Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The V50 is a motorcycle model, produced by Moto Guzzi. It was produced from 1977 to 1987, as the basis for all versions of its range (like the V35), although the version for public administrations, thanks also to requests from the State, was produced until 1991. The first model of the De Tomaso era, the V50 was a motorcycle that took up and modernized the latest stylistic and mechanical concepts from the Guzzi house. First of all, as the name itself suggests, the traditional 90° transversal V-shaped cylinder arrangement. Penalized by the taxation that applied to motorbikes with over 350 cm³, it turned out to be a motorbike not of bad aesthetic taste, but in step with the times and mechanically not a flop like the Guzzi and Benelli copies (which had then been unified by De Tomaso into the Guzzi- Benelli-Moto S.p.A.) of 4-cylinder Japanese motorcycles. The example is the brake pump of the famous Guzzi patented Integral Brake, which with the right pedal controls a front disc and the rear disc, which with its design forms harmony with the frame and the squared lines of the tank.
However, despite being popular with the public, taxation made the company focus more on the 350 cm³ version, which had almost everything in common with it. An example of how the company preferred the V35 lies in the fact that, although it too had been presented in 1977, it always benefited from a "more in-depth" study and better techniques and features, as well as re-styling in step with the times. So while for the "most successful" version of the V35 we have to wait for series II, for the V50 it is equivalent to a series III, where the II was an aesthetic and mechanical transition. However, these transitions and evolutions will be useful to the company for the launch of the V65 flagship, which will not have different series from each other, so much so that the typical Roman numerals are not used to differentiate the models. The V50, however, was a road/touring motorcycle, up to the standards of the time, with very respectable performance. The frame was designed to have various applications and for various derivations. Given its cradle shape, the engine designed by Lino Tonti was redesigned to contain weight and therefore costs, and also the dimensions to fit it into the frame. With stylistic updates that gradually changed the line, with small refinements, it remained in production from 1977 to 1985. The so-called II has Nigusil cylinders (produced only for one year, 79-80); the III had some cosmetic upgrades.
The V50 is a motorcycle model, produced by Moto Guzzi. It was produced from 1977 to 1987, as the basis for all versions of its range (like the V35), although the version for public administrations, thanks also to requests from the State, was produced until 1991. The first model of the De Tomaso era, the V50 was a motorcycle that took up and modernized the latest stylistic and mechanical concepts from the Guzzi house. First of all, as the name itself suggests, the traditional 90° transversal V-shaped cylinder arrangement. Penalized by the taxation that applied to motorbikes with over 350 cm³, it turned out to be a motorbike not of bad aesthetic taste, but in step with the times and mechanically not a flop like the Guzzi and Benelli copies (which had then been unified by De Tomaso into the Guzzi- Benelli-Moto S.p.A.) of 4-cylinder Japanese motorcycles. The example is the brake pump of the famous Guzzi patented Integral Brake, which with the right pedal controls a front disc and the rear disc, which with its design forms harmony with the frame and the squared lines of the tank.
However, despite being popular with the public, taxation made the company focus more on the 350 cm³ version, which had almost everything in common with it. An example of how the company preferred the V35 lies in the fact that, although it too had been presented in 1977, it always benefited from a "more in-depth" study and better techniques and features, as well as re-styling in step with the times. So while for the "most successful" version of the V35 we have to wait for series II, for the V50 it is equivalent to a series III, where the II was an aesthetic and mechanical transition. However, these transitions and evolutions will be useful to the company for the launch of the V65 flagship, which will not have different series from each other, so much so that the typical Roman numerals are not used to differentiate the models. The V50, however, was a road/touring motorcycle, up to the standards of the time, with very respectable performance. The frame was designed to have various applications and for various derivations. Given its cradle shape, the engine designed by Lino Tonti was redesigned to contain weight and therefore costs, and also the dimensions to fit it into the frame. With stylistic updates that gradually changed the line, with small refinements, it remained in production from 1977 to 1985. The so-called II has Nigusil cylinders (produced only for one year, 79-80); the III had some cosmetic upgrades.
