New Moto Guzzi Door Mats Available Now
TFT display is just that a display most likley the same one from a Ducati or something similar with a different plastic bezel providing the software to drive it and interface with the rest of the bike is avalible the display itself is most likely generic. Aircraft with glass cockpits went through this about 35years ago, the displays are more reliable interchangable and easier to maintain. In another thread people talk about the geartrain than runs a supercharger on a radial motor. See if you can find the mess syncros servos motor cogs and gears that makes an analouge HSI or FDI work with an Inertial Navigation Unit.
Just looked up V85 TT parts on AF1's website, parts manual is there, but no pricing on parts yet
We know the real point of fightin' is about the 80 HP claim, LIE or TRUE? ???
i don't subscribe to any magazines anymore. but, when i did, i remember that at the end of the publishing season around june, the moto guzzis would get reviewed. the most positive things the review's said concerned the "character", but they were hardly ringing endorsements. these are the first series of reviews i can remember where the reviewers were very positive if not "over the moon" about a guzzi. i hope this bears out in reality when the bikes hit the dealerships. time will tell. but being newer to the mg world, i am optimistic that it will be a hit.
wow, we've really gotten off course with all this electronics chat. We know the real point of fightin' is about the 80 HP claim, LIE or TRUE? ???
Are you referring to a dynamometer? Somebody has: 71.6 from memory, but exactly what I don't recall. PS or HP I suppose. Is that good or bad? Never been all that particularly interested in mere numbers myself, so I wouldn't know how that stacks up agin stated claims. I'm sure there's some HP geeks & specfreaks out there who actually know & care about such esoterica.Only one or 2 riders have so far described it as gutless, so it must be acceptable. Compared to what, I wonder? Triumph's ADV is supposedly a better roadie, & the 'Chinese' BMW & the troublesome new KTM 790 are far better dirties apparently. Almost to a man (there's been a couple of women testers too thankfully) have stated however that the engine seems to have great midrange flexibility, as well as a smooth, snatch-free bottom end. That's a pretty good allround endorsement of the power characteristics I'd surmise.
You're not old enough. 1998 EV by cycle world I think picked cruiser of the year. Guzzi built a bunch that died for years in the showroom.
the buyers were "not very young...."
i am definitely old enough. must have missed that one. i also remember a great article from the early 80s about the lemans in cycle or rider. but, you have to admit, these are pretty few and far between. i guess bike of the year is like car of the year for motor trend, the kiss of death. well, i hope all that changes.
LOLIn Australia one of the car magazines gave the 1975(?) "Car of the Year" to the Leyland P76.Its only redeeming feature is that you could fit a 44 gallon (205litre) drum in the boot.Car died an inglorious death within about 18 months.(Await incoming flak from P76 devotees ... the car has a cult following by (IMHO) S & M devotees )
I'll jump for the bait, Paul!I think the P76 was a landmark car as far as Oz is concerned. A fine effort of truly indigenous development & manufacture. It won COTY for valid reasons. The suspension setup was inspired, and the car had a steering/ride/handling balance to it that wasn't bettered by the others (GMH & Ford I mean, Valiants always tended to be a bit 'wallowy' or floaty @ speed) until the advent of the much-vaunted Radial Tuned Suspension of the much later 70s.Yes, it's best-remembered 'gimmick' was the capacity for a 44, but it also had the ability to handle predictably well with that 200kg load hanging behind the rear axle as a massive pendulum. The 2.6 motor was a bit of a dog, but the bent 8 was magical. The 4.4 was powerful, revvy, lightweight (all alloy - pretty radical for those days) and fairly torquey. An ideal match to the wishbone front & independent??