have a bigger frame, or make more power, or be better with a passenger, and those are my biggest issues with it.

But I can get a lot of that same rough, raw, old school charm and character and riding experience out of my Sportster. Foot positioning, rear suspension, exhaust sound, and passenger comfort are my biggest issues with the Iron 1200, but those are all things that I’ve been able to fix for relatively cheap.

With the V7 I was working around the motorcycle’s limitations, but with the Iron 1200, I’ve got a motorcycle that I’m customizing to my specifications.

So, I score this fight in favor of the Harley, but you be the judges, let me know if you score this fight the same way or not. I’d love to hear what you guys think in the comments.

And keep in mind, my generation of V7 is the V7 I from 2013, then the V7 II came out with improvements, then the V7 III with even more upgrades, and now we have the V7 850cc, which is the best one yet

If you made it to the end of the video, thank you so much for hanging out with me, please let me know your thoughts. I’m Adrian, ride safe, but have fun.