All Duels – Moto Guzzi 1200 Stelvio 8V Vs BMW R 1200 GS: The Throne Wobbles! – Civilized Italian or German adventurer

Posted on by admin

Moto Guzzi 1200 Stelvio 8V Vs BMW R 1200 GS: the throne wavers !

All Duels - Moto Guzzi 1200 Stelvio 8V Vs BMW R 1200 GS: The Throne Wobbles! - Civilized Italian or German adventurer

Unbeatable since its release in 2004, the BMW R 1200 GS reigns with an iron fist in the big trail category. But the Moto Guzzi Stelvio 8V has dressed up its weapons and could well create a surprise … Comparison test between sea and countryside.

Civilized Italian or German adventurer

Placed on their central stand, the Stelvio and the GS have something to impress passers-by with their XXL proportions. At first, bikers under 1.80m are also intimidated by the respectable saddle heights. On both motorcycles, the seat is adjustable: between 820 and 840 mm for the Stelvio and between 850 and 870 mm for the GS.

On the German, the 820 mm low saddle is a free option while a 180 € lowering kit is also available to bring the saddle down to 790 mm, which makes it very accessible.

Despite its proportions, the Guzzi is also quite accessible. With its handlebars of a reasonable width, it is much less typical trail than its competitor.

Two big "King Size" trails…

The driving position offered by the Stelvio is more grouped than that of the GS. This is enough to reassure those who would be intimidated by his size. Beware on the other hand with its weight, because its enormous tank filled with 32 liters of gasoline still comes to seal the 257 kg empty ("fuel senza" …) of the machine. And even if its center of gravity is rather low, you have to be a little careful…

The arms spread by the wide handlebars, the pilot of the R 1200 GS already wants to do battle! The comfort of his saddle is also firmer. Higher in its basic version, it is forgiven by a very contained weight of 203 kg dry (229 kg all full), which is all the more forgotten that the center of gravity of the machine is at the level of the flat-twin … i.e. very low !

Although offering more travel, the suspensions of the GS (Telelever at the front and Paralever at the rear) are firmer, at the beginning at least. Remember that as an option, they can be adjustable by opting for the ESA Enduro (685 €), included in the GS2 Pack (1270 €).

… and richly endowed

The two big trails of our comparative test are rather well equipped: both offer fairly complete on-board computers, central and side stands, adjustable bubbles (manually!) And heated grips. Their large luggage rack and numerous anchoring points make it easy to transport very large bags.

There are also 12 V sockets. We prefer the two "standard" sockets of the Stelvio (one on the dashboard and another under the passenger seat) to that of the Behème which is "owner". It’s silly and restrictive … but that’s how it is !

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *