Really Solid Review! I think you hit the nail on the head with all points, as a Moto Guzzi rider myself as you know, i do appreciate the characterful aspects of a Guzzi engine and this looks like a really rugged unique step into adv market for them. Bike World, get this lad back for another feature sometime, its a nice change and i think he would be a good asset to diversify some of your content. 👍
The character of Moto Guzzis realy grows on you -have fond memories of 850 le Mans-I love the styling and while its true other bikes in price range have more power, none are shaft drive which would be more useful to me than a bit more power. Nice balanced review.
Sounds to me like a very good and very fair review. However, why oh why do journalists always have to get the tractor reference in? They've been doing it for 30 years, it seems like a conditioned response. I have two old Guzzis, LM II and Daytona RS, for 25 years and 19 years respectively. Rode the LM to Mandello twice, from Scotland. Rode all day, no annoying vibes, no tingles, no tractor feelings (whatever they are) - great real world road bike, and simple and cheap to maintain. You also never mentioned shaft drive - big advantage on a tourer. As for the second cliché, it rocks to the side when you blip the throttle at a standstill if you try really hard not to touch the bike with your legs; so what? BMW's Boxers do the same but no-one ever mentions it. It never intruded when I was riding the Borders twisties enthusiastically. Everyone wants 20 less Kg and 25 more bhp but enough is never enough for most blokes. Get a S 1000 RRRR....R, then. The main valid criticism of Guzzis, in my opinion, is the dealer network which is a shocker.
Can't agree with the no annoying vibes comment. At idle, the whole bike shakes, particularly the bars. This smooths out as you get going, but only to be replaced with tingly high frequency vibes that numb your fingers and toes.
@@davidbesant Hello David. Which model are you referring to? I never experienced the 'tingly high frequency vibes' you describe. Regarding the 'shaking' at idle, yes, of course, some low frequency moderate magnitude vibes, not unpleasant, in fact the opposite to my mind. Perhaps you are an in-line four guy which is much smoother by nature. Ever sat on a Harley - shakes itself to death. Guzzi's are no less smooth than the V twin Ducati's I've ridden. Horses for courses.
@Pilot almike it vibrates while idle, but not an annoying vibration which goes away as soon as you set off. There is currently no 850cc genuinely air cooled (not oil cooled) engine on earth that is as smooth, refine and puts out 80hp/80Nm. With an oil cooler the same engine would put out at least another 20hp, but I'd rather have less power but no radiator/complexity.
It’ll sell a ton, because; SHAFT DRIVE, on a bike that’s not the size of the Starship Enterprise, whilst still ticking the other boxes, and looking cool. 😀
In 30 odd years of riding I've always admired but never owned any of the Italians. I could be tempted by this one. Good looking, characterful and hopefully reliable. Too often Italian stuff doesn't play well with the British weather. I'll wait and see how owners fair. Good review.
Great review, very clear & concise. Pretty bike too. Not my thing but very keen to see that engine end up in the rest of the Guzzi range and maybe even a cheeky little Daytona. ; )
It is among very few big bikes that are officially launched in my country but they don't offer demo units. Which is a shame. So I can either get this or a clean used BMW F800GS. What is your take on this? BMW or MotoGuzzi?
Hamza Khawaja would definitely recommend test riding both and choosing for yourself. The 800gs has a bit more power tho, but I prefer the style of the Guzzi. Also the Guzzi is the only shaft drive in the mid capacity market which might be a factor because of low maintenance
One more thing you might need to consider before buying is what your plans are with the bike. If you're doing long tours, how practical would the Guzzi be vs BMW's wide service network?
Amrit Swain hahahaha, Well for that I m out of luck. BMW has no dealers and Moto Guzzi only has one reseller. So pretty much with any big bike, I have to be my own supplier of parts.
Cheers Stephen - yeah the only mid capacity shaft drive adv bike. I can definitely see the benefit as I'm terrible at chain maintenance when I commute through winter!
john zarecki nice spot! The orange one is a 500 that the shop owner finished a couple of years ago. I believe the other is a 400 that is a work in progress
Great job MOTOBOB! One detailed question which I hope you can answer: you mention the engine's vibrations, but did you have any problems with vibrations through the footpegs? On my short test ride, they would not stop vibrating, regardless of where I was in the rev range. I've not experienced this on any bike before - at least not across the rev range and with this intensity (Triumph's 1200 twin gets vibey in the pegs but only if you really rev it up). Even did a double take to check the pegs visually, and they had bigger rubber inserts (so that apparently didn't help). I really like this bike, but a little afraid I'll end up numb footed after 30 minutes... curious if mine was a one-off?
