I've posted here (on and off) about my lovely 2016 V7II Stornello. She was my first and only Guzzi, sharing the stable with some Triumphs, BMWs, and Yamahas (they come and go, but never more than 3 total in the garage at a time).
So I hope you won't mind this post about the latest addition to my stable,
numero due.(FWIW I also post over on ADVRider, so if you're a reader of both, apologies in advance for being a repeater)
Anyways, I was looking to move on from a 2020 Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE, which I had bought as a replacement for an aging Super Tenere, and which I
intended to use as my distance ADV bike.
It's a truly awesome machine, and I've taken her motocamping several times up to Vermont, but she's not
quite the comfortable distance machine/pack mule that I wanted her to be.
I thought about going back to BMW and getting either the outgoing R1250GS, or the new R1300GS....basicall
y a fahncy Super Tenere, except more expensive and less reliable. But after already having had a couple of the midsized BMW ADV bikes (F650 and F800GS), with recalls galore and the PITA of having to ride up to Max BMW for service, I started to think, "what about another Guzzi?"
I'd always admired the V85, and the more I read about them, the more folks seemed to love them. Not the fastest (I'm not interested in fast). Not the techiest (I'm not that interested in riding an iPad). Not the gnarliest off-roader (neither am I—love dirt and fire roads, but that's as adventurous as I generally want to get).
But comfortable? Man, do I like comfort. Reliable? Apparently very, and even more so as the model years have rolled on. Stylish? I mean, it's an Italian model...and I have a hard time deciding which "outfit" I like best. Bang-for-your-buck? With Guzzi's December incentive, I could
literally ride home with TWO fully-farkled V85s (with panniers, top cases, engine guards, aux lights—the whole shebang) for the cost of 1 (one!) R1250GS.
So I took a drive to up Hamlin's, which is fortunately just a lovely 30 minute backroad ride away...
Spent some time with Jim Hamlin (the GuzziGuru himself) and John, his talented and capable sidekick.
And after some hemming and hawing over a 2022 Centenario and a 2023 Captain America, I fell for this:
Ironically, it was sitting in the
exact same place that my Stornello sat, way back in 2016...
Talk about destiny.
A couple of weeks later, and this lovely Guardia d'Onore is sitting in my (now frozen) driveway:
Number 1456, reporting for duty.
I managed to get one or two VERY short rides before the cold set in, so now it's a garage queen until spring, unless global warming cooperates and grants us some warm winter riding days here in New England.
Great doing business with Jim and John and the rest of Team Hamlin. They're the real deal, and I'm delighted to have not one but two of their bikes now in the stable.
Does this officially now make me a Guzzisti? Or is that a Guzzisto? Or...a Guzzistwo?
