Good question. I didn’t notice when I sat on the bike. Hopefully metal or at least ethanol resistant plastic
Well, I arrived at Teasdales in Thirsk just after 9am yesterday, given a tour around the bike the keys and asked if I could have it back for midday. Tank full of fuel, which was nice.
First impressions where of a very nicely built bike which felt very robust with gorgeous looks. Getting on the bike it felt very tall, but I’ve only got a 29" inside legs. Not a real problem as despite it’s true weight it felt very light. There is an option of a higher and lower seat, but these are a cost option.
Lighter flywheel means you don’t get that big block rumble, but despite the engine and exhaust sounding somewhat muted it’s still unmistakeably a Guzzi. An Arrow can, can be fitted, but at an eyewatering £870. Setting out into fairly heavy traffic and you immediately become aware how easy this bike is to ride, fuelling is faultless.
Out on the open road the engine feels light and quite revvy, but then I am used to riding a Tiger 1200 and an 1100 Breva and Griso. The riding position is almost perfect for me, nice wide bars with very little reach, loads of legroom with the pegs set with a slight rear bias. Within a few miles I felt as though I’d been riding this bike for years. My god you can throw it about and it really does corner like it’s on rails. Controls where all very intuitive apart from changing the ride modes, which calls for a double stab on the starter button.
Engine is really quite flat at anything under 3krpm but pulls fairly rewardingly after that. Absolutely enough power on the tight A roads and gnarly B roads and delivers it in a beautiful manner. I did have a quick run up to 90 and it felt fairly vibe free.
Would I want to tour Europe or the UK with a pillion and loaded with camping gear, no. There are better bikes out there for that job, mine being the Tiger 1200. I feel the TT would be a little underpowered for me in this situation.
Would I want to travel Europe or the UK on this bike with 30lb of gear strapped on the back and take the road less travelled. You bet your life I would.
I was out about 2 1/2 hours around the North York Moors and can’t remember the last time I had so much fun, and I ride those roads a lot.
Back at Thirsk, and after a little negotiation I ordered the Rosso Kalahari, a little extravagant for a second bike, but hey lifes to short. Sadly my beautiful 1100 Griso will have to go. Should have the TT by the end of April.
Lucky boy! Looks the best colour option to me.
Nice one Steve. Are you trading in the Griso?
Sadly the Griso has to go, unless I can come up with 3.5k before the end of April when the TT is due for delivery. I really like the Griso although the ride is a little extreme for my ageing body. Up side is, I got £100 more in part ex than I paid for it.
Nice one
I took a V85 for a spin on Saturday from our new Northern Ireland dealer, McCrumm’s in Portadown, and was very impressed. Stepping off my Stelvio the V85 felt familiar straight away, but noticably less top heavy and a bit smaller (lower seat than Stelvio), but still nice and roomy. Very comfortable riding position and seat felt good. The steering is a little slow, but can be turned well with a shove in the wide bars, and the suspension was very good at soaking up the bumps - wonder if it would have lighter steering with cast wheels rather than the heavy spoked ones fitted for the look. Handling felt very good and the bike was very easy to ride. The V85 does not have the kick of the 1200 but it is certainly not slow, a scoots up to illegal speeds pretty quickly - certainly didn’t feel lacking in power. Nice and smooth, but has the Guzzi feel to it. Still not sure about these new colour flat screen displays, but speedo easy to read. No tacho that I could see, but has bands of yellow (and red) lights along the top of the dash that light up as you get closer to the red line. Didn’t play with the rider modes or cruise control, but switch gear is nice and seems of a high quality. I love the look of the thing with the red frame and white and yellow paint work. Fit and finish seem very good. Brakes are excellent, look to be the same Brembos as on the Stelvio. Think this bike could really liven up Moto Guzzi sales, although it has quite a bit of competition at £11,000.
Well, still waiting for my V85, almost succumbed and had a yellow one which Teasdales have in stock, but managed to overcome my eagerness and hanging on for the Rosso Kalahri.
Andy at Teasdales informed me they have sold and delivered 14 of the yellow bikes with another 7 in various colours on order.
