Coffee, nibbles, cakes, slices,
biscotti and pikelets...
M
id winter in Auckland is always wet,
and occasionally cold. The Southern
Polar blasts which bring snow to
low levels usually dissipate after powdering
the central plateau ski fields. But every year
some spiral in from the West to the East in
freezing clockwise curls. Lucky us, one was on
its way to Vin Alto, high up in the Hunua Hills
above Auckland where the Moto Guzzi V85TT
launch was being held.
Inside the great hall of the dining area, a
very Italian spread was laid out, and on the
hearth was a roaring log fire. Coffee, nibbles,
cakes and slices, biscotti, salmon pikelets,
and assorted delights were supplied for the
dessicated and starved journos, bikers, and
afficionados of Italian machinery.
It’s a tough life being a writer sometimes.
Raewyn from Salero Imports put on a
hell of a day for the riders and testers,
and the warmth of that room made each
excursion out on the new Guzzi’s a treat.
Grandmother’s Lasagne and Tiramisu
followed and then afternoon tea of gluhwein,
cakes and treats.
Fat bastards ‘r us.
Fortunately, Rob Maskell planned a great
route tootling through the byways of the
Hunua Hills and the wet conditions added a
certain slippery frisson to the narrow roads.
This is a bike which has piqued the interest
of many, not just those who are fans of the
Italian marque.
There will be reviews galore in the coming
weeks, and I don’t need to pre-empt the work
of the reviewers here, but suffice to say that
we ate like Kings, rode like Princes, and paid
like paupers. And the weather be damned!
The V85TT all rounder from Guzzi has been
long awaited, and there don’t seem to be
any more staunch fans of a single marque
than Moto Guzzi riders. Descending into
minutiae of detail about drive shafts and
subframe builds is interesting for a while but
eventually the call to ‘take arms against a sea
of troubles’ and head off on the highway is
too strong and the charm and wizardry of
exceptional Italian metal exerts itself again.
And exceptional it is, read about it here
shortly. Don’t envy us, go. Ride.
KIWI RIDER 95