Was meant to go for my first proper ride today but not feeling up to it. Ian Falloon's "Moto Guzzi: Every model since 1921" turned up this week and of course I was eager to look up what he has to say about the V65. Where there are entire pages devoted to the 850 Le Mans, the V65 gets a scant paragraph with the bikes described as "adequate". From what I can understand of the somewhat confusing text, it seems that the construction of the frames was farmed out to Maserati (both companies owned by de Tomaso at the time). Amazing to think that Moto Guzzi was struggling to break 5000 bikes total during the latter half of the 1980s, yet a contemporary brochure shows 20 different bikes that were available in the catalog. The mechanics that did the blue slip did mention that the Guzzi was "a bit of a handful for a learner" - of course they didn't realise you do most of your braking with the foot pedal like a car. On the short road ride to and from there I had no trouble with the linked brakes. They feel almost exactly like car brakes with plenty of feedback through the pedal. Without having to worry about slippery grass the Guzzi felt good although I did forget to cancel the indicators on one occasion, so that will need some practice. I did muster up the strength to put the number plate on properly but that first ride is just going to have to wait another couple of days. My Guzzi originally looked like the "Sessantacinque GT" in that brochure.