Moto Guzzi Club of Queensland Forum

No body has posted any comments about the upcoming new model, the Stelvio.
After seeing the film of the road test done by one of the British bike mags, if my fiscal position enabled it, then I would be replacing my current commuter bike with a Stelvio.
The riding position appears spot on & the possibilities of weekends sideways along gravel tracks sounds like great fun.
Now I just have to win lotto so that I can put my order in, unless one of you nice people wants to give me a nice christmas present.

I agree it looks the goods, may well be my next new Guzzi if I decide to replace the Norge. Luckily for my wallet I'm in no hurry to do that.

Whats wrong with it? Seems not a lot. The widely reported mid-range flat spot appears to be fixed on production bikes according to owners in UK and Europe, so thats good news.


My concern is the percieved off road capability. I say perceived because I do not see this as a true dual sport/adventure bike. The big limiting factor here is tyres (and suspension travel but thats another story). The front tyre is a 110/80-19 and there are many good on/off road tyres in this size as this is the same as the beema R series GS bikes, and others. However the rear is a 180/55-17, my research thus far has failed to find a dual purpose tyre in this size (Beemas and others use a 150/70-17). Will the tyre companies make a dual purpose to suit one model bike? I doubt it.

This is no big deal if you look at the bike as a road bike with limited dirt road capability. It is an issue if you plan to do GS type work. Given this I would like to see the Stelvio have an option of alloy wheels, Alloys are easier to clean (I'm lazy) and you don't need a spoked wheel on a road bike, unless its a style thing.

Maybe it should even have a 17 inch front hoop. It is interesting to note that the current Triumph Tiger runs a 17 inch front wheel. It seems to me that Triumph have acknowledged that their bike is not really an off-road machine and opted to give owners better on-road handling and a wider tyre choice. I reckon this is a good call, and it certainly has not stopped people buying the bike.

Click here to read a comparo test http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/209286/attachments/Moto%20Guzzi%20Stelvio%20test.pdf. IMHO the writers are a bit like most bike journos and have bugger all idea about anything other than the latest sports bikes, but its still worth a look.

F[[k, I have a picture & forgot to attatch it to the original post, but I have rectified that oversight now. Look down!

Definitely worth a look....better looking than those German thingummy whatchamacallits (as much as I like them).
But will it be a B-M beater? I'm not sure....well not the first release, anyway....maybe a few goes down the track they might get it right.
Personally, if I could afford more than one bike, a Stelvio would find a place in my garage, for that trip up the Cape, but the reality is I'm stuck with one motorcycle only, and if you've been paying attention, you know I've picked the best of the Guzzi range!

Hairee,
I didn't realise you'd sold the Breva & bought yourself a California, hehe.

Wal......

Mark,
Spoked (wire)wheels are a great idea on the Stelvio.
Firstly, there are plenty of companies around that make rims, Akront are my personal choice when doing stuff like this, so if you bought a Stelvio & couldn't buy reasonable enduro tyres. Off you go to a reputable wheel builder (the guys behind the meeting room get good raps from those I have spoken to), ask them for the size rim you require, then they lace the new rims to your hubs, chuck on a set of tyres & away you go.

Secondly, wire wheels are much stronger for off road use. They take a hell of a beating before they get too badly out of shape.

Clever thinking really, shame about the mudguard clearance though, but that too is fixable.
Damn, this should have been posted in the tech section, then we would have had our first post there, guess we all have to wait for Otto or RSI(Tom) to do that.

P.S. Yes Hairee, well maybe you should think about a Cali

A Cali? That's an old man's bike, isn't it?

An old man's bike you say?

Someone get me my walking frame & spectacles, so I can go over & bash this young one. That's the problem with society these days, no respect for their elders.



From he who owns a Cali III.

I was a bit worried you might invoke your powers as a moderator, and have me suspended from the forum for insulting behaviour.
If it has two cylinders and shaft drive, any bike is ok by me, but I don't "get" Cali's....then again, I've never ridden one.
But this is supposed to be about Stelvios.........do we know when they'll hit Oz? And how big's the tank?
My B-M riding friends do extraordinary distances in equally amazing times, because they don't have to waste time stopping for fuel.
Yes re that front guard.....I remember riding down a country road in the wet, on a road bike with a close fitting front guard, and the wheel kept locking up with mud, causing no end of embarassment.....local farmer came along and commented that these "townies" are hopeless off the bitumen! Very insulted I was.

A pair of nicely drilled pieces of aluminium to whatever length you wish to raise the front guard & whalla plenty of front guard clearance.

Bugger, should have been posted in the tech section again.

May have to suspend myself at this rate.

Buzzing off now to check the Guzzi site & get the details of the tank size.

18 litres in the total fuel capacity. This is actually one of the other things I think Guzzi got wrong. If you are going to build a big comfortable long distance machine give it a decent size tank. My Norge has a 23 litre tank, I consider around this size to be acceptable.

Perhaps they may do a BMW act and bring out an "Adventure" model in the future?

"Ugly as" For the last proper good looking Guzzi you can't get go past a V11

It looks like a good excuse to go out and buy a modern V7 from maybe 1971