felt significant . It may have been a placebo effect because the suspension is not altered , so whatever throttle mapping is utilised it certainly seemed to smooth the ride in the rough . I purposely refrained from engaging Sport mode for the first week ; mainly to give confidence to Carolyn . But when the time came , the experience of ‘ rarking ’ through the twisting Pyrénées in 3rd and 4th gears at peak torque 6750rpm has become an indelible memory . The engine ’ s 115hp peaks at 8500rpm which was not possible to obtain on this trip on account of the fact that I wish to remain married . However , on the freeway it could pull away with force from 3500rpm in top gear . Certainly thrilling but a timely tap on the shoulder from behind reminded me that it was time to revert to touring mode . The eye-catching design and rich exhaust note of the V100 motor reverberates deep within your chest and every time I sat in the seat ( which Carolyn assures me was very comfortable for her as well ), I savoured every minute , every hour and every day and had no desire to be anywhere else in the world .
LUGGAGE 30 riding days of two-up riding requires careful packing . The bike came with two Moto Guzzi side panniers , which , according to Carolyn , allowed ease of mounting and dismounting and a good sitting position . As the bike was too new to have its top box fitted , we borrowed a friend ’ s Kriega gear which I believe was more comfortable for a pillion than a top box would have been . However , it was more of a faff to secure each day .
SMALL ISSUES My fellow riders and I concurred ( we swapped to give everyone an opportunity to experience the bike ) that the gearbox felt somewhat ‘ agricultural ’, and when engaging first gear there was a huge clunk followed by audible clunking up the gears . It was virtually new when I rode it , so hopefully factors like this and the
KIWI RIDER 63