Rode some new Moto Guzzis

Another moto crazy friend of mine and I rode from Cary, NC to Charlotte Thursday afternoon and spent a lot of yesterday at Tee's Euro Cycle riding some of the new Moto Guzzi bikes. I have had Gus, my 1984 California 2 since he came out of the crate in 1984 so I had some history to compare to. The new ones are definitely Guzzis, the built in character is always there. They are not smooth like 3 or 4 cylinder motors but the feel that one feels I would not call "vibration", more of "throb". Not unpleasant and does let the rider know what the motor is doing.
The V7 (850 cc) is small, XJ550 sized and the base model I rode feels built to a price point. I wanted to like it but was unimpressed. I like out XJ650's and 750's so much better. I also had rides on the Mandello V100 and the Stelvio.
The Mandello is a SPORT- Touring bike (leaning way more towards Sport) with 115 horse power, multi adjustable suspension settings from the dash and push button controls, cruise control and ride modes. It even has little fairing wings that deploy in certain modes. The TFT dash has a lot of info but I found it too small to be easily read at a glance as one would do when riding. A nice, comfortable position, nice reach to the 'bars, nice (for me) ergonomic triangle that fit just right. The seat is past "firm" all the way to "hard" and I like Corbin seats. It is a sweet ride and as I told the demo guys it is "a ticket looking for a place to go happen".
I also rode the Stelvio, the Moto Guzzi answer to big adventure bikes. The same dash and power train as the Mandello but more upright seating. I did not care for it at all. I also ride an '09 Suzuki DL650 "Wee Strom" so am aquainted with the type. It is not too tall ( for the type) and it rode fine but did not speak to me.
I did not get a chance at the V85TT which is the smaller adventure style M-G and appears to be way more popular. I did sit on one and found the position to be okay, just okay, but again it didn't make me want to yank out my checkbook and get crazy.
There were a couple of MY 2022 V85's in the show room that they had some interesting prices on at <$10k.

All in all I was very happy to get back on Gus for the 3 hour plus ride home. Demo rides on the new bikes are always fun and enlightening but most of the time I am very happy to get back on my own bikes. Our XJ's may be old but if they have been cared for even minimally they still work wonderfully and perform their motorcycle duties admirably. And are paid for!!

 

Glad you hear you prefer your old bikes same as me.

 

Well all that is really neat, but I can image that 5, 6, 10-years on down the road if those systems malfunction or die, there will be an astronomical price to repair or replace them. That's one main attraction, to me, of older vehicles....if you have basic mechanical experience or intuition, you CAN repair or refurbish many things yourself. Modern vehicles, which have all sorts of automated and gee-whiz types of features, introduce so much complexity (and thus price/cost) that it's barely worth the benefits if they ever malfunction.

My girlfriend has a 2014 Chevy Cruze diesel. Fun little car, great gas mileage, if anything "diesel" or emissions-control related ever breaks, you're toast, money-wise. It's going to be sold soon and upgraded to something non-diesel (at least, non-GM diesel, although I expect such problems with all modern diesel engines)........in contrast, I still have my 1984 Isuzu P'up diesel pickup---long bed, A/C, manual tranny....which you simply cannot break, even when you try really, really hard.

Funny-but-true story: the Isuzu is painted in what can best be described as a "Light Diarrhea Tan" color, and it's also very, very "slab sided" on every surface (think of a shoebox, just less aerodynamic or stylish). Everything about it shouts "low-status individual inside". When we were first dating, one night I told her that since the battery died on my regular vehicle, we'd have to take the Isuzu that night, and she shuddered in horror, but I promised her that during that evening out, someone would offer to buy the truck, and she looked at me like I had 10 eyes, being completely incapable of believing anyone would willingly choose to purchase such a vehicle. Well, in not less that 10 minutes, we're at a stop light, and a guy next to us starts honking his horn and enthusiastically motioning to her to roll down her window, and then asks "Do you want to sell your truck?".....I could barely answer from laughing so hard. And later that night, someone left a business card under the wiper "Call me if you want to sell your truck".

I still don't let her forget about this, and she still believes that I somehow set up those chance encounters (with total strangers) just to prove a point.....

I could also tell you the story about the next door neighbor and the P'up, but that will have to wait for another time.....

 

I also agree on the cost and effect of all the electronic stuff on the newer bikes. I have a mount for either my GPS or my phone for travel, why do I need a touch screen on a bike that lets me change everything on the bike? I too went to a dealer yesterday and sat on a few bikes. No test rides but it is nice to see end of yr deals and dream sometimes.

Have a MG at one point they are fun bikes. They sure do have a distinct feel to them that the rides has to get used to. Once you do, I would guess that going away from that bike opposing "V" would be hard to get used to. I change up between in-line 4, vtwin and a box engine every few weeks. They all have different feeling to them. @Fuller56, thanks for the story, I too am glad you like your older MG.