Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Moto Guzzi Falcone is a motorcycle built by Moto Guzzi between 1950 and 1967. Born to replace the G.T.W. model. (which dated back to 1934), and presented at the 1950 Geneva Motor Show, the Falcone is the last of the Guzzis with the classic horizontal four-stroke single-cylinder engine of 500 cm³. The engine descends from the one created in 1921 with the "Normal": horizontal single-cylinder with rods and rocker arms of 500 cm³, with the "classic" bore and stroke measurements of the Mandello del Lario company, i.e. 88x82 mm. As regards the chassis, the frame is a double cradle closed in tubes while for the suspension at the front we find a telescopic fork and at the rear there is the classic system introduced in 1928 with the "Norge", i.e. oscillating swingarm with spring underneath the engine, assisted by two compass shock absorbers. The gearbox is a four-speed pedal-operated gearbox.
The Falcone is offered in a single version, which joins the Astore, already in the catalog since 1949, as the most high-performance model. Characteristic of this first version is the tank, all chromed with the exception of a red painted band. In 1952, due to difficulties in obtaining chrome, some details were burnished or painted. In 1953 the Falcone "doubled": the already existing version, renamed Sport, was joined by the Turismo, which was none other than the heir to the Astore. The two versions are distinguished both by external details (the leg guards, present only on the Turismo, and the tank, which is chromed again on the Sport) and by mechanical details (cylinder head, exhaust valve, connecting rod, piston, camshaft, carburettor, etc…). By the mid-1950s the popularity of the Falcone (like that of the Gilera Saturno, its bitter rival) declined: its performance was within the reach of more modern motorcycles with smaller displacement. On the other hand, the appreciation on the part of the Traffic Police (of which the Falcone would be the official motorbike until the seventies) and of the Guardia di Finanza knows no stopping, so much so that the modifications made to the Mandello single-cylinder are almost exclusively due to its military uses. Worthy of note, among the versions for public use, is the one prepared for the Corazzieri corps (1957), with improved finishes and electric start. We also remember some MG Falcone 500 Turismo supplied to the national fire brigade. Production of the Falcone ceased in 1967, with the entry into the market of the V7; two years later its "heir", the Nuovo Falcone, would arrive, which however had many differences with its ancestor (among the main ones, the flywheel covered by a crankcase). However, the fact that the Moto Guzzi Nuovo Falcone was presented as the "largest" of the family in terms of weight, the lack of speed and the reappearance of the front handle for the rear seat leads many to see it more as an heir to the Moto Guzzi Superalce than to the first Falcone.
The Moto Guzzi Falcone is a motorcycle built by Moto Guzzi between 1950 and 1967. Born to replace the G.T.W. model. (which dated back to 1934), and presented at the 1950 Geneva Motor Show, the Falcone is the last of the Guzzis with the classic horizontal four-stroke single-cylinder engine of 500 cm³. The engine descends from the one created in 1921 with the "Normal": horizontal single-cylinder with rods and rocker arms of 500 cm³, with the "classic" bore and stroke measurements of the Mandello del Lario company, i.e. 88x82 mm. As regards the chassis, the frame is a double cradle closed in tubes while for the suspension at the front we find a telescopic fork and at the rear there is the classic system introduced in 1928 with the "Norge", i.e. oscillating swingarm with spring underneath the engine, assisted by two compass shock absorbers. The gearbox is a four-speed pedal-operated gearbox.
The Falcone is offered in a single version, which joins the Astore, already in the catalog since 1949, as the most high-performance model. Characteristic of this first version is the tank, all chromed with the exception of a red painted band. In 1952, due to difficulties in obtaining chrome, some details were burnished or painted. In 1953 the Falcone "doubled": the already existing version, renamed Sport, was joined by the Turismo, which was none other than the heir to the Astore. The two versions are distinguished both by external details (the leg guards, present only on the Turismo, and the tank, which is chromed again on the Sport) and by mechanical details (cylinder head, exhaust valve, connecting rod, piston, camshaft, carburettor, etc…). By the mid-1950s the popularity of the Falcone (like that of the Gilera Saturno, its bitter rival) declined: its performance was within the reach of more modern motorcycles with smaller displacement. On the other hand, the appreciation on the part of the Traffic Police (of which the Falcone would be the official motorbike until the seventies) and of the Guardia di Finanza knows no stopping, so much so that the modifications made to the Mandello single-cylinder are almost exclusively due to its military uses. Worthy of note, among the versions for public use, is the one prepared for the Corazzieri corps (1957), with improved finishes and electric start. We also remember some MG Falcone 500 Turismo supplied to the national fire brigade. Production of the Falcone ceased in 1967, with the entry into the market of the V7; two years later its "heir", the Nuovo Falcone, would arrive, which however had many differences with its ancestor (among the main ones, the flywheel covered by a crankcase). However, the fact that the Moto Guzzi Nuovo Falcone was presented as the "largest" of the family in terms of weight, the lack of speed and the reappearance of the front handle for the rear seat leads many to see it more as an heir to the Moto Guzzi Superalce than to the first Falcone.
