Moto-Guzzi V85TT Review

[flying_hun]

Nice write up Kurt. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Eric!

 

[flying_hun]

One of the benefits of quitting my day job is that I can ride on weekdays. I hadn't ridden Mt. Ham since the front side was repaved, so I headed up on Monday to check it out, and to continue getting accustomed to the goose.

The camera is my old Contour Roam. The video has not been edited. The bike is pretty quiet compared to the wind noise. The bike continues to impress.

[YOUTUBE]g44Q7NDqOII[/YOUTUBE]

 

[flying_hun]

This past weekend when I saw that weather was due this week, it seemed like a good idea to go bag Ebbetts Pass while I had the chance.

The bike crossed the 19K mile boundary yesterday. Not bad since I bought it at the end of December. The interesting thing is that when I think of the bikes I've owned in the past decade or so, I always start out loving them, but for many (most?) by the time I've had them for six months or so, the bloom is off the rose. I start out with high hopes, but end up disappointed.

One of the great things about the Guzzi is that all its shortcomings are on display from day one. It's clear the first time you ride it that it has limitations. Unlike the bikes where I've begun with high hopes, with the Guzzi I knew its limitations, and the ownership experience is not about finding those, it's about discovering its hidden capabilities. The more I ride this bike the more I love it! I don't think I would have been happier yesterday on any other bike - limitations and all.

 

[gixxerjeff]

Your affection for this bike is infectious.
Thanks for sharing your well sorted thoughts on this unique machine.

 

[flying_hun]

Your affection for this bike is infectious.
Thanks for sharing your well sorted thoughts on this unique machine.

Thank you!

 

[mheinee]

Not to derail the thread, but I purchased a used low mileage Stelvio about 3 years ago. It has done nothing but continue to grow on me. Especially the ease of maintenance. It's hard to put a price on the convenience of being able to adjust valves, change fluids all in about 3 hrs.
It also got smoother as the miles have passed. Mine just turned 15k over the weekend and it's running better than ever. I also made it over 36 from Red Bluff to Eureka in less than 3 hours earlier last month, so it doesn't seem to be slowing me down much..
I love the fuel range it has, the riding position the standard hard bags; the Stelvio is certainly on the top 5 of bikes I've owned.

Mark

 

[flying_hun]

Not to derail the thread, but I purchased a used low mileage Stelvio about 3 years ago. It has done nothing but continue to grow on me. Especially the ease of maintenance. It's hard to put a price on the convenience of being able to adjust valves, change fluids all in about 3 hrs.
It also got smoother as the miles have passed. Mine just turned 15k over the weekend and it's running better than ever. I also made it over 36 from Red Bluff to Eureka in less than 3 hours earlier last month, so it doesn't seem to be slowing me down much..
I love the fuel range it has, the riding position the standard hard bags; the Stelvio is certainly on the top 5 of bikes I've owned.

Mark

No derail. I've ridden a Stelvio, and they are a remarkable bike. Great chassis! One of my riding buddies had an early Stelvio that he had Todd at GuzziTech breathe on, including a 17" front wheel. It was really impressive on goat trails.

I also like the fact that I can do all the tasks you mentioned. Like yours, mine has gotten smoother with time.

 

[InsuranceGuy]

This past weekend when I saw that weather was due this week, it seemed like a good idea to go bag Ebbetts Pass while I had the chance.

The bike crossed the 19K mile boundary yesterday. Not bad since I bought it at the end of December. The interesting thing is that when I think of the bikes I've owned in the past decade or so, I always start out loving them, but for many (most?) by the time I've had them for six months or so, the bloom is off the rose. I start out with high hopes, but end up disappointed.

One of the great things about the Guzzi is that all its shortcomings are on display from day one. It's clear the first time you ride it that it has limitations. Unlike the bikes where I've begun with high hopes, with the Guzzi I knew its limitations, and the ownership experience is not about finding those, it's about discovering its hidden capabilities. The more I ride this bike the more I love it! I don't think I would have been happier yesterday on any other bike - limitations and all.

So what are the shortcomings, limitations, ownership experience and hidden capabilities?

 

[flying_hun]

So what are the shortcomings, limitations, ownership experience and hidden capabilities?

