It’s here! And we love it!
We’ve caught Moto Guzzi’s V85 dirt tourer on test and it confirms all we predicted in our AMCN Adventure Bike Collector’s Edition.
Building on the credibility it created with its early 1980s limited-edition Dakar desert racers, the Italian firm is combining elements of the old with the new.
Those ’80s Guzzis were called Baja, and the company is still struggling to find a suitable name for its all-new V85 adventure bike. But this image proves the concept is heading for production and is the first time a running prototype has been caught on camera.
Guzzi always said that the concept, first shown last year, is destined for showrooms, and this prototype shows serious development work is underway.
While the blacked-out test mule seen here is clearly a prototype for the V85, sharing the concept’s chassis layout and overall shape, it has the existing 40kW (54hp) 853cc twin from Guzzi’s V9, rather than the proposed heavily reworked 60kW (80hp) V-twin it promises the final version will use.
Best to get the chassis sorted first and so, apart from the engine, this prototype stays true to the concept model. Its frame, tank, seat and side panels are largely identical, but the high-end suspension and brakes are downgraded to the slightly cheaper units previously seen on the design drawings for the production version.
Missing at this stage are the stylised round headlights of the show bike, which were interlinked with a stylised version of the winged Guzzi logo. But rest assured this new adventure model is off the design board and looking good.
By Ben Purvis
