Moto Guzzi believes the
mid-sized machine is
most relevant
arrival night after dinner and drinks the
Moto Guzzi team gave a briefing on the
V85TT outlining their design philosophy
and what they had wanted to achieve. Moto
Guzzi believes the mid-sized machine is the
most relevant and capable for the broadest
number of riders and abilities – hence the
853cc engine. They also wanted to build a
bike which is a finely balanced package of
style and function. A machine just as happy
in and around town, out on the open road
exploring and some modest adventure work
to justify the TT tag. I’m sure you’ve been
wondering about the TT bit – no, it’s not
Tourist Trophy, but, rather, it stands for Tutto
Terreno in Italian or All Terrain for us. So,
to paraphrase, they wanted an easy to ride,
handsome bike with decent power and wide-
ranging ability.
38 KIWI RIDER
UP CLOSE
There is no doubt Moto Guzzi has got
the easy-to-ride and handsome elements
absolutely spot on. First up, the V85 looks
cool. The finish and build quality look superb,
but more than that it just looks “right” with
elements of both old and new whizzed
together into a coherent whole. There are
nice touches everywhere you look, it even
gets a USB port.
The transversely mounted air/oil cooled
engine has some benefits other than
maintaining tradition and adding that unique
‘Guzzi’ character. There are no possible
coolant leaks for a start… and those splayed
cylinders help keep the centre of gravity
low by allowing the fuel tank to be placed