I covered some of it in the OP. Not a lot of power, so not very fast. Low redline, meaning that not long after it hits its torque peak you have to shift. Kind of a throbby (not exactly the same as vibey) motor. Compared to more modern engine designs, it needs more frequent maintenance. It wouldn't hurt to be lighter (~500# wet). The handling doesn't have the sharpness of some of my 17" front wheel bikes. It requires premium fuel, but even then will detonate when pulling away from a stop when the engine is hot. And on that topic, I wish the sump was bigger than two liters, or that it had an external oil cooler - since the engine is air/oil cooled, this would be nice. The gearbox, while better that Guzzi boxes of old, is still dealing with a heavy-ish flywheel, so you still want to be deliberate with your shifts. While my knees don't foul the heads, the tank puts me further away from the steering head than I'd prefer.

The ownership experience? Well, I've had it to the dealership twice (had to go back to get a part installed on warranty). The bike is pretty easy to work on. As the guy with the Stelvio pointed out, oil and filter changes, valve adjustments, etc. are really easy. The biggest PITA encountered so far is reinstalling the transmission drain plug after changing the lubricant. There is almost no room between the plug and the cat.

The bike has the best suspension of any stock bike I've ever owned. I almost always upgrade suspension bits right away, but I have no plans with this bike. Beautiful ride quality, and accurate wheel control. Good electronics and controls (Avery - Sheep Ranch was a great place to turn off traction control), great cruise control, and useful riding modes.

I've got to go to a meeting. I'll tell you the rest later.

 

[flying_hun]

Continued from above.

I guess the capability thing that has impressed/surprised me the most has been its capability on goat roads. No, it's not as sharp as a bike with a 17" front, and it's not as light as anything even roughly pretending to be a sumo, yet it really rails on goat roads.

I think this comes down to a few parts of the design that really come together in that environment. First, the longitudinal crank. Being that the crank, camshaft, and both input and output shafts of the transmission are lengthwise rather than crosswise means that they don't present any gyroscopic stability in the roll axis of motion. This may also be part of the reason why I find the bike less stable than my other bikes in a crosswind. What this means is that the bike rolls from side to side with great ease. Yes, there is a torque effect that can sometimes be sensed when you change the throttle opening at the same time that you're rolling from side to side, but changing throttle an lean angle at the same time is a bad idea anyway, so... What this means is that on tight roads where you're frequently changing direction from fully one direction to fully the other that the bike is really agile. Much more than I had expected. It doesn't have a rapid turn-in, but the roll rate is impressive.

The second is the long travel suspension which makes those crappy goat roads far less brutal, and helps the bike track well over broken pavement. This allows you to be flexible in your line selection because you don't have to worry about rough surfaces unsettling the bike.

The third is that if you keep the engine (relatively) spun up, it responds to the throttle very, very well. Relatively spun up means between about 4500 and 6500. In that range, it is really pretty sprightly. It's not going to intimidate any Panigales, but it's livelier than I thought it would be when I bought it.

The fueling is quite good, and on-off-on transitions on the throttle don't really upset the bike much.

With those characteristics (and the traction control turned off), roads like Avery - Sheep Ranch are a laugh riot. You can push it through quick transitions, dive down to the apex, power out over the washboard, and launch off camber transitions cackling like a mad man!

Those are some of the things I didn't anticipate when I bought it (well, I knew that maintenance would be easy), and that I've found over the past 10 months. The bike is not for most people, and I'm not going to tell you it's the best bike ever, or that it's fast (it certainly is NOT), but for the kind of roads I like to ride it's very, very good, and it's comfortable getting to and from the fun stuff. And there was a lot of transit getting to and from the fun stuff yesterday.

 

[InsuranceGuy]

Thank you for taking the time to explain your observations. I’ve wanted a Moto Guzzi for years and it looks like the V100 Mandello S might fit the bill.

Thanks again

 

[flying_hun]

Thank you for taking the time to explain your observations. I’ve wanted a Moto Guzzi for years and it looks like the V100 Mandello S might fit the bill.

Thanks again

You're welcome. The Mandello looks really interesting. I like that they've taken a page out of BMW's book by going to a wet clutch and putting the engine and transmission side by side to make the package shorter. I mean, look at the length of the swingarm on that Mandello. Way back in 1999, the new R1 had what was at the time a freakishly long swingarm, and it revolutionized liter sport bikes. I suspect the handling and stability will be improved by this change - and - it should make a great platform for a long travel suspension ADV bike. I'm looking forward to that!

