Our final Speed Read for the year is all about kits?for Moto Guzzis, Royal Enfields and Yamahas. Plus a considerably more expensive offering from the boutique American manufacturer Curtiss. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Moto Guzzi V7 III Fast Endurance The modern V7 has oodles of character and is delightful to ride, but I don?t think even the most ardent fan of Mandello?s roadster would peg it as a track bike. A few years ago, I did several laps of the Hampton Downs circuit in New Zealand on board a V7 Classic; it was an enjoyable half hour, but by the end of it, the bike and I had both had enough.

This machine is a different beast though. It?s modified for the Trofeo Moto Guzzi Fast Endurance race series, a FIM-sanctioned series of five 60-minute races in Europe. Each team has two riders, and there?s a Le Mans-style start. The V7 is a notoriously hard bike to extract more power from, which is part of the reason I sold mine. But the racing V7 IIIs have the new 850cc engine, and are fitted with a kit from the Guzzi specialist Guareschi Moto.

The mods include Öhlins piggyback shocks, Andreani fork cartridges, a free-flowing Zard exhaust system, clip-on bars, a bikini fairing, and a solo seat unit. There are also more race-specific bits, such as new rearsets and a remapped ECU from GCorse?which includes an Up Map T800 unit, a Bluetooth interface that connects to your smartphone via an app.
This kit is also available via the Moto Guzzi sales network fo...