First Impressions: Moto Guzzi Stelvio

Editor Ross has been the Moto Guzzi Stelvio in Spain. What does he assume? Right here’s what that you must know:

We’ve been out within the hills close to Almeria in Spain to search out out what the brand new Moto Guzzi Stelvio is made from.

Named after the legendary Italian cross and primarily based largely on the much-lauded V100 Mandello (with a number of key modifications), it has fairly the repute to uphold.

The excellent news is it appears nice and sounds nice. That’s a reasonably good begin, proper? There’s a shade of Triumph Tiger to the entrance finish, however the sharp angled tank and large transverse V-Twin lump protruding the edges give it a glance all of its personal. It may solely be a Guzzi.

Racking up a number of miles on the freeway on our option to the great things, the Stelvio proved itself extremely snug. The shorter-than-most 830mm seat may be very plush and completely sculpted, with sufficient slimming on the entrance to make it simple to flatfoot for the shorter riders on the launch. Regardless of its bulk, its truly surprisingly simple transfer round too – partly as a result of It carries the overwhelming majority of its weight low down.

Guzzi advised us they’ve spent loads of time perfecting the bikes aerodynamics. It’s tremendous secure at excessive speeds and the electronically-adjustable display screen is a pleasant contact, doing a superb job of deflecting the wind to the highest of my helmet in its highest setting.

As quickly as we hit the twisties, the information rider opened issues up. It was fairly the introduction – and though the bike proved itself very able to hustling, it took a little bit of time earlier than I felt utterly at dwelling.

The dealing with’s good, and it’s been as much as the duty of being correctly thrown round – however there’s a slight sense of vagueness. That’s common for journey bikes, although it doesn’t really feel fairly as surefooted as among the competitors. A light-weight contact of again brake appears to tighten issues up sufficient to assist.

The suspension is properly sufficient setup; however the Sachs USD forks up entrance and the KYB monoshock on the rear actually aren’t good. There’s nonetheless an honest steadiness of consolation and efficiency – and we have been asking an terrible lot of it at present on the quick, twisty roads.

The brakes are respectable although. They’re correct Brembo monoblocs, and though there’s not precisely superbike ranges of chunk, they assist the Stelvio cease rapidly and effectively with solely a bit dive from the entrance suspension whenever you actually seize a handful.

As with every Guzzi, the engine is a spotlight. It’s versatile and enjoyable. It’s not the quickest factor on the earth or as characterful as I anticipated, however the liquid-cooled 1042cc transverse V-Twin kicks out a good 113bhp and 77lb-ft torque. There’s a pleasant whack of low down torque, and it pulls properly up high too. The gearbox is a bit agricultural, needing a agency hand (notably between 1st and 2nd). The clutch is loads gentle although – and Guzzi has additionally labored to make it simpler to shift with out it.

A short stint on gravel means that the Stelvio may not be most at dwelling within the dust. There’s a selected rider mode (along with 4 extra highway targeted ones) and you’ll flip the ABS off totally, however even then, I believe it’d battle with something a lot trickier than a large open fireplace path. Although I doubt many riders would need to do greater than that anyway.

The highest spec £15,400 bike additionally comes with a complete load of rider aids. There’s a Ahead Collision Warning system which flashes and beeps at you whenever you get too near so one thing infront – and there’s a rear radar factor too which flashes a warning on the sprint and lights up a bit spot on the indicator. I’m unsure its all that helpful, and it’s a bit irritating that you simply’ve acquired to spend additional cash to make full use of the entrance radar, and have the ability to use the Radar Cruise Management. If it have been my cash, I’d be extra inclined to go for the £14,700 base mannequin – and spend the additional money on some aftermarket goodies.

There’s a lot to love in regards to the latest iteration of the Stelvio. The motor and the brakes are high, it’s snug, it appears good – and it gives riders one thing a bit totally different within the more and more crowded journey bike market. Is it one of the best? Most likely not. But it surely’s a greater than succesful journey tourer that many riders will discover loads to love about.

That is only a temporary style of the total using report, tapped up by the facet of the highway whereas ready my flip to trip previous the photographers. If you would like a extra complete and thought of evaluate, make sure to choose up the following concern of Motorbike Sport and Leisure journal.