KIWI RIDER 03 2020 VOL1 | Page 47

THE CHASSIS Right from the get-go the chassis impressed me in Thailand. It is the effortless, intuitive turn- in that gives so much confidence that grabs your attention at the beginning. The V85TT just drops in to turns beautifully, remaining very stable while doing so. The suspension for this style of riding and for gravel road work is pretty well sorted. It has USD 41mm forks up front and a single right- hand side mounted shock absorber with double sided swingarm and driveshaft. I did a little off-road work riding through a few short, sharp, G-out style creek crossings and, yes, the shock bottomed out a bit, but really it coped pretty well for standard trim. At both ends preload and rebound is adjustable. Overall the suspension action is well controlled, but importantly very comfortable riding too. This is a bike that will cover big miles in a day and be kind to the rider while doing so. The brakes are strong and of high quality. With a full fuel tank of almost 24 litres, the Guzzi is a decent 229kg to stop. So, it’s important the brakes work well. Twin, floating stainless steel 320mm discs and opposed four-piston Brembo calipers control the front-end stopping in a very successful way. Most importantly, the front braking feel is spot on. The rear is good too. A 260mm single disc and twin piston caliper do the business. Although I often feel that ABS at the rear messes up the pedal feel until you switch it off. Fortunately, in off-road mode the rear ABS can be disabled. Other stand out features include a large TFT display, full LED lights with DRL, cruise control, handguards for weather protection and an Aluminium sump guard. Also, a nicely proportioned carrier is fitted standard at the rear. ITALIAN FLAIR AND CHARACTER I like the V85TT and would happily park one in my shed. It’s very attractive, has loads of personality, is beautifully functional and simply has that difficult to define feel-good factor. It’s not super-fast, yet it’s plenty fast enough – we’re not all as talented as Chris Birch. It’s largely a simple design that should go for ever with only basic maintenance. And lastly, the V85TT is a bit different. There’s traditional Italian flair and character just dripping from it, which makes it even cooler in my book. KIWI RIDER 47