Mr TC I didn’t notice it too much with a full day of riding, but my street twin is pretty vibey so maybe I’m just used to it. Maybe you can ask to try another v85 to double check if you’re seriously considering one? Sounds like a deal breaker if you’re going to be doing a lot of miles
Nice review motobob! Well done! Good info on the bike, fun to watch and nice footage of the bike. One question tough, what’s in the backpack? 🙂 Cheers!
micele13 haha I had some camera gear with me to get some of the b-roll and gopro stuff along the way, and a mic for the helmet for the motovlog I made for my own channel. Ideally would have stashed them in some panniers, but we were swapping bikes all day
Oke! Could be that Bikeworld didn’t pay for your hotel, and you had to bring your sleeping bag😝 true adventure style!! How was the experience on a bike launch like that?
I'm 5'8" how tall are you? I love shaft drive bikes like this having owned an R80GS and an R100GS. It also comes with a centre stand- great for checking oil levels, rear tyres, removing rear wheels with big fat nails in them... might check one out tomorrow.
Revit Stealth jacket, Revit Abbey Road gloves, Revit Lombard 2 jeans, Doc Marten boots, and the bag is a Thule Covert camera bag which I thoroughly recommend if you need to carry electronics and a laptop. The lid is a Spada Arc which is just a cheapish one, but it has pretty good sealing so you get barely any wind noise which is great for motovlogging like the one I published on my own channel on this ride
We didn't get to demo it on the day, but I believe it uses the phone's GPS etc. and displays the appropriate direction symbols on the bike's TFT. But there's no map view
@@anidiotinaracingcar Ah yeah - just had a look at how it works on the website and the route mode is better than the old compass mode, but still wouldn't quite call it turn-by-turn. My bad!
What? Where I live, V85tt is 13k, Multistrada 950s is 20k and tiger 900 is 17.5k!!!!!!! Maybe in the UK, but certainly not here! And there is currently no air cooled bike that pits out 80bhp, and I'm not talking about air/oil cooled engines.
Ease of use or performance, it's not about that. The sound when you give it a full fist, is priceless. Furthermore, the look of the bike. The only two reasons you need! But I can say that, the tires (Michelin adventure anakee) are crap! But the bike is fantastic on gravel!
Man this bike is a lot cheaper than tiger 800, f850gs and especially multistrada. This v85tt is 7k cheaper than multistrada, 5k cheaper than f850gsa and 4k cheaper than than the tiger. On top of that, you have to pay extra to get cruise control on those bikes. V85tt is a bike that you only need to put petrol and a pair of crash bars and you are good to go.
Air-cooled motor and shaft drive FTW. I think the HP should be adequate, but how is the seating and legroom for taller riders? I knock my knees on the intake of the Roamer V9. Any better here?
None of it's competition has.... Wait for it..... Shaft drive! Once you own and live with a shaft drive you'll find yourself wondering why chain and belt drive still exist. I'm never going back. Change the gear oil when required and forget about it for at least 30 years. It's really that simple.
So basically it's V-Strom 650 levels of power and unpaved ability, with 3L more fuel, a small bump in torque, shaft drive, Brembos, and more technology.
15% more power and 30% more Torque without the help of a radiator and whole lot of plumbing and it has easy to adjust tappets driven by pushrods. Looks like a bike, two wheels, tank and motor, and you can see the motor rather than have it hidden behind a radiator. Hmmm Nothing like a VStrom 650
Really Solid Review! I think you hit the nail on the head with all points, as a Moto Guzzi rider myself as you know, i do appreciate the characterful aspects of a Guzzi engine and this looks like a really rugged unique step into adv market for them. Bike World, get this lad back for another feature sometime, its a nice change and i think he would be a good asset to diversify some of your content. 👍
TobyMoto cheers Toby! Definitely has that Guzzi character whilst being a big move away from the current lineup
The character of Moto Guzzis realy grows on you -have fond memories of 850 le Mans-I love the styling and while its true other bikes in price range have more power, none are shaft drive which would be more useful to me than a bit more power. Nice balanced review.
