The Moto Guzzi V85 adventure bike is apparently moving closer from concept to reality.
Introduced at EICMA last year, the V85 got all sorts of people hot and bothered, as it’s not just a cool adventure bike concept, but also a really cool retro motorcycle. At least, it looks like it would be—the bike unveiled at EICMA was just a concept machine, with no guarantee of future production.
But, that might be about to change, as patents featuring the V85 seem to be popping up around the world, like these ones on ADVPulse. The patents show a machine very similar to the concept bike that Moto Guzzi originally showed off, meaning it’s a lot more likely we’ll see that bike soon, as a replacement for the Stelvio.
The Stelvio was V85’s previous take on the transverse-V tourer, a 1200 cc behemoth that was still capable of bashing its way through events like the Fundy Adventure Rally. The V85 concept had an air-cooled 850 cc transverse V-twin, which is likely designed to cleverly meet new emissions standards. We’ll know more when it shows up, if that really happens.
there’s a lot to love about guzzis. I’ve had my Breva for 10 years and a hundred thousand km of high speed sport-touring.
My guzzi even survived being forgotten after the telephone rang and I left it idling in my garage on a warm morning. The plastic fairing bits were literally melted off. And with remarkably little work (a few sensors and new plastic fairing bits) she was ready to go. That bike has been to every province in Canada and about half the US states. I’ll never get another sport-tourer…
Guzzi makes nice-looking bikes that are bulletproof simple and easy to work on by the owner. I love my beautiful old triumph tiger (tiger stripes on the tank!!) but adjusting the valves is a day long ordeal… I loved my previous KTM Adventure, just didn’t like the reliability (or lack thereof).
I rented a Stelvio in Italy for a couple weeks. It was a nice bike, but as an ADV, couldn’t touch my old tiger 955i, much less the newer ones (not to mention those ugly overpriced german bikes).
So here’s hoping that Guzzi can get it right! Keep it simple!
– fewer electronics (save weight)
– tubeless spoked tires
– simple reliable shaft drive
Love the looks. Love the brand. Hate the fact that there aren’t any dealers around. Guess it’s not going to do well in our neck of the woods.
Those horizontal stripes make it look heavy. I bet it’s heavy.