Just returned from my very first ride on my "new to me" 2020 V85TT Adventure, and I figured I would post my thoughts for posterity...
So here goes, top to bottom.
I'm 6'2", or 188cm. I've seen a lot of comments about the screen being too low and causing turbulence.
Having come from 3 bikes in a row that threw all the turbulence and buffeting RIGHT at my face (Tiger955, Tiger800, KTM 1190)... to me this thing is a god send. At highway speed (65 to 75 (100km to 120km)) the turbulence hits me at the shoulders and in the neck, resulting in my helmet almost riding in clean air... it's perfect for me.
Handlebars are a tad further than I would like but it stops mattering at speed. Controls are nice and clean looking although I would like the turn signal indicator to give some feedback. Throttle response is fine, clutch lever is light, clutch engages a little abruptly but I can manage and I will have to adjust it cause I feel that I have to pull further than I would like to reach the friction point.
TFT dash is good, has all the info I need, but I would have liked more contrast.
Gear indicator is strange. It wont tell you what gear you are in if the clutch lever is pulled. That's a bit annoying when you come to a stop and you're not sure how many changes you need to reach neutral.. Ah well...
Seat is good, comfortable but not a couch. Rode about 90 minutes and did not get numb nuts or crushed perineum... that's a good thing as my three previous bikes definitely did that, even with the tall comfort seat on the KTM.
Footpegs are too small and my big feet have to turn my ankle inwards to fit. I'm definitely going to have to change those footpegs for something wider. Also my left heal kept hitting the side stand thinggy. Not great, but fixable.
Gear changes are clean, although I did not like the clunk noise it makes when releasing the clutch too fast in 2nd gear. Everything else about gear changes was good, no false changes, no missed gears, neutral wasn't harder to find than on my other bikes.
I was a bit nervous about switching from the KTM, but the engine power was ... fine. Nothing to write home about, not hooligan KTM 1190 power, not Tiger 800 power... but enough to get into plenty of trouble if I want to. She has less power but so much more personality... and that Guzzi sound... I missed those tappy valves from my V11 days!
Suspension is also good. More on the comfort side for sure, but ain't it what we want in a touring bike? No high tech motorized adjustments like the KTM, but also one less thing to break... plain, simple, it works. I like it.
Overall. Not unhappy that I replaced the 1190 hooligan beast. Would have cost me 3000$ to keep her anyways... and she wasn't even pretty. I'm 56 man, I ain't doing power slides going 50 down a knarly trail. Been there, done that, have the scars to prove it... I need something to go long, not fast. (That's what she said)
I think I'm going to love this one.
That's all for today.
