Congratulations on the bike! If I was obliged to name my bike, it would have to be "Big Bird"...
I've been driving mostly bikes that will vibrate your spine through your brain, so I don't really notice much vibrations. I mean they're there, but to me they're minor. Plus the cruise control solves that for long rides, but it would be cool if Todd could somehow eliminate it completely or most of the vibrations. Definitely waiting on Todd to get his hand on his so we can get some products for it.
I recently purchased the lower seat, fog lights + fog light kit, engine guards, the aluminium/plastic side bags, center stand, and the foldable mirrors. I'm waiting on them to arrive to install.
I haven't purchased a larger windscreen or an exhaust yet for a few reasons. Firstly, I'm waiting on Puig to put out their windscreen for the V85TT, which I'm quite certain they will at some point in the near future. Secondly, as a 1.74m rider, the current short windscreen on its lowest position is just fine for me, even at highway speeds. Yes, its windy, but I live in the Middle East.. I ride in 48+ Celsius weather (120+F) during the Summer. I need wind passing through me at these temperatures... But I don't get any head bobbling from the wind. Amazingly, the wind that passes over my head is clean. Maybe I'll switch to a larger screen for the Winter.
As for the exhaust, I contemplated purchasing the Agostini Cat delete along with the Zard slip-on, which, might I add, sounds absolutely astounding; however, the exhaust guard rubs against my heel and is quite annoying at times. Hopefully Todd will solve this when he gets to it, but from what I've seen, there doesn't seem to be a way around this. Hopefully I'm wrong.
The gear indicator is just stupid. Moto Guzzi need a software update ASAP. There is a significant delay when running through the gears and the indicated gear on the screen. The "dash" that appears when the clutch is pulled is just very unnecessary.
The suspension on both the front and rear need to be altered with, for me atleast. The front seems to be stiff to the point where I can feel the slight imperfections on the road through the handlebars, and the rear is extremely soft (very comfortable). I've seen reviews of people scraping the pegs very easily and from what I understood, Moto Guzzi had the suspension in the softest setting, therefore heavier riders seemed to scrape the pegs easier than lighter riders. I'm 70 Kgs and I'm pushing the bike near its leaning angle limit (in my mind), and I'm having trouble scraping the pegs easily. I've done it once or twice but that was just me riding like I was Valentino Rossi's 3rd cousin twice removed.
The lights illuminate the road infront really well. I don't like how they placed the switch for the DRL, the low beams, and the low beams + fog lights on the right side of the handlebar, though it's something that you'll probably use only once or twice during your entire ride, so it's not a big deal. I would've like if they gave you the option to turn the fog lights without having the low beam on, which brings me to the heated grips button.
Since the heated grips is an additonal option for the V85TT, they placed a small button to the right of the horn button which turns the heated grips on and off (there might be levels of heat intensity, I do not know). I'm thinking about wiring the fog lights to the heated grips button so I can turn them on along with my DRL only. I don't know if that is possible or not bit we'll see.
It rides like a hot knife through butter. The handling is just spot on. Power is sufficient especially above 3500 RPM. The claimed 80 hp is obviously to the crank. I would eat my own hair if it did anything above 55rwhp, but I feel like it has more to give.
Low speed handling is an absolute peach. No jerkiness to the throttle at low revs / speeds. It handles adequately when you need to lane split, but that transverse V-twin will cause you to adjust the steering often at very low speeds.
23 liter tank, and boy does it manage those 23 liters VERY well. I've managed 400 Km of city driving on a single tank and I wasn't even trying. I bet it can do 500 Km of long distance touring without an issue, which is darn impressive.
The tires (Michelin Anakees) give very good grip on dry roads, I haven't tried them in the wet, because the Middle East. I've done like 5 Kms of sand riding. It does well I guess. I'm no expert offroader so I don't know how it is supposed to behave.
I've done 1,500 Kms on the bike for now, and many many more will come. 1,500 Kms is the first service mark so we'll see how reliable it is after that!
Here it is in my garage, there's a 2019 KTM Super Duke GT and a 2004 V-Rod missing in the picture. If I get the chance sometime I'll take a proper picture.
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Wow Faisal! I love that garage with the bikes! Jealous. And looking at the outdoor pics, i think i need to consider a move - at least for the non-summer months! Thanks for the great write up.
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