Custom – Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer test: initiation to pleasure – Static: tradition, sobriety and retro

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Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer test: initiation to pleasure

Custom - Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer test: initiation to pleasure - Static: tradition, sobriety and retro

With the new V9 which brings new blood to the V-twin family without upsetting its fundamentals, Moto Guzzi is banking on fun and ease. On a common platform and a new engine, two versions are available: Roamer and Bobber. Test !

Static: tradition, sobriety and retro

When on March 15, 1921, Carlo Guzzi filed the name of his limited company for the construction and marketing of motorcycles, he had no idea that 95 years later, his firm, which had become historic, would, day by day, set out to conquer new clients…

And it is not so much the 14 world titles in speed nor the 11 victories in the Tourist Trophy that have pushed the Piaggio group, now owner of the Eagle with outstretched wings, to develop the V9 on a "classic custom" niche for a long time. his.

The obvious desire to rejuvenate the clientele is facilitated by the current trend between tradition, sobriety and retro. So many arguments which are not addressed only to the "old ones"! Boosted by the A2 license which limits access to motorcycles of more than 47.5 horsepower, the medium-sized displacement requiring only a slight reduction in power returned to the party. With 55 solid cannons in "full", the transverse twin of the V9 should, once clamped, retain the substantial marrow inherited from the V7 released in 1971.

Painted black to keep up with the times, the 850 cc air-oil-cooled "small block" adopts the 90 ° open V-shaped architecture, a distinctive sign of the Moto Guzzi. Alongside, whose three versions are continuing their careers on a cafe racer register, the V9 will play, in its Roamer version, the "classic custom" card, neither too much nor too little typed. Like the V7 II, it turns its intermediate displacement into a force. All honor: the aluminum engine block is still built in the legendary Mandello del Lario factory.

It receives a new lubrication system to better dissipate heat and a crankshaft "able to restore liveliness and engine braking", ensures Moto Guzzi. To contain the latter, the V2 is therefore not equipped with an anti-dribbling but has an adjustable traction control on two levels. As on the V7 II, one can wonder about the interest of such a device on a 55 hp motorcycle, with the classic philosophy, but either …

In the upper part of the twin, aluminum heads, pistons and cylinders, the thermodynamics have been revisited. The distribution, controlled by a system of rods and rockers, adopts two valves per cylinder, inclined in the cylinder head (and no longer parallel), as on the engine of the V7 II. The power supply is based on a Marelli single-body electronic injection.

The engineers have worked to comply with the Euro 4 standard: new electronic box, auxiliary pneumatic system at the inlet of the cylinder heads with trivalent catalyst and double Lambda probe. To display the "house" character despite a relatively modest displacement, they chose to place the 62 Nm of torque at only 3000 rpm: a value more telling than the 55 horsepower displayed at 6250 rpm.

To improve its durability and reduce lever effort, the single-disc dry clutch adopts a diameter of 170 mm. The six-speed gearbox is new, as the larger offset double cardan shaft goes hand in hand with a cast aluminum arm which allows the passage of a tire in 150.

In order to guarantee the maneuverability of its machines at low speed, Moto Guzzi has again succeeded in containing the weight: 199 kg with the full ones. Well in the current trend despite a 15-liter tank with surprisingly tight sides, the V9s were designed by the Centro Stile of the Piaggio group located in Pasadena (California).

The Roamer rims (19 "front, 16" rear) are opaque black and subjected to a diamond finish treatment, as is the new multifunction digital instrument panel featuring a single circular dial. The padded saddle, which boasts a height from the ground of 785mm, is paired with raised handlebars and forged aluminum footrests.

The new double cradle steel frame enhances the balance of the bike. To stiffen it, reinforcements have been placed around the steering column whose tilt and caster do not push the cap too far in the custom trend..

The traditional fork, however, has a "large" travel of 130 mm and the shock absorbers are adjustable in preload. The braking system is specific to the V9: at the front a master cylinder and a Brembo 4-piston caliper acting on a 320 mm disc, at the rear a floating two-piston caliper controlled by a master cylinder with integrated reservoir and a 260 mm disc.

A Continental two-channel ABS is combined with the deactivatable MGCT (Moto Guzzi traction control), which can limit engine torque to ensure better grip of the rear tire.

The electronic instrument panel is in harmony with the general style of the motorcycle: the speedometer is analog, while the other information is contained on a digital dial (kilometers, partial and daily trips with automatic reset eight hours after the trip. last shutdown, travel time, instantaneous and average consumption, clock, exterior temperature, average speed, MGCT level, gear indicator engaged and adjustable maximum speed indicator).

In the rich accessories catalog we find the MG-MP (multimedia platform for connecting a smartphone to the motorcycle to obtain a quantity of useful information: speed, instantaneous power, instantaneous torque, instantaneous and average consumption, average speed, voltage of the battery, longitudinal acceleration, Eco Ride function and … engine speed, since the tachometer is curiously absent from the original package.

Do you also want to optimize the use of traction control? No problem: the "Grip Warning" on your MG-MP will tell you when and how it came into action. A dedicated warning light will alert you even in case of excessive use of the grip.

Thanks to the use of gyroscopes and algorithms developed for the V9, your smartphone is transformed into an angle measuring instrument. It is thus possible to configure limit thresholds, both for the angle take-off and for the speed and engine speed, the exceeding of which is indicated by the lighting of the relative lights or by the flashing of the virtual instrument panel. Almost "MotoGP Inside" !

All this information can of course be memorized and it is even possible to find your vehicle, located at the last place where its engine was cut. Finally, we note, as standard, the immobilizer and the USB socket under the steering tube, useful for charging your phone or connecting a GPS. Moto geek, this new V9? Still, under her classic dress, she hides her game well !

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