Sounds to me like a very good and very fair review. However, why oh why do journalists always have to get the tractor reference in? They've been doing it for 30 years, it seems like a conditioned response. I have two old Guzzis, LM II and Daytona RS, for 25 years and 19 years respectively. Rode the LM to Mandello twice, from Scotland. Rode all day, no annoying vibes, no tingles, no tractor feelings (whatever they are) - great real world road bike, and simple and cheap to maintain. You also never mentioned shaft drive - big advantage on a tourer. As for the second cliché, it rocks to the side when you blip the throttle at a standstill if you try really hard not to touch the bike with your legs; so what? BMW's Boxers do the same but no-one ever mentions it. It never intruded when I was riding the Borders twisties enthusiastically. Everyone wants 20 less Kg and 25 more bhp but enough is never enough for most blokes. Get a S 1000 RRRR....R, then. The main valid criticism of Guzzis, in my opinion, is the dealer network which is a shocker.
Absolutelly agree with you. Cheers!
Very well said. You are talking me into a new V85.
Can't agree with the no annoying vibes comment. At idle, the whole bike shakes, particularly the bars. This smooths out as you get going, but only to be replaced with tingly high frequency vibes that numb your fingers and toes.
@@davidbesant Hello David. Which model are you referring to? I never experienced the 'tingly high frequency vibes' you describe. Regarding the 'shaking' at idle, yes, of course, some low frequency moderate magnitude vibes, not unpleasant, in fact the opposite to my mind. Perhaps you are an in-line four guy which is much smoother by nature. Ever sat on a Harley - shakes itself to death. Guzzi's are no less smooth than the V twin Ducati's I've ridden. Horses for courses.
@Pilot almike it vibrates while idle, but not an annoying vibration which goes away as soon as you set off. There is currently no 850cc genuinely air cooled (not oil cooled) engine on earth that is as smooth, refine and puts out 80hp/80Nm. With an oil cooler the same engine would put out at least another 20hp, but I'd rather have less power but no radiator/complexity.
It’ll sell a ton, because; SHAFT DRIVE, on a bike that’s not the size of the Starship Enterprise, whilst still ticking the other boxes, and looking cool. 😀
Biggles Cratchett yeah that’s a fair point - the only shaft drive in the mid capacity adv market
@@motobob No bike should be made without shaft drive. Chain is only for racing.
Motobob. You the man! Keep up the good work as usual!
Ladybug Adventures cheers as always LBA! Hope you’re well
Great to see Motobob on this channel. Good on you mate, awesome review as always. L
Liam nice one Liam - thanks
You did not talk about the shaft-drive...I think it's a good point in that bike!
bressan1998 he mentioned it in the first minute.
What most people forget to talk about is that it's air cooled.
Great to see you here on this channel. I enjoy your reviews.
Colin Sull cheers Colin! Appreciate it
Great review.... lets hope they make you a regular feature... and you get the VIP treatment on the bike launches. :D
Christian Weller thanks Christian - much appreciate 👍🙌
I have one of the '06 1200cc. Don't worry about the vibrations. There are plenty of things that will bother you more in a long trip.
Great unbiased honest review - thank you.
Great review :)
Love the look of this bike, i'd love to test ride one of these :)
In 30 odd years of riding I've always admired but never owned any of the Italians. I could be tempted by this one. Good looking, characterful and hopefully reliable. Too often Italian stuff doesn't play well with the British weather. I'll wait and see how owners fair. Good review.
The salt on the British roads is what does the damage!
I appreciate Moto Guzzi has changed rear suspension color from yellow to black. It's more aesthetic in my opinion.
Great review Rob, and I hope Bikeworld get you back on again. Time for your channel to really blow up too I hope...
Views from the Man Cave cheers Tony! Much appreciated 👍
It s Mandello Eagle, not Maranello....
ha detto Marinello non Maranello :)
@@c.g.c2067 cmq un errore colossale 😂
@@MecaPippo ...si da deficienti
Yes mate! Cool to see you on this channel. I’m not totally sure about the look of this bike as a USP.. maybe it’s better in person.
