All Tests – The Italian custom – In the saddle: surprising and agile

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The Italian custom

All Tests - The Italian custom - In the saddle: surprising and agile

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 fittings. So, sporty custom or quiet roadster? A bit of both … Try !

In the saddle: surprising and agile

Once in the saddle, the Guzz ‘continues to mix contrasts: the dashboard framed in chrome skips the tachometer and takes on an austere ivory hue. But a closer look at its content contradicts this apparent old-fashioned appearance: as directly taken from the cockpit of a Boeing, the accessory is in fact a real on-board computer whose functions are flickered on the stalk. left !

Alongside the analog speedometer, a large orange screen – with adjustable intensity – reveals an odometer, the outside temperature, the battery amperage, the time, the instantaneous consumption, a stopwatch (!) And two trips different recording the mileage, the driving time, the average consumption, the average and maximum speed … Difficult to do more complete! And if this debauchery of information is a bit confusing at first, the habit is quickly acquired, to the point that one would come to rail against their absence on other motorcycles !

The dry clutch is hydraulically operated, and just like its right-hand counterpart, its lever is adjustable to suit everyone. The seat is soft and the pilot is well secured thanks to the backrest made up of the welcoming passenger seat (thicker on this version). Unfortunately, accessibility to the little ones is no less difficult, because of a widely spread crotch, high weight and a turning radius worthy of a cruise ship..

The driving position is quite pleasant, the bust straight and the arms outstretched without excess. Certainly, the large handlebars generously spread the arms, but the legs bend naturally. The controls are intuitive and if the knees of the older ones did not strike the cylinder heads while the exhaust elbow burns the heel of their boot, the Bellagio would be close to flawless … Moto Guzzi assures however that it has reviewed the path of its silencers to mitigate this phenomenon on the latest models.

To close the chapter of faults, the beauty of Mandello will be able to exasperate more than one with its inaccessible crutch lug, its inefficient mirrors and placed at the same height as those of cars, its horn control instead of the indicators, its gasoline tank cap without hinge and its oil gauge by pull tab hidden below the left cylinder head, just next to the exhaust: burns guaranteed when checking the hot engine !

The Bellagio makes up for it, however, with its large handlebars making it easier to idle around town, very good overall balance, smooth controls, a precise gearbox – although slow – and generous space under the saddle giving easy access to the main fuses. From the first turns of the wheels, the Italian effectively makes you forget many of its small imperfections thanks to its master asset: its 935.6 cc twin-cylinder developing 7.8 Nm of torque at 6,000 rpm, 80% of which is available from 2,800 turns !

Sorcerer and very present in view of its measured power, the 90 ° V-block sends its pulses from idle – with a burst of gas, the motorcycle waddles on the stand under the effect of the overturning torque! – and its revving turns out to be pleasing, especially as punctuated by a rumble of old rally GT! The twin is certainly not very polished: it vibrates slightly at high revs, hiccup without restraint when requested too low in the towers and lack of trunk in the towers (at 90 km / h in 6th gear, it is better to downshift to exceed serenely). Nevertheless, it is easily tamed and allows you to tackle clear roads or armored peripheries without worry..

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