 

[CDONA]

Dang, one of those V85TT's didn't show up in Morro Bay, in my park yesterday.

Complete with travel stickers, I was wondering if I had a stationary Hun sighting.
I asked about the 900cc series Roamers, if he tried some. Same shake built in as the R18 beemer, but no.

 

[flying_hun]

Dang, one of those V85TT's didn't show up in Morro Bay, in my park yesterday.

Complete with travel stickers, I was wondering if I had a stationary Hun sighting.
I asked about the 900cc series Roamers, if he tried some. Same shake built in as the R18 beemer, but no.

No, I haven't had it Morro Bay since springtime. There are a few of us out there, just a few.

 

[CDONA]

Got home, rolling thru the park, the goose is back, I thought it was a short time visit, but staying here a bit.
I stopped for a thread pix, bike running, he came out, more bike talk.

He shared the back way into Cambria, but didn't know about the pie reward, why we the goat road.
I'll bounce 229, and Parkfield, off this guy from Washington, maybe Pozo & California Valley.
Another full timer dragging his motor around on the back bumper, poaching the good stuff, , ,

 

[flying_hun]

Very cool! Back way to Cambria? Santa Rosa Creek Road? I do love that one. The V85TT should be good on that.

 

[supaflyryan]

This is one of the bikes I'm considering currently and I rented one a few weeks ago from Rider Share and rode down to Santa Cruz. It was a base model so the wind protection wasn't good with the tiny screen, and I am super curious about trying the larger travel one.

I also found the rear brake kinda odd - my toes kept riding on top of the lever arm instead of the actual pad, so I had to keep my left foot on the outside edge of the peg which got annoying.

The engine reminded me of my XR650L in terms of noises and smells, but I did find the throttle a bit jumpy when barely rolled on.

 

[Sportbiker]

 

[flying_hun]

This is one of the bikes I'm considering currently and I rented one a few weeks ago from Rider Share and rode down to Santa Cruz. It was a base model so the wind protection wasn't good with the tiny screen, and I am super curious about trying the larger travel one.

I wanted this color scheme, which comes withe small shield. I have had very mixed experiences with larger screens. Coverage is too often noisy, at least that's been my experience. Also, CalSci makes a huge windshield, if you want a lot of coverage.

I also found the rear brake kinda odd - my toes kept riding on top of the lever arm instead of the actual pad, so I had to keep my left foot on the outside edge of the peg which got annoying.

Thank you for bringing this up. Yeah, it's crowded around the pegs, and I can't get the pedal low enough, so I've had to build the habit of either sliding my boot back (I know, I know, I should be doing that anyway) or flaring out my toes on that side. There isn't a lot of room to slide the boot back without bumping my heel against the peg hanger. I'm thinking of getting the higher seat to see if the change in my knee angle makes this easier to manage.

The engine reminded me of my XR650L in terms of noises and smells, but I did find the throttle a bit jumpy when barely rolled on.

Yeah, the engine has an old fashioned feel, and I'm an old guy, so that may be a feature rather than a bug. My experience with the fueling is different than yours. It's one of the better fueled bikes I've owned with fuel injection. Which engine map were you using? I rode primarily in Strada for thousands of miles, but I generally ride in Sport now. Not only is it livelier in sport (jumpy? not sure), but it seems to have more engine braking in Sport, and I prefer that feel. Obviously, YMMV.

 

[supaflyryan]

Yeah, the engine has an old fashioned feel, and I'm an old guy, so that may be a feature rather than a bug. My experience with the fueling is different than yours. It's one of the better fueled bikes I've owned with fuel injection. Which engine map were you using? I rode primarily in Strada for thousands of miles, but I generally ride in Sport now. Not only is it livelier in sport (jumpy? not sure), but it seems to have more engine braking in Sport, and I prefer that feel. Obviously, YMMV.

Definitely not knocking the engine at all, I also liked the feel of it. In terms of fueling I started in Rain and then went to Road pretty quickly. To be fair I'm not very calibrated with throttle-by-wire and have disliked all of them I've used compared to older school cable throttles. I don't like the lightness of electronic throttles at all.