Montreal Motorcycle Show

[kenvil1]

I took Friday off work and drove 2hrs to Montreal under blue skies and spent 7hrs sitting on dozens of new bikes surrounded by lots of friendly people. All in all it was a pretty good way to ward off some of the winter doldrums.

[slopokes]

And—————————————what did you think of the v85 🤷‍♂️😢🤷‍♂️

[kenvil1]

And—————————————what did you think of the v85 🤷‍♂️😢🤷‍♂️

You had to ask for permission to sit on it, and I didn't care to attract the salespeople, so I just looked it over. It's a very nice looking steed indeed. It has a simple look of quality about it without suffering from the Meccano Set-look that plagues many other bikes in this category.

[geoff in almonte]

I & the boyz spent Saturday doing that very same thing.

When queried at the end of the day wrt which machine each of us would like to ride home on the choices were:

Triumph Bonneville T120
Indian Scout Flat Tracker (Yee Haw!!)
Indian Full Touring (Pale Green & Crème paint)
Triumph Sprint 1200

The V85 and other Guzzi models (except V7 Shiney Black/Red) failed to impress me and the other riders (Monster, Thruxton, Ambassador, Cali Vintage) in our party.

Great day though - kids in a candy store. 

Spring can't get here soon enough!!

G

[Adk.IBO]

Well, so much for that. I like to go every year but never even gave it a thought until reading this and it’s over...  I would have liked to check out the V85, and give it a sit. Oh well I’ll have to ride to Hamlin’s I guess.

[Pisano]

You had to ask to sit on it ??! 

How special do they think this bike is?

Not impressed.  Even after sitting on it at the Toronto show.

[LowRyter]

You had to ask to sit on it ??! 

How special do they think this bike is?

Not impressed.  Even after sitting on it at the Toronto show.

Probably preproduction and the only one in the country.  The might have been concerned about scratching their only model.

[kenvil1]

Indian Scout Flat Tracker (Yee Haw!!)

Great day though - kids in a candy store.

"Kids in a candy store" is right!

I really like the Indian Flat Tracker as well, but the cockpit didn't quite suit me. The Triumph 1200 Scrambler was another story, however. It fit me like a glove and it's the perfect combination of my first bike, a 1968 Triumph, and my last bike, a Honda Transalp. It's nicely finished with aluminum hardware and very little plastic, but the price is out of my league at this time. The V85 is $1K cheaper, with the luggage, and with a driveshaft.

[Joe A.]

You had to ask for permission to sit on it, and I didn't care to attract the salespeople, so I just looked it over. It's a very nice looking steed indeed. It has a simple look of quality about it without suffering from the Meccano Set-look that plagues many other bikes in this category.

No permission necessary at the Toronto show.
The Piaggio  display garnered a lot of attention, most of it around the V7 line and the V85. The 1400's not so much.

[TimmyTheHog]

You had to ask to sit on it ??! 

How special do they think this bike is?

Not impressed.  Even after sitting on it at the Toronto show.

Probably preproduction and the only one in the country.  The might have been concerned about scratching their only model.

I asked about the same in Vancouver.

Apparently someone almost tipped it over in the LA show and no longer let it go FFA...

and yes, this is the only one in NA before the actual production bikes come over this side of the pond.