/live axle?? (can't remember) rear-end chassis.As a road car it was far superior to the pretty ordinary Kingswood, Monaro & Falcon competitors. Maybe not a match on power: the 302, 308, 350 & 351 eights were not only more powerful, but, cast in grey iron also a whole lot heavier too. In those days, remember, Holden's racing cars were XU/1 Toranas with the venerable 186 & 202 sixes with triple Strombergs?? SUs?? & the extraordinary Six-Pack Valiant Charger with a big 265 hemi six. The only big V8 racer was the full-on blueprinted GTHO Phase 3 with race kitted induction & close-ratio gearbox. You may also recall that these monsters still had a drum braked rear ends too! A deadly combination.That Leyland/Buick 4.4 eight was superb, smooth and reliable. It saw service (in 3.5l configuration) in hundreds of thousands or Range & Land Rovers, Rover 3500 Saloons and SD1s for well over 30 years, and was regarded by enthusiasts as the ideal engine transplant for Triumph's unreliable dog of a bent eight in their Stag luxo-sports cars.I had a second hand P76 Targa Florio saloon with twin headlamps. It was great. Smooth, powerful, great Borg Warner 'box, safe brakes, fabulous (for the times) balance and rear-drive dynamics. The polarising wedge styling was a bit in your face, but in reality was just a bit too 'modern' for contemporary conservative Australian tastes. Early build examples had (in common with all Leyland's output) quality & reliability issues. My own however had a totally blemish-free record of admittedly only 3 years duration. I suspect that the real reason for the car's demise was that it was released on the immediate cusp of the OPEC engineered so-called fuel crisis, and that potential owners were scared of all V8 powered behemoths, Leyland included. In fact Ford dropped ALL V8s for many years afterwards!The triple whammy of rapidly increasing prices of fuel imports, early teething troubles and Australia's pathetic 'tall poppy' aversion to innovation lead to its (in my opinion anyway) premature & undeserved demise.Now if you want to talk about Australia's automotive dogs, then think back to Leyland's Marina Six with that same 2.6 P76 motor in a dangerously under suspended, underbraked small body much better suited to a mere 4 cylinders. Or even worse, the almost lethal equivalent that was Chrysler's Centura (It's a Sensation!!) with another big hemi six shoehorned in! I note that some likewise almost gleefully seize upon each & every possible negative aspect or commentary on Guzzi's new bike. Yes, its different. No, it's not yet another iteration of the venerable 'big block'. That motor, at least as it currently exists in 1.0-1.2L form, is all but officially dead & buried, killed off by impending Eurozone emissions, efficiency & noise regulations. In all probability never to return.I think the V85 is pretty good. Maybe a bit 'compromised' in some aspects such as easily remedied tubed wheels, 'mere' 2 valved heads (which imbibes at least some of its reported flexibility) and in its 'difference' to most (but crucially not all) models that have gone before.I'm guessing that this is pretty well a make-or-break bike for MG. If it fails, so too I'd imagine does the whole kit & caboodle of Moto Guzzi as a manufacturer. Realistically, MG is no Bugatti or Maserati loss-leader for an indulgent larger parent to keep bankrolling ad infinitum. It must-needs pay its way within Piaggio. To blaze a commercial trail for the promised 'new family' of cycles based upon this powerplant & chassis to follow.From what I've read, it appears to be an exceptionally cleverly designed bike which surprises many riders in being a fairly well-rounded package beyond the actual sum of its fairly modest parts, genuinely (at least for the most part) made in Italy & selling at an 'competitive' price. The fact that it's 'different' is I personally believe to be applauded rather than denigrated. It's pretty smart, brave and well-nuanced market positioning in my estimation. Well deserving of the success it seems to be generating.I still hate those gaudy colour stripes, 'though.
and why would they be? Young buyers in general that are buying motorcycles are buying used or new bikes in the $6000 and less range. There are a lot of offerings in every category for the young buyer who doen't want to carry a lot of debt for something that they may lose interest in.
To carry on the thread drift..... By the time they got the bugs sorted the P76 was a very good vehicle. In NZ it was much saught after for caravan towing duties; as previously said it had quite good brakes and a very good V8.And now, the V85TT. On thinking about the colour options shown, I do like it in the plain colours. It sounds as though the "bells and whistles" model is the yellow stripe one, is that correct? I guess however that you can now accessiorize your V85TT into a bells and whistles one should you so desire.I must say I would have one in a heartbeat if finances did not have to come in to it, which sadly they do. It's a good thing then that I am very happy with my Breva.
