Test fleet: Moto Guzzi V85TT
Nathan has got the Holiday Blues
This year continues to disappoint as far as travel plans go. Had things gone to plan this week, as I write this, I would have been dropping off the V85TT at Moto Freight near Heathrow ready for its flight across the Atlantic to New York, along with 12 other customer bikes all set for a month-long, coast-to-coast ride to LA.
So the Guzzi I bought last December has seen far fewer miles than was originally intended. I use my bikes for travelling and I generally like travelling with a purpose, rather than just heading out for the sake of it. It means that I’ve not even topped 1000 miles on the bike since February, but that’s not to say it’s not been a busy month…
First of all was the break-in service due at around 800 miles. My nearest dealer in Exeter didn’t have any slots as it seems the end of lockdown has seen dealers swamped with servicing requests. In the end I headed over to Moto Corsa in Dorset, who were able to squeeze me in at short notice for a first check that involves fluids and a valve check. Service intervals are 6000 miles thereafter. The cost was just shy of £200 and the service was swift and came with a valet.
If the Guzzi ends up a long-term keeper then I’ll look to self-service it – that was a large part of the initial appeal – but certainly whilst in warranty I feel it best to keep it in the dealer network.
I’ve had no new problems since the suspicion on a final drive leak that ultimately came to nothing, and after the run-in service the bike felt much livelier and willing.
Maybe that’s the subconsciousness telling you to give it more welly, but the strobing orange and red warning lights that kicked in at 4-4500rpm during run-in did curb any enthusiasm. They now seem to kick in 1000rpm later, but at least it gives you more meat to play with and the bike feels much brisker as a result. I wouldn’t call it fast, and to be fair it’s not going to set any speed records, but it sounds good on the power and pulls strong low down where you’re most likely to need it on a bike like this.
UP AGAINST THE REST
In recent weeks I’ve been using it as part of a three-bike test for a future issue, involving the Triumph Tiger GT Pro and the Suzuki V-Strom 1050 XT, and it’s fair to say that it feels, and is, down on power compared to those two (down 26bhp to the Suzuki and 14bhp on the Triumph). For someone coming down from one of the big 1200cc adventure bikes it could be deemed a bit lacking, and if my scales are anything to go by, not that much lighter either. It came in at a hefty 252 kilos for a fully fuelled Guzzi including the added engine guards, centre
stand and Bumot pannier frames. That makes it not far off the bigger bikes, on the spec sheet at least, even though it is definitely more manageable and manoeuvrable than something like a R1200 GS or certainly a Tiger 1200.
I won’t spoil the result of that three-bike comparison, but it’s fair to say that Moto Guzzi has certainly built a genuinely noteworthy alternative to the more obvious choices.
Better in some ways, worse in others, which was always going to be the way with something like this.