Moto Guzzi V85

Undoubtably Italian

"There's something in the woodshed..."

Back in 2021 the good people at Moto Guzzi celebrated their 100th birthday. Being a pretty big event, after all who gets to last this long, the company launched a few new bikes and a few older ones with a new mission. One of these was the V85 TT. For the last few weeks, I’ve been going all "Captain Corelli's Mandolin” on one. But without the war bits or the singing, or being as good looking as Nicholas Cage or Penelope Cruz for that matter…

Very distinctive lights

Powered by the distinctive transverse twin, that’s a twin that runs across the frame rather than in line with it, the bike produces a modest 80bhp and 85Nm of torque. While it’s never going to set the world on fire, it’s very good at what it does. Being in the company of one over the last few weeks has been a very ‘comfortable’ experience. 

Cornering ABS as standard

That engine isn’t mounted with any sort of damping, so when you fire it up in neutral and on the side stand as you get your helmet and gloves on it’ll gently move from side to side. This becomes more pronounced as I go up in the rev range and gives the bikes handling a wonderfully enjoyable character. A BMW boxer twin this isn’t!

Boxed off

It comes with a set of factory panniers as well as factory fit heated grips, a heated seat, LED indicators, hand guards, a bash plate under the engine and a taller windscreen than the standard bike. This last one can be adjusted up and down by hand when the bike is stationary. It also has no fewer than five riding modes, sport, street, rain, off road and a final one that the rider can customise for themselves.  As well as cornering ABS and a traction control feature. For something that looks so ‘old school’ this thing is very well equipped.

A full TFT screen

There’s a lot going on with the design of this bike. But the one outstanding feature is the engine. The torque kicks in nice and early with a very solid drive all the way through the range. The numbers make it look low, but its delivery is nothing short of exceptional. A Ride-by-Wire throttle helps eliminate any lag. Once again, while this is standard on so many bikes for so long, on this bike it feels like it’s been freshly applied to a bike of yesteryear.

Buttons. Loads of them

Cruise control works a treat when going through those awful new average speed zones while all these settings are displayed on a TFT screen. While it is an extra, the Bluetooth connection to ones phone is also available. As per usual playlists and navigation can be controlled via the switchgear and if you wanted to ruin the experience of riding a bike then you could always take calls via the system. The screen has a digital rev counter. This, rather wonderfully, streams across the screen from both sides, referencing the engine. At higher revs it moves from orange to red.

To suggest that I’ve been trying to get both sets to meet in the middle would count as some sort of slander!

Powerful taillights

As I write this it’s been a busy ten days or so and over that time I’ve covered 1,500km. All of them have been remarkably comfortable, other than when I accidently switched on that heated seat which is deeply unpleasant. The panniers come with the bike and are deep enough to take my kit as well as the 30kilos of locks and chains that I now need to keep my bike where I left it in Dublin!

This one is a 2022 model with 22,000 kilometres on the clock and is available from Megabikes where, once I bother returning it, will be available to test ride. It’s €12,495 while a new one costs €17,395.