Jim cheers Jim! Yeah I think it’s a bit unusual but definitely grows on you. I think it’s nicely proportioned
Great review, very clear & concise. Pretty bike too. Not my thing but very keen to see that engine end up in the rest of the Guzzi range and maybe even a cheeky little Daytona. ; )
Rage Rider cheers RR!
Great real world review pal.
TIGERICK thanks mate
Shaft driven, excellent brakes and hangling, much cheaper and much lighter than a GS
Triumph tiger 800's are around 15 to 16 thousand us dollar, well above the 10 or 11 grand for the moto guzzi, maybe the triumph is cheaper in England?
It is among very few big bikes that are officially launched in my country but they don't offer demo units. Which is a shame. So I can either get this or a clean used BMW F800GS. What is your take on this? BMW or MotoGuzzi?
Hamza Khawaja would definitely recommend test riding both and choosing for yourself. The 800gs has a bit more power tho, but I prefer the style of the Guzzi. Also the Guzzi is the only shaft drive in the mid capacity market which might be a factor because of low maintenance
MOTOBOB My thoughts exactly. That shaft drive is a draw for me towards the MotoGuzzi. Thanks for replying.
One more thing you might need to consider before buying is what your plans are with the bike. If you're doing long tours, how practical would the Guzzi be vs BMW's wide service network?
Amrit Swain hahahaha, Well for that I m out of luck. BMW has no dealers and Moto Guzzi only has one reseller. So pretty much with any big bike, I have to be my own supplier of parts.
@@mahamza86 Haha. Whichever bike you choose, happy riding!
Good job, MOTOBOB!
Cheers Fred! 🍻
A fantastic bike! Great review too. Thanks
Top review .The Guzzi also looks a great D.I.Y. as maintenance goes which a real plus. Also having a shaft drive is a define plus.
Cheers Stephen - yeah the only mid capacity shaft drive adv bike. I can definitely see the benefit as I'm terrible at chain maintenance when I commute through winter!
Nice to see the Honda CX 500/650 Eurosport on your LHS and RHS, had a few of them over the years. would have another one tomorrow :)
john zarecki nice spot! The orange one is a 500 that the shop owner finished a couple of years ago. I believe the other is a 400 that is a work in progress
A very good review thanks
Ronald White cheers RW! 🍻
the Moto Guzzi has a very special sound, you can hear the MG immediately under all 2 cylinders.
Great job MOTOBOB! One detailed question which I hope you can answer: you mention the engine's vibrations, but did you have any problems with vibrations through the footpegs? On my short test ride, they would not stop vibrating, regardless of where I was in the rev range. I've not experienced this on any bike before - at least not across the rev range and with this intensity (Triumph's 1200 twin gets vibey in the pegs but only if you really rev it up). Even did a double take to check the pegs visually, and they had bigger rubber inserts (so that apparently didn't help). I really like this bike, but a little afraid I'll end up numb footed after 30 minutes... curious if mine was a one-off?
Mr TC I didn’t notice it too much with a full day of riding, but my street twin is pretty vibey so maybe I’m just used to it. Maybe you can ask to try another v85 to double check if you’re seriously considering one? Sounds like a deal breaker if you’re going to be doing a lot of miles
Great review thanks
cheers LPPAR!
la guzzi ha uno stile suo e unico
Nice review motobob! Well done! Good info on the bike, fun to watch and nice footage of the bike. One question tough, what’s in the backpack? 🙂 Cheers!
micele13 haha I had some camera gear with me to get some of the b-roll and gopro stuff along the way, and a mic for the helmet for the motovlog I made for my own channel. Ideally would have stashed them in some panniers, but we were swapping bikes all day
Oke! Could be that Bikeworld didn’t pay for your hotel, and you had to bring your sleeping bag😝 true adventure style!! How was the experience on a bike launch like that?
I'm 5'8" how tall are you? I love shaft drive bikes like this having owned an R80GS and an R100GS. It also comes with a centre stand- great for checking oil levels, rear tyres, removing rear wheels with big fat nails in them... might check one out tomorrow.
Good review, thanks, good stuff.
Hows the quality of this brand? Is it reliable? parts available? What level brands does this equal too?
