2022 MOTO GUZZI V85 TT TRAVEL – UNDER THE RADAR

The Adventure touring segment is jammed packed with bikes to suit all walks of life. The Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel rolls to the beat of its own drum, going about its business with minimal fuss and loads of character.

The V85 TT has been around in its current guise since 2020. Its 2021 updates are relatively minor. Those came in the form of some new colour options and a couple of different versions, namely the Travel and, to celebrate the marque’s 100-year anniversary, the cool Centenario edition. And because we’ve been able to do very little of it these last two years, we wanted to spend some time on the new V85 TT Travel. 

As the name suggests, the TT Travel is kitted out with factory options necessary for touring in comfort. As well as a taller windscreen, there are large hard-pannier bags, heated grips and LED driving lights. The Travel also comes in the special Sabbia Namib colour scheme. It is so named for Africa’s Namib Desert and the understated sandy colours look ready to tackle dirt.

The V85 TT Travel is powered by a robust 853cc transverse mounted 90° V-twin. Being a Moto Guzzi small-block engine, it is quite compact and offers decent performance, to the tune of 60kW (80hp) of power and 80Nm of torque. It’s also air-cooled, which means it is super simple and the classic looks aren’t spoiled by radiators and a cooling fan. 

Standard features for the Guzzi brand are a shaft drive and dry clutch, making the V85 TT a low-maintenance mile muncher. And munch miles it will. The Guzzi is full of quirks and character, and when you fire it into life it rumbles away, giving off a pleasant engine note. It’s best to let the air-cooled engine warm up before taking off though, as it hesitates a little at low revs when you try to make an immediate and early-morning escape from suburbia.

Blip the throttle while you’re stopped and the Guzzi will give you a gentle twist to the side as the transverse V-twin revs. The character of the engine means it needs very little effort to get moving, though, and once you’re rolling there’s plenty of torque available low in the rev range. 

As you open the throttle and ride the flat torque curve, the shaft drive pushes the rear wheel into the tarmac or dirt and increases mechanical grip as it propels you forward. The gearbox feels really solid and the gear changes are slick without any lash from the damped shaft drive. The power delivery is perfect for adventure touring with its meaty torque delivered in spades lower in the rev range – 90 per cent of torque is available at just 3750rpm – before maxing out at 5000rpm. The twin revs out effortlessly, but there is no real advantage taking it all the way to the rev limiter.

There are four riding modes to sink your teeth into: Road, Rain, Off-Road and Custom. Road is for everyday riding and touring, offering full power, as well as regular ABS and traction control. Rain offers a reduced torque output and more sensitivity from the traction control system. Off-road mode retains the full 80 horses of power, but reduces traction control intervention and disables the rear ABS altogether. In the menu you can set up the custom mode to your preferences and in the end, I opted for full power, ABS on and traction control off, which meant I could have a bit of fun on the dirt and throw a few wheelies when no one was watching.

And once that custom mode is set up, you can select it on the fly. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. At first, I couldn’t for the life of me work out how to change the map, but once I downloaded and familiarised myself with the owner’s manual, it pointed me in the right direction and it’s easy. It turns out, once the engine is running, the starter button becomes the map selection button. Not very intuitive but it does prevent the handlebar looking like it belongs in a Boeing 747. In fact, I found the indicators, mode switch and the cruise control switch to be all a little bit fiddly, especially with thicker gloves on. They are not very tactile, but it’s something you’d quickly learn to live with.

The Guzzi has modern touches among its classic looks. The twin headlights are full LED items as are the indicators and brake and tail lights for safety and performance. The full-colour TFT dash is easy to read and shows all the required info, it is simple to navigate and changes from day to night mode automatically. 

I downloaded the Moto Guzzi app on my phone and managed to pair the bike, my phone and my Cardo Packtalk to the so-called MGMP without fuss. And once it’s set up, it’s pretty handy. You can set up navigation through the app on your phone and then it displays turn-by-turn navigation instructions on the dash. The bike also logs trip data like speed, throttle openings, traction control interventions, and much more, while it also has live info like battery charge rate, fuel consumption and service reminders. There is even a little ‘Find my Bike’ function which logs where you park your bike and then through the app you can walk back to it. I can’t say I’ve ever forgotten where I parked a bike – a hire car maybe – but certainly not a motorcycle. 

Comfort on the Guzzi is top notch. The seat is supportive and long days in the saddle are realistic and achieved in comfort. The tall Travel-spec windscreen is non-adjustable, but for my 175cm frame, it is perfect. The upper-body ergonomics are really relaxed and roomy and the entire rider triangle is as comfortable as anything else in this category. 

Pillion comfort is decent, too, with a nice flat seat and grab rails for added safety and flexibility. Whether you’re a rider or a pillion, the V85TT Travel perches are a nice place to be and, combined with the longer-travel adventure-spec suspension, the V85 TT really is an ideal touring machine. 

The fuel tank is moulded plastic, so you don’t need to worry about dings, dents and scratches so much, but any chance of throwing a magnetic tankbag on it is out the window. 

The 853cc twin sips bugger-all petrol; I was so impressed by it that I actually thought the fuel gauge was faulty and even stopped to fill it up well before I needed to just so I didn’t get caught out. Based on my fuel consumption calculations of 4.1L/100km, on a road-based trip you would be able to get over 500km out of a tank. That’s unreal, but the best bit is the seat’s comfortable enough to back it up. Bravo, Guzzi.

Moto Guzzi has aimed the V85 TT Travel as a capable and effortless tourer with the ability for some light adventure riding, too. And it has such good manners on sketchy roads, I think it is more capable than Guzzi itself even gives it credit for. 

The adventure-spec suspension has preload and rebound adjustment only. It is a bit soft for aggressive adventure riding, but perfect for dirt roads and dodgy Australian back roads. 

The 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear, shod with Michelin Anakee Adventure tyres indicate the intended use of the V85 TT Travel. The 19-inch front allows for decent handling and feel on the road while still standing up to a bit of punishment on the dirt. The TT comes standard with tubeless wheels too, so fixing flats on the road is a plug and go deal. 

Those Michelin tyres offer excellent grip on the road and allow the Guzzi to drag its footpegs with ease. Off-road they are a fair step back from the Anakee Wild tyres, but they offer plenty of confidence on dirt roads. I really think adventure bikes are the perfect all-round roadbikes for Australian riders and I would not hesitate to ride a V85 TT all the way around the lovely big island we live on. 

Priced at $24,330 ride away the V85 TT Travel is decent value for money when it includes touring necessities like hard luggage, driving lights and heated grips. 

Arguably, there are a few tech things missing like multi-level TC, a quickshifter and semi-active suspension, but the Guzzi is a no fuss all-road touring machine. It’s a real quiet achiever.  

Test David Watt Photography Incite Images