Moto Guzzi V85 TT test: the dolce vita of the trail !
Change in continuity. Taking up the famous adage without quoting it, Moto Guzzi reinvests the classic and versatile trail niche with this V85 TT. Forced to update its motorcycles without denying its past, the Italian firm offers a motorcycle with character, modernized and affordable. Success announced? MNC test.
V85 TT test page 1: In V and against all
Along with the great bodybuilt maxitrails, road trails on a "human" scale and truly multitasking have a bright future ahead. In any case, this is what Moto Guzzi wants to believe, drawing on the lessons learned from its failure with the: this good bike, too heavy, broke its nose against the BMW or KTM references.
- MNC Video Trial :
- MNC special file : Everything you need to know about the Moto Guzzi V85 TT
Opting for a trail of "average" displacement (853 cc all the same!), The Eagle of Mandello refuted the sharp shapes in fashion for the soft curves which make the flavor of classic motorcycles. A first in the category: the V85 TT clears the way of retro trail, much more convincingly than BMW with its "roadster-trail" .
On the customs platform, the V85 TT is ramping up (see). Always so sculptural, the longitudinal V-twin which is borrowed from them goes from 55 to 80 horses. The torque climbs from 62 to 80 Nm and the manufacturer announces that it has widened the range of use. To say that some "maxi" claim double the power !
This is the promise of honorable performance without being breathtaking, a track also explored by Honda in a more off-road register with its (95 hp). Same deduction for the price: € 11,699 in gray and € 11,899 in two-tone with red frame. Well placed, especially as the V85 TT is the only one in its segment with a transmission by shaft and universal joints, distinctive sign of the "Guzzi" with the V-twin facing the road !
If the design takes us back 40 years with delight, the inverted fork, Brembo radial braking and the separate cylinder mono-shock absorber seal the modernity of this new not so classic bike. Electronics are also present with three driving modes, traction control, mandatory ABS and cruise control. Without forgetting the essential electronic accelerator control ride by wire.
It was a stone’s throw from Cagliari, Sardinia, that the MNC discovered the V85 TT called "Classic Travel Enduro" by Moto Guzzi, the last qualifier giving a slight smile. Looking at the large color TFT screen, we take the size of the beast, less bulky than we might have thought.
Wide on the front but refined between the legs, the tank does not interfere with the installation, nor the cylinders: Moto Guzzi has not reproduced its ergonomic mistakes deplored on its first generation of V9 and that’s good. ! The position is very straight, facing a variable section handlebars potentially placed a little high and sitting on a non-adjustable saddle (830 mm).
The trail in retro
You don’t have to rock the bike from side to side to find its reasonable weight: the V-twin takes care of it with a single gas stroke. Less than before, but still … This is the magic of the reversal couple! The sound is always singular, even if time and standards now put it down. The work on the gearbox has paid off: the selection is smooth, precise, and the clutch makes you forget that this is a dry single-disc.
The first tens of kilometers by the sea are as straight as in deep America. The opportunity to test the inevitably limited deflection of the non-adjustable windshield, fortunately offered (optional) in a higher version. A simple articulation would however have made it possible to easily choose between the two levels of protection..
Perfectly domesticated, the twin accepts to descend low in the towers without knocking. In "Dolce Vita" mode, driving around 3,000 rpm does not require any effort. Below, however, its torque a bit high perched – maximum value at 5000 rpm – and its classic architecture – 2 valves per cylinder tumbled – limit the ardor of its revivals: it will probably be a little fair in duo loaded on roads collar.
It is above 3,500 rpm that this charming engine awakens and delivers delicious sensations, suction noises as a bonus. Barely sensitive to the handlebars, the vibrations are correctly filtered. We just dream of a saddle with a better padded seat to better distribute the support of the buttocks.
Stalled on the driving mode "Strada" (road) which optimizes engine performance, limits rear wheel slippage and brake lock, we willingly pass the mid-range cap to tease the top of the tachometer. Above 4000 rpm and up to almost 7000 rpm, the response to the grip is precise and instantaneous.
The power is expressed in a linear, efficient way without being overwhelming: you don’t have to be a jockey in the American Grand Prix to tame the 80 horsepower, which are also perched high: 7750 rpm! With a red zone displayed on the dashboard 850 laps before the break, the manufacturer keeps a small margin…
Even more than the engine behavior, it is the chassis that delights. The V85 TT has a balanced and lively chassis. It offers unrestrained pleasure in the eyes of some mastodons. Precise, rigorous, showing neutral in the grip and on the angle, the Italian builds confidence to the point of filing its footrests in bends without feeling either fear or frustration.
In for money
Its suspensions intelligently filter the road, even if the course taken was never degraded and the asphalt grip was always excellent. The Kayaba fork, originally set to optimize comfort, still deserves to be firmed up to perfect the fit with the shock absorber.
Closely adhering to the concept, the stock tires – or – have never been faulted. Their performances as their profiles are similar, except for the more pronounced sculptures of the French tires, more reassuring in "all-terrain".
Braking, entrusted to 4-piston calipers, is just as effective. Gradual at the start of the pressure, it becomes frankly powerful by pulling the lever hard: by forcing the line, its action even ends up destabilizing the front end, a little soft in the face of so much demand. Front / rear coupling is not the order of the day, neither is tilt-sensitive ABS or heated grips: for this price, you can’t have everything !
A good track
Over the kilometers, the Moto Guzzi V85 TT confirms its ease and goodwill. Capable of slaughtering 400 km in one go with weapons and luggage – various luggage options are available – thanks to its 23-liter tank, it will readily accommodate daily use and a few pranks on the slopes. And since we’re talking about a track…
Moto Guzzi had concocted an off-road getaway for this first test of the V85 TT. Not really an enduro special: "the test" consisted of a rolling path like those where owners of big trails dare to "venture". We have to recognize that once the off-road mode is engaged to moderate the engine response and disconnect the ABS from the rear brake, the V85 TT does not do so badly !
Correct ground clearance, weight well distributed and relatively low, progressive suspensions with 170 mm of travel: the bike is well controlled. But first of all bleeding or in the thick "gravel", it is better to be extra careful not to be "caught" by its 229 kg in running order. Nothing more normal.
Verdict: another way to succeed
Moto Guzzi does not try to ape the competition … and that’s good! The V85 TT is quirky, accessible and simply … irresistible. To find a place in a competitive market, the V85 TT can count on its physical qualities and its price, which the divas of the category no longer even seek to make affordable..
Moto Guzzi is casting a wide net to storm the mountains, literally and figuratively! More expensive and consensual, the and others have better watch out … Unless the new, even more accessible but much more off-road type, comes to put sticks in its rims of 19 and 17 inches, moreover devoid of tangential radii and therefore with an inner tube…
- All the details of our V85TT test with the photos captioned in
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