Duel Street Twin Vs V9 Roamer: two great classics clash
Triumph and Moto Guzzi revise their classic motorcycles in 2016, but differently: the V9 Roamer plays a traditional score when the Bonneville – now Street Twin – begins a new concerto, retro in form and a little less in substance. Duel.
Static: a Triumph without a false note
Unlike most forms of transportation, a motorcycle carries you even before the first spin. The trails arouse the desire for adventure, sportswomen breathe performance, road women invite to long stages, customs illuminate everyday life with each reflection of the sun on their chrome … And utilities emphasize the need to work to afford one of them !
What about neo-retro motorcycles? They take you back in time with their elegant lines but without the hassle … constraints linked to the maintenance and driving of an authentic old motorcycle. Some even hide very modern underwear under their "old school" dress, like the news and, equipped with ABS and traction control – can be deactivated – despite their modest power of 55 hp !
Some people will probably cry scandal in front of these old "true-false", arguing that all the beauty of the classic movement lies precisely in the restoration – and the maintenance – of a motorcycle of yesteryear, with these long hours of restoration intended to revive the mechanics of yesteryear, often followed by transformations making his old motorcycle a unique and authentic object…
"You have to live with the times", seem to answer them the Triumph and the Moto Guzzi by showing without complexes a UBS plug (under the saddle of the Englishwoman, on the steering column of the Italian) and a rich instrumentation ordered from their very – too? – modern commodo (2 trips, gear engaged, clock, consumption, etc.). Enough to forget the common lack of a tachometer … but not that of a fuel gauge on the V9 (read "Practical aspects and equipment "on page 3) !
The Street Twin takes the approach even further by exhibiting a dummy carburetor inside which hides its latest injection connected to a unique electronic ride-by-wire accelerator. This subterfuge already used on the will abuse more than one! From a distance, some will even doubt its cooling method: despite its generous polished fins, this in-line twin cylinder now set at 270 ° (360 ° previously) is indeed water-cooled..
Classes, the classics !
Congratulations to the Hinkley engine manufacturers for having integrated the radiator and its hoses so well on this cubing engine now 900 cc (instead of 865 cc). This 8-valve mill (4 on the Guzzi) is a model of elegance, enhanced by its classy red parasitic suppressants with the Triumph logo and its high-quality hardware. Like the rest of the bike, everything is perfectly in its place and harmonious to the eye.
The chrome-rimmed round optics (like the Guzzi), the bellows on the 41 mm fork, the superb brushed metal mufflers with conical exit and the shock absorbers adjustable in preload also maintain the illusion of a real motorcycle " Ancient". No doubt: Triumph is a master in !
This careful presentation down to the smallest detail overshadows the V9 Roamer, whose delightfully vintage charm is somewhat served by a poor finish in places. One ticks in particular in front of the perforated side panels, whose perfectible adjustment along the tubular frame lets glimpse the cables of the battery on the left side…
We also sigh in front of the "cheap" aspect of the Neiman, devoid of trim on its lower part, or the not very discreet integration of certain cables and hoses (in particular of the ABS towards the brake pedal and around the ducts of admission). And we outright plague against the installation with the "va-comme-je-te-push" of the central ABS between the two cylinders, just behind a regulator from which point bright yellow and red wires !
Admittedly, the V9 Roamer constitutes an entry level at Moto Guzzi, but it is also the case of the Street Twin for Triumph. Not to mention that the Italian is not specially given: 9,990 euros against 8,900 for the English in "Jet" black (+ 150 euros for other colors such as the "Cranberry" red of this test model). All the more reason to blame it for the absence of adjustable levers and a lock on its fuel cap, included on the "Bonnie"…
The Moto Guzzi nevertheless looks great with its magnificent tank on which the famous Mandello’s eagle deploys, its enveloping metal mudguards (plastic on the Street Twin) and its very beautiful rims with polished edges. The tight sticks of its 19 and 16 inch rims (18 and 17 on the Triumph) even evoke a "classic" spoke wheel, when those of the Street Twin are quite ordinary..
Its long exhausts – gleaming in the sun – go wonderfully with its chrome mirrors, the efficiency of which is clearly superior to those of the Triumph which are too small to offer a correct rear view. And then the V9 Roamer, like all Moto Guzzi, it is an engine architecture that challenges: two cylinders facing the road, proudly forming a "V" open at 90 °…
Something sensual emerges from it, evoking forms too generous to be contained in a corset: the V9 is overflowing with mechanical charm! Not to spoil anything, its 853 cc V-twin retains air cooling despite its Euro4 approval: a great feat, meeting the latest pollution standards as well as noise levels is tricky with this type of engine (the liquid circulating around it). ‘a "Water Cooled" absorbs its mechanical noises).
Finally, the V9 Roamer has two other major assets: its final transmission by cardan shaft (chain on the Street Twin, without a center stand even as an option …) and its manufacture "at home", as opposed to the construction in the Thai factory of Triumph for its rival.
Designed and assembled in Italy, near Lake Como, the Moto Guzzi also offers the luxury of calling on local service providers, not Asian ones like the Street Twin: its Bembo 4-piston front brake caliper and its Marzocchi fork (not adjustable) look great against the basic 2-piston Nissin of the Triumph and its Kayaba fork !
What to do – in part – relativize the thousand euros that separates them (from € 940 to € 1090, depending on the color of the Triumph)? On cafe terraces, the argument would undoubtedly have scope, especially on this kind of motorcycles whose style makes many helmets turn! But let’s see on the next page what it really is with the handlebars in hand…
Related articles
-
Duel Street Twin Vs V9 Roamer: two great classics clash Triumph and Moto Guzzi revise their classic motorcycles in 2016, but differently: the V9 Roamer…
-
Duel Street Twin Vs V9 Roamer: two great classics clash Triumph and Moto Guzzi revise their classic motorcycles in 2016, but differently: the V9 Roamer…
-
Duel Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 Vs Triumph Street Twin: class struggle The delicious authenticity of the new Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, the…
-
Duel Street Twin Vs V9 Roamer: two great classics clash Triumph and Moto Guzzi revise their classic motorcycles in 2016, but differently: the V9 Roamer…
-
Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer, Triumph Street Scrambler and Yamaha SCR 950 in comparison test
Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer, Triumph Street Scrambler and Yamaha SCR 950 Retro classics in a comparison test We were promised sun. However, the three…
-
Duel Triumph Street Triple R Vs Yamaha MT-09 SP 2018: triple muse ! Will the new suspensions of the Yamaha MT-09 SP give it the rigor it needs to keep…
-
Triumph Street Twin test: the little Bonneville of the 21st century With its new 900 cc water-cooled engine, its neat look and its completely revised…
-
Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer and Triumph Street Twin
Impressions Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer and Triumph Street Twin Surrender can be profit The fear that motorcycles would lose any acoustic life of their own with…
-
All Duels – Duel of road bikes: BMW R1200RT Vs Triumph Trophy 1200 SE – A sofa for two
Duel of road bikes: BMW R1200RT Vs Triumph Trophy 1200 SE With its new Trophy 1200 and its over-equipped SE version, Triumph intends to supplant the…
-
Duel Africa Twin Vs V85 TT: the Honda benchmark or the Moto Guzzi revival ? Moto Guzzi is relaunching in 2019 on the (all) terrain of trails with its new…