What gear are you rocking on the bike, especially the bag :) ?
Revit Stealth jacket, Revit Abbey Road gloves, Revit Lombard 2 jeans, Doc Marten boots, and the bag is a Thule Covert camera bag which I thoroughly recommend if you need to carry electronics and a laptop. The lid is a Spada Arc which is just a cheapish one, but it has pretty good sealing so you get barely any wind noise which is great for motovlogging like the one I published on my own channel on this ride
What jacket are you wearing Rob? Terrific review.
How does that turn-by-turn navigation work?
We didn't get to demo it on the day, but I believe it uses the phone's GPS etc. and displays the appropriate direction symbols on the bike's TFT. But there's no map view
I've been looking for a third party solution that does just that for weeks so, I'm pretty interested...
An idiot in a racing car have you seen Beeline?
Last time I checked, it didn't do turn-by-turn
It just shows the next checkpoint
@@anidiotinaracingcar Ah yeah - just had a look at how it works on the website and the route mode is better than the old compass mode, but still wouldn't quite call it turn-by-turn. My bad!
Interesting how this 850cc TT85 and the tiger 850 sport have around the same horsepower now.
Good👍
You confuse Marinello with Mandello.
Good review, i think its a Marmite bike, i like it👍
Home Run moto guzzi !
It looks btr then the bmw gs?
What? Where I live, V85tt is 13k, Multistrada 950s is 20k and tiger 900 is 17.5k!!!!!!! Maybe in the UK, but certainly not here!
And there is currently no air cooled bike that pits out 80bhp, and I'm not talking about air/oil cooled engines.
Go bob, go!
When you’re from California, you learn on dirt (off-road) first.
Ease of use or performance, it's not about that. The sound when you give it a full fist, is priceless. Furthermore, the look of the bike. The only two reasons you need!
But I can say that, the tires (Michelin adventure anakee) are crap! But the bike is fantastic on gravel!
The shaft drive is the winner
you're not the usual awesome guy, anyway, thanks :p
thresh86 haha sorry to disappoint 🙃
@@motobob already subscribed, thank you for your content 😀
thresh86 my pleasure!
Gd that's impressive af!
Man this bike is a lot cheaper than tiger 800, f850gs and especially multistrada. This v85tt is 7k cheaper than multistrada, 5k cheaper than f850gsa and 4k cheaper than than the tiger. On top of that, you have to pay extra to get cruise control on those bikes. V85tt is a bike that you only need to put petrol and a pair of crash bars and you are good to go.
Air-cooled motor and shaft drive FTW. I think the HP should be adequate, but how is the seating and legroom for taller riders? I knock my knees on the intake of the Roamer V9. Any better here?
Gravel roads are not off road, maybe toe path or more open field !
None of it's competition has....
Wait for it.....
Shaft drive!
Once you own and live with a shaft drive you'll find yourself wondering why chain and belt drive still exist.
I'm never going back.
Change the gear oil when required and forget about it for at least 30 years.
It's really that simple.
That looks like a bike Ronald McDonald would drive. Same colors 😂
Whats Bobbin
"Marinello Eagle"? What is he talking about? hahaaha
So basically it's V-Strom 650 levels of power and unpaved ability, with 3L more fuel, a small bump in torque, shaft drive, Brembos, and more technology.
Lifted_Above that’s a concise way to put it, yes!
@@motobob That said, everyone needs a V-Strom 650 in their garage.
15% more power and 30% more Torque without the help of a radiator and whole lot of plumbing and it has easy to adjust tappets driven by pushrods. Looks like a bike, two wheels, tank and motor, and you can see the motor rather than have it hidden behind a radiator. Hmmm Nothing like a VStrom 650
Good video.......Shame about the beard!
Small windshield 😫
Or you could just get a used Moto Guzzi Stelvio for a fraction of the price like I did. Check it out: ua-cam.com/video/kidxnQexwjY/v-deo.html
Man up , its a v-twin of course its going to shake a bit.What a baby he is.Better stick to riding a girls tricycle.
I thought hipsters only ride "artisinal" cloned "customs"?
moto guzzi never again! no service, no support, long time for spare parts!
My God it’s ugly!
Giannis Nikolinakos άσχημο δεν το λες!!
All adventure bikes look like angry birds for some reason