I once heard someone compare riding a Moto Guzzi to taking part in a Japanese tea ceremony. It’s the relative simplicity of the bikes from the little factory on the shores of Lake Como that encourage the anecdote. You usually ride a Guzzi with Zen-like mindfulness because the bikes insist upon it, and the ancient ceremony also dictates a measured orderly approach that rewards participants with serenity.
Except that this new Moto Guzzi Stelvio doesn’t do that at all. If it was a warm drink, it’d be a triple-shot espresso quickly quaffed at the top of the Ortler Alps pass that gave the bike its name, before resuming a frantic elbows-out thrash with the many motorhomes, cyclists, and supercars that populate the Stelvio Pass these days.
The Stelvio adventure tourer and the harder-to-pigeonhole Mandello that preceded it, are the bearers of the eagle badge that usher in a new era for Moto Guzzi.
Key to their forward-looking ethos is their use of a new 1042cc liquid-cooled V-twin engine that benefits from a healthy dose of engineering know-how from sister Piaggio Group brand, Aprilia, to deliver a level of performance more usually associated with the latter marque than relaxing tea ceremonies. The motor emits an appropriately thunderous soundtrack upon startup, and as the gears mesh before moving off there’s a loud graunching that sounds like a violent shattering of fine porcelain teacups.
This new engine is therefore no respecter of Moto Guzzi engineering traditions. The motor and the six-speed gearbox now share the same oil, double overhead camshafts and four-valve heads replace pushrods and two-valve combustion chambers, and valve-clearance adjustment will have to be done less frequently in dealer workshops now that shims and buckets have replaced DIY-friendly lock nuts and tappets.
Then there’s the source of that graunch when selecting first gear – a rather rude and abrupt wet bath clutch instead of Guzzi’s usual liquid-free one.
But hey, never mind the lost heritage, feel the robust accelerative thrills of the new lump. It effortlessly shrugs off the transmission losses of the maintenance-friendly shaft drive, bringing on-road zip that matches that of the litre-sized chain-drive adventure tourer establishment. Seat-of-the-pants impressions say that the 240kg Stelvio is just as brisk to ride as any Honda Africa Twin. The previous air-cooled Stelvio, ceremonially axed eight years ago, represented adventure-segment cannon fodder.
The latest Stelvio still retains some great Guzzi traditions, especially on the design side of the ledger. It’s arguably the best-looking bike in the adventure tourer segment. It’s also superbly comfortable, the Stelvio adopting the ergonomic blueprint of Guzzi’s more trad adventure tourer, the V85TT, finished off with similarly plush suspension and a seat that continues to pamper your buns all the way through the 400km range permitted by the 21-litre fuel tank.
Where it beats its V85TT air-cooled sibling rival is in the provision of a power adjustable windscreen that no longer offers just token protection. The V85 does have the rider’s footpegs mounted a little lower however, resulting in a more comfortable knee bend than the Stelvio’s.
With a seat height of 830mm when not mounted, the Stelvio’s mimicry of the ergonomic packaging of the V85TT is near complete, and both bikes are perfectly matched to riders with inside leg measurements of 32 inches or more.
Potential Moto Guzzi adventure tourer buyers are therefore presented with quite a hard choice between the V85TT and the Stelvio when they enter showrooms. Both bikes feature a plethora of riding modes, the rider assist systems account for corner lean angles and they use identical switchgear and the same TFT screen.
At $24,990, the V85TT Travel comes with essential long-distance riding accessories lacking on the $31,490 stock Stelvio – panniers, centrestand, heated grips and most desirable of all: cruise control. The more modern Guzzi ADV counters with a blind spot monitoring system and radar-readiness to accept the optional adaptive cruise control.
These two handsome handmade motorcycles are both chocked full of personality and fine details. At 115bhp of maximum power versus 80, one’s certainly faster than the other but it costs over $6500 more. For some, the pick between the two Guzzi adventure tourers may be decided by their preference for the V85TT’s more refined clutch. Especially if they like tea ceremonies.
