Guzzi Experience Sicily

[Tkelly]

Moto and I and our wives recently completed the  group tour around Sicily and it was literally the trip of a lifetime,not just for the riding but the scenery,ancient and medeival sites,food,accommodations,logistics and companions.Fortunat ely our wives declined the cheap option to ride 2up  with us as the bikes and the terrain made that s bad idea as 2 couples went down,one woman got her ankle caught an ruptured her Achilles tendon.We were the oldest riders,most were in their 40s and all were very good and faster than me,even on the new Stelvio.The tour supplied a Mandello an a couple new v7 Stones as well as Stelvios.The riding was on mountain switchbacks,highways ,vertical village narrow streets,country backroads in very rough shape ,and some city traffic in which we learned about lane splitting,including using the centerline as a lane.The new Stelvio was a lighter and I think lower bike than my old one so it was very comfortable during low speed And parking situations.It has plenty of power but no more than my 2014,handled ok in the switchbacks but not a well as the Mandello or Stone.My only complaint was that the lunch stops took 2 hours every day for the multi courses to be consumed,the we had 2 hour dinners every night.Some of us,not me ,wisely skipped a few dinners and avoided the pasta tumors .Moto can weigh in on the sporting nature of the riding ,for me I am grateful to be alive .

[moto]

Nice summary, Tkelly. 

There were 15 Guzzis strung out single file behind our fast-riding tour leader. Most couldn't or wouldn't keep up so the group stretched out over miles sometimes. Bikes were posted on the fly at intersections to mark the way, and then rejoined at the rear, only to begin overtaking again to get to the front.

The cornering and overtaking was pretty aggressive at the front. I started out as a slower rider but regained some old technique and became fast by midweek, thereafter riding toward the front. Comments and praise ensued, and after a prolonged dice with a dominant Austrian rider on his 1400, mutual embracing took place in front of the lead group. It wasn't quite like winning the Targa Florio -- which took place on these roads from 1906 to the 1970s -- but, still....





My V7 850 Stone was superior to the Stelvii and even the Mandello in the quick riding through incredibly twisty roads. I kept the revs up at 3500 or 4000 at all times, where the torque is. The immediate response from the physically-connected throttle couldn't be matched by the larger ride-by-wire bikes, so I often blew them off before they knew what was happening.

I also rediscovered an old mode of feeling traction in the corners.

I loved the tachometer with its peripheral digital display, which is all I looked at the whole time. The last day I realized I didn't know how many gears the bike had since I was only interested in keeping it in the power band. (It turned out to have six speeds and a gear number display on the instrument, which I had no use for.)





I used to be a fast rider around Mulholland Highway, where I lived in California, but 30+ years in Wisconsin made me slow. This was decidedly the best ride of my life. I am looking for a yellow V7 850 of my own.

One thing worth mentioning is that non-Guzzis are prohibited in the Guzzi Experience tours, doubtless to keep faster bikes away. But the pace set by the European riders was still very quick.

[Groover]

Fun, I grew up in Sicily, very very familiar with the riding styles, which are much tamer actually these days. My heavy riding days there were pretty much the entire 80's decade.

What was the riding tour called, and they also provided the motorcycles? What was the itinerary and where was base (start and finish) - so many questions!

Thanks for sharing, and very glad to hear of this especially being my stomping grounds!

[Tkelly]

It is called Sicilia,Moto Guzzi Experience,motorcycles,gas ,food ,lodging are included.Everthing is first class.It is all on the website.There are 2 guides,one leader and a van driver for luggage and a spare bike.The cost was 4500 euros and was 9 days hotels were doubles unless you paid extra for a single.We circled the island from Palermo.The weather was great except for a downpour as we returned to Palermo,we rode through foot deep water in the city on the way to the hotel.I have no idea what people have to do to get a drivers license because if rules of the road exist they are nothing like here,and no enforcement I saw.I would do it again either in Sardinia Corsica or Spine of Italy with less traffic.We tried to tip the guides but only 1 accepted,they were both amazing riders and very competent in making sure nobody got lost.The office manager ordered the food in all the different places so we rarely ate the same dishes,it was all family style.

[Groover]

Sounds great, if it helps, seemed as I grew a little older (I was here, and when I'd go back to visit) some old friends would go to Sardegna for "vacation" riding. I got my drivers licenses there (both Auto and Moto), it was similar to here, but it was a multistep process, again, this was in the 80's where paperwork was sloooww. The Moto driving test was similar to here, pylons, breaking, etc. The Auto, they would also have you test for parking downhill, other than that, it was driving through Palermo traffic (in my case) - The driving and riding is much more offensive (then defensive), but everyone knows that and there is this strange underlying communication that even if you are inches away from the next car or moto, you make it work. Auto drivers expect motorcycles to fly through any gaps, so it's sort of just natural if you grew up there and nobody gets too offended.

[Tkelly]

Groover your thoughts are in line with what I came to feel but is completely the opposite of my riding philosophy which is to assume other motorists are out to get me.There it seems like everyone is in a race and as you say,expect you to cut them off if you see an opening,honking horns were rare ,even in situations that would lead to road rage incidents here.We would be riding at high speed on a 2 lane highway,15 bikes in line ,when a fast car would pass a couple of us and cut into our formation when oncoming cars were coming .We on the other hand would pass a couple cars,one at a time,sometimes on the nonexistent centerline lane splitting at 80 with cars coming at us,on curves too.

[ahoward125]

Who was your tour leader? I went on the Sardinia and Corsica ride with the MG experience. Simone was our tour leader and it was a gas.

[John A]

Palermo traffic was six or eight lanes crammed into two lanes. Right of way appears to be established by the horn.
We broke down on our way to Saudi around’85, at a stop in Sicily. I was the crew chief on a KC10, a Series 30, an air refueling tanker made out of a DC10. A remote control circuit breaker bit the dust so we had one shipped into the airport in Palermo and took a rental car to get it on the other side of the island. Beautiful riding country but I was in a car. I saw a guy on a Cal2 threading through Palermo and they had three machine gun assassinations that day, featured on the evening news when we got back to the base. I was supposed to get three days off in Italy after a month in Saudi but some fool general wanted to go to Germany but we left there after a couple hours because the Bader- Mienhoff terrorist group wanted to blow us up. Never made it back there.

[Tkelly]

Gianini Giorgio was the leader and Sandro was the van driver,great guys.How was the Sardinia tour?

[adri]

I shipped my BMW G650GS one way to Italy in 2023 and go ride it one month out of the year. I always wondered if I should have just done a tour, paid more, but made life easier... Then within the first few days I was riding through the Tuscan hills and ended up riding with one of those tour groups anyway. Everything worked out well. My bike is still in Italy, I take a month off every year to fly back and ride it. Hope to see you guys there in 2025!