I'm kinda mystified here... The last couple of days there have been several references to "people say old Guzzis aren't dependable"... Ya know in all the years I've owned my V700 (30 years), I have never heard anyone say that.... Never.... I must admit that I haven't been active in motorcycle discussions over the last 15 years but on what basis could someone make that statement?
What are they comparing Guzzis to? If it's BMW, I'd say it may be a toss-up dependability-wise, but from my experience (I've got an R100/7 as well as my V700) the Guzzi is much easier to work on. I have never owned a Gold Wing but I've worked on a few and they seem to be dependable but there sure is a lot more to go wrong with them.
My Eldo has well over a quarter million miles on it and I would ride it anywhere. When people say the old Guzzi's can't hang I tell 'em to bring THEIR bike back when it's old enough to buy a liquor drink. Mine is way past that age and it'll still be kickin' if they do make it back. I'd by 'em the drink if they did! ;-)