Called in to Teasdales on the way home from a few days in the Dales last week. They had a very nice 16plate 1200 gs triple black TE. It may be madness but I ended up doing a deal against my Tiger 1200, which means that the 1100 Griso which was going in P/Ex for the V85 can now remain in my fold.
I love riding that Griso. If I don’t like the GS I can swap back to a Triumph when I’ve saved a few more quid, I’d be pushed to find an 1100 Griso as nice as mine. That’s my logic anyway. 
Makes sense to me 
Are you getting one Mike?
Is very tempting but current finances and my rather iffy sense of balance dictate otherwise. 
If in a few years time a second hand one comes along with a sidecar attached … 
Dropped off my Bellagio for a basic service & MOT last week at Scooter Cafe in Maidenhead. They kindly offered me a go on their V85TT demonstrator. Spent about an hour on it around the roads of Ascot and Windsor, very impressed with the bike. Good seating position, comfy and great handling, bike felt light and responsive. Seat height is a tad on the tall side, not a problem for me as I used to ride Supermotos but could possibly put some people off. Engine really starts pulling from just below 4,000 RPM and felt quite similar in power delivery to the Bellagio although the V85 is slightly more powerful by about 5 bhp, and the torque is a couple of lbs per foot more than the Bellagio. Very impressed also with the TFT dash, easy to see and going under bridges it changes colour to make it even easier to see under poor lighting conditions.
Would I buy one if I was in the market for a new bike? Very possibly, I was definitely impressed with it and think they look great, also it is in a league of one regarding 750/850cc with a shaft drive. The only thing that didn’t quite leap out and grab me was the feel/noise of the engine but then that’s probably to be expected these days with Euro 5 emissions and sound levels etc. My Bellagio engine was designed 10+ years before the modified V9 engine in the V85, just didn’t hear anything coming from the air box or exhaust on the V85 unlike the Bellagio. Whilst waiting for my bike to be serviced I then walked along to Bahnstormer to have a nose at the Urban GS, some bloke was pulling away on one when I arrived and it was louder than the V85 but may have had an aftermarket exhaust on, which is of course an available extra on the V85 in the shape of an Arrows slip-on.
Scooter Cafe are friendly and helpful, as well as the yellow Sahara V85TT demo bike they do have a brand new V85 TT in their window, same yellow/white colour as their demo bike, the one in the window is just waiting for someone to go in and buy it! They also have a red & white one coming sometime in June. That would be interesting to see in the flesh although I do like the “McDonalds” colour scheme of the Sahara yellow 
Cheers!
Mark
photo I took on my phone outside Scooter Cafe showing the V85 TT demo bike I took out for an hour alongside my Bellagio
Picked mine up at the end of May. I was hoping to go to wales on it but couldn’t get the run in mileage done in time. Returned from Wales took out the V85 and it made some sort of horrible crunching sound before lurching forward and fully engaging gear. It only did it when cold, but every time when it was cold, once you’d done a couple hundred metres all was fine.
Teasdale have been great and gave me a loan bike for the duration. A new clutch is going in, which has marred early ownership of an otherwise cracking bike.
Hopefully, I should have it back by next Wednesday when there should be a Full QD exhaust system to fit. Which may go someway to addressing the rather puny exhaust note.
Took V85 to Colchester Moto Guzzi last week for first -900 mile service- loaned me a Z650 - ugh, but good for filtering on A12.
Service cost £235 plus £144 to fit the centre stand, engine bars and Multi Media Platform. The latter is very handy, showing turn by turn navigation from my phone, plus speed limits and speed cameras on the TFT screen! Have not tried phone or music as I need to concentrate on the ride!
All staff very pleasant and the lad on Reception - Liam- said his Dad has the same bike! They had 2 yellow bikes in stock which seemed to contradict stories of long waiting lists.
Hi Steve, sorry to hear that your brand new V85 needs a new clutch 
hope it all got fixed OK? I’ve got a QD can on my Bellagio, I can vouch for the quality and also sound of QD cans 
Please continue to keep us all up to date on the ownership of the V85 
@Badger, glad to hear your V85 is running well without problems
Cheers
Mark