All Tests – The Italian custom – Stable and healthy in use

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The Italian custom

All Tests - The Italian custom - Stable and healthy in use

Launched in 2007, the Moto Guzzi Bellagio is a good illustration of the Italian paradox: designed as a custom, Mandello’s machine can’t help but display alluring hardware. So, sporty custom or quiet roadster? A bit of both … Try !

Stable and healthy in use

Displaying less than 180 km on the odometer, the reserve indicator light is already on: the opportunity to greet Moto Guzzi who has taken the attention to detail to provide his motorcycle with a count after switching to reserve (4 liters of capacity), but also to wonder about the autonomy: the instantaneous consumption indicates indeed not far from 9 liters to the 100 to 150 km / h and the full confirms an 8.3 liters of average on this mixed route city and highway…

A good excuse to leave this rectilinear and costly ribbon of asphalt in order to relieve the venerable twin … but also the driver’s neck, strained from 130 km / h! Not that the mill is lazy, on the contrary: the 3rd takes 140 km / h, the 4th 170 km / h and an honest 210 km / h – lying on the imposing reservoir – will brighten up a German motorway. Fair performance for a two-valve per cylinder boiler with a compression ratio of 10: 1.

On small roads, the Bellagio offers an interesting recital, strangely marred by the firmness of the suspensions. Much too rigid at the front and at the rear, the Italian forced us to considerably relax its settings. Fortunately, accessibility at the front, as on the rear monoshock attached to the aluminum swingarm, is excellent..

Contacted about this, the Piaggio technical center will admit not having checked the set-up of its test machine before making it available to us. Would a colleague have wanted to transform the Bellagio into a piece of wood? ?

Notwithstanding adjustments more in line with its philosophy, the transalpine remains dry on small bumps, a discomfort largely attenuated at the rear by the generous thickness of the saddle. After a certain heaviness below 50 km / h, the Guzzi is then surprisingly lively and displays royal stability whatever the speed due to its long wheelbase. The transfer of the masses under braking is perfectly controlled and the entries in curves are done serenely, thanks to a reassuring feedback and to the satisfactory grip of Metzeler Roadtec Z6.

Of course, the high weight of the machine and its custom-typed geometry generate a cast drive, thus taking advantage of the significant available torque and the – almost – transparent behavior of the cardan shaft fitted with the recent CARC device (Reactive shaft drive system) which takes care of annihilating the usual – and unpleasant – movements on the rear during acceleration. Manhandled, the motorcycle then requires precise orders but without brutality, and ends up taking the pilot on board at the exit of a curve, forcing the use of the effective and dosable rear brake to stay on course..

Its front counterpart does not offer the bite expected in view of the impressive Brembo device, but the power is indeed present and the Bellagio also accepts without flinching a brake grip – measured – on the angle. The opportunity to titillate the machine a little more, which surprises then by its overall homogeneity at a more sustained pace and by the "punchy" side of its engine. The adoption of a rigid chassis and quality peripherals then demonstrates its relevance, providing the Italian with road skills that are not often found on this kind of machine..

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