I Rushed to pick it up 300+ miles away in Portland, Oregon on July 2nd. Didn't ride it until I got to the Washington Moto Guzzi Clubs 4th of July Deep Forest Campout between Mount Rainier & Mt St. Helens. She is a Red&White one - losing virginity at the Independence day Guzzi campout - so my wife Joanne named her "
LIBERTY". Joanne and I travel around the country in a smallish 24' RV with LIBERTY riding on a hitch rack. The Liberty weighs the max allowable weight for the rack as well as the hitch. Should work out fantastic.
1st Impressions:
Breaking it in on the paved forest service roads was exhilarating, to say the least. After putting nearly 100 miles on it at constantly varying rpm's I opened it up to 104mph, it had no strain getting there and had plenty more speed left in that throttle. From start till you reach your intended speed the engine pulls strong & smoothly the entire range of acceleration. At 4200rpms it seems to activate the afterburners and you can feel it propel you even faster forward - smoothly. The shifting started off being rough & clunky, but with experimentation, it mellowed out; I found that by applying a tiny bit of preload on the shifter with 1/2 clutch pulled smoothly and it would snick into any gear as smooth as the best shifting Guzzi I've ever had. (It also speed shifted very efficiently.) The instrument panel indicates what gear you are in, but it is blank unless the clutch is out and you are moving in gear. Like, if you are sitting at a stop and look to see what gear you happen to be in - it is blank, does not tell you! so, what good is that? I did not like the high tingly vibrations after 4200rpm, makes my hands go numb. When getting on the throttle the engine vibrations are pretty strong, then after 4100rpm just get higher pitched and zing through that handlebar. Gotta fix that somehow. The throttle is super stiff and hard to turn. I know it is ride-by-wire and should not be that stiff, so hopefully at my 1st service that can be remedied. The Brakes are GREAT. The instrument panel is like a jet fighter cockpit - it's awesome. The tires are howling on some pavement when you lean? You Betcha, I took it Off-Roading on a 26-mile forest service road full of washouts, frost heaves, & pot-holes coming down from the rim of Mt Saint Helens crater. It behaved BRILLIANTLY. I didn't test it's limits by any means, but it was really really fun and the sort of mixed riding surfaces I will do while traveling.
2-UP! My wife Joanne is always riding behind me, and this bike has to work for us 2-up in all conditions. I am super pleased to report that the seating arrangements on this bike are simply excellent. The seat is long and wide, soft yet supportive. Longest ride so far was 5 hours: out - lunch - back without any complaints, sores, cramps, or stiffness. I'm so glad I bit the bullet and bought this Moto Guzzi V85TT. It is sure to give us many miles of pleasure and Liberty.
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