Wire size/gauge cross-reference

Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police models

Created: 
Updated: 

Since Italy uses the metric standard, Moto Guzzi used metric sized wires in the construction of the wiring harness. Metric wiring is commonly designated in square millimeters (e.g., 1 mm²). To the best of my knowledge, Moto Guzzi used 1 mm² wire throughout the wiring harness except for a few instances in which they used 2.5 mm² (e.g., the heavy wires connected to the ignition switch, generator to voltage regulator, regulator to solenoid, etc).

The following table describes a variety of relationships between metric and American Wire Gauge (AWG) wiring. Please note that this table does not equate an AWG size with a metric size. The reason for not doing so is simple: the two sizing standards are not the same. Of course, AWG sized wire is readily available in the United States and is commonly used to replace metric sized wire. I leave it to the reader to study the table and make a thoughtful decision about the correct size of wire to use in a particular application. The data for this table was extracted from SI Metric.

Circular mils
(the area of a circle 11000 inch diameter)
Equivalent circular mils
(for metric sizes)
American Wire Gauge size
(AWG)
Metric wire size
mm²
Stranding / wire diameter per strand Approximate overall diameter
inches millimeters inches millimeters

1020

1620
1620

987

1480


1974
1974

20

18
18

0.50

0.75


1.0
1.0
1 / .032
7 / .0121
1 / .039
1 / .0403
7 / .0152
1 / .045
7 / .017
1 / .813
7 / .307
1 / .991
1 / 1.02
7 / .386
1 / 1.14
7 / .432
.032
.036
.039
.040
.046
.045
.051
0.81
0.91
0.99
1.02
1.16
1.14
1.30
2580
2580


4110
4110


2960
2960

16
16


14
14


1.5
1.5

1 / .0508
7 / .0192
1 / .055
7 / .021
1 / .0641
7 / .0242
1 / 1.29
7 / .488
1 / 1.40
7 / 5.33
1 / 1.63
7 / .615
.051
.058
.055
.063
.064
.073
1.29
1.46
1.40
1.60
1.63
1.84


6530
6530

4934
4934


7894
7894


12
12

2.5
2.5


4
4
1 / .071
7 / .027
1 / .0808
7 / .0305
1 / .089
7 / .034
1 / 1.80
7 / .686
1 / 2.05
7 / .775
1 / 2.26
7 / .864
.071
.081
.081
.092
.089
.102
1.80
2.06
2.05
2.32
2.26
2.59
10380
10380


13090
13090


11840
11840

10
10


9
9


6
6

1 / .1019
7 / .0385
1 / .109
7 / .042
1 / .1144
7 / .0432
1 / 2.59
7 / .978
1 / 2.77
7 / 1.07
1 / 2.91
7 / 1.10
.102
.116
.109
.126
.1144
.130
2.59
2.93
2.77
3.21
2.91
3.30
16510
16510


20820
20820


19740
19740

8
8


7
7


10
10

1 / .1285
7 / .0486
1 / .141
7 / .054
1 / .1443
7 / .0545
1 / 3.26
7 / 1.23
1 / 3.58
7 / 1.37
1 / 3.67
7 / 1.38
.128
.146
.141
.162
.144
.164
3.26
3.70
3.58
4.12
3.67
4.15
26240
26240

33090
41740


31580

6
6

5
4


16

1 / .162
7 / .0612
7 / .068
7 / .0688
7 / .0772
1 / 4.11
7 / 1.55
7 / 1.73
7 / 1.75
7 / 1.96
.162
.184
.204
.206
.232
4.11
4.66
5.18
5.24
5.88


52620
66360

49340
49340


69070
69070


3
2

25
25


35
35
7 / .085
19 / .052
7 / .0867
7 / .0974
7 / .100
19 / .061
7 / 2.16
19 / 1.32
7 / 2.20
7 / 2.47
7 / 2.54
19 / 1.55
.255
.260
.260
.292
.300
.305
6.48
6.60
6.61
7.42
7.62
7.75