The Basics

Why it's called a V-Twin

A V-Twin is named after the number of cylinders in the engine, namely 2 (hence twin) and their arrangement (in recent Guzzi's case at 90° to each other) forming a V shape.

Other common engine arrangements are:

Inline - the cylinders are all orientated in the same direction (in line -at 0° angle).
and
Flat - the cylinders are arranged in opposite directions (at a 180° angle) to one another, this is also known as horizontally opposed or boxer.

Appart from the nymber of cylinders and the arrangement of these, another characteristic used to classify motorbike engines is the capacity of their combustion chambers also known as the displacement.

Over the years Moto Guzzi have produced a whole range of engines:

including Single Cylinder models and V-Twins such as:

350 as used in the V35 and Nevada 350
500 as used in V50's and the Monza
650 as used by the V65
750 of various ages and designes as used by the Breva 750, Nevada 750 and V7 750 Sport
850 as used by the Breva 850, Griso 850, Norge 850, Le Mans III and 850 T5
1000 as used in the current California range, the Centauro, Daytona as well as the Quota, Spada, 1000 GT and Le Mans 1000
1100 as used by the Breva 1100, Griso 1100, 1100 Sport and V11 Sport
1200 as used in the 1200 Sport and Norge 1200