Moto Guzzi has been waiting for the first all-new models featuring a completely reengineered version of its traditional transverse V-twin pushrod motor. At last, the Breva V1100, the most important new Moto Guzzi model in 38 years, has finally hit showrooms.
For almost four decades, Guzzi's motorcycles have powered different versions of the original 700cc air-cooled 90-degree V-twin two-valve pushrod motor conceived in 1977.
By the dawn of Y2K, Guzzi's V-twin was even more of an anachronism than a comparable Harley, which at least possessed a lifestyle image that excused its archaic engineering values. Decades of underinvestment meant Mandello-made motorcycles were left behind in terms of manufacturing quality, performance, reliability and customer allure-so when Aprilia took over in '00, it was the key objective of Guzzi's new CEO, Roberto Brovazzo, to modernize the company's product line without sacrificing its traditional values.
The first result of Brovazzo's dedicated efforts is the Breva V1100, which had already been waiting for several months ready to enter production when it was formally launched at Intermot '04. Since then it's had to wait another half-year poised in the starting blocks before the Piaggio takeover of Aprilia finally released the capital to kickstart manufacture. All this time, though, the R&D team has kept clocking up the test kilometers. With 124,274 miles of road-testing under its wheels and 122,000 man-hours invested, the Breva V1100 is the most thoroughly developed Moto Guzzi yet built. In every way it is the equivalent of the alloy Evo-engined models that gave Harley-Davidson a new lease on life in the '80s. Piaggio hopes the Breva will herald a similar success story for its Moto Guzzi trophy marque.
It's also the most refined and contemporary-feeling Moto Guzzi, as I discovered by visiting the lakeside Mandello factory for an exclusive test ride of the 1100 Breva, as opposed to the day-long press launch ridearound a week earlier. After three decades of riding and racing Moto Guzzi V-twins, I wanted to give the new model a thorough exam. After a day of caf-racing around Lake Como, I took a ferry across it to start a 248-mile overnight trip through the tortuous, twisty Maloja Pass leading up the spring snowline to St. Moritz, Switzerland. I had the chance to ride the Breva in every kind of weather (though fortunately the snow was light) and all types of roads, from Swiss Alpine passes to flat-out freeways where I saw 133 mph on the Breva's well-designed dash-the bike's effective top speed, albeit with "just" 7250 rpm on the analog tacho and another thousand revs to go to the 8250-rpm rev limiter.
The first thing that strikes you when you settle aboard and fire up the Breva's all-new twin-spark engine (dual ignition is a Guzzi tradition dating back to its mid-'50s world-champion 350cc GP racer), which still features pushrod valve operation, is what it doesn't do rather than what it does. Thanks to its lightened internals there's no hesitant graunch as the uprated starter motor struggles to turn over the 92 x 80mm 1064cc big-twin motor, and no trace of the bike rolling to the right as it catches as the gyroscopic effects of the lengthways crank make themselves felt. Project leader Mariano Fioravanzo and company have dialled this out, and even blipping the Weber/Marelli EFI's light-action throttle in neutral at rest only produces a slight sense of sway. The new motor is also completely, well, normal in terms of its noise level and engine note, with none of the pushrod clatter and assorted rattles you got from previous Guzzi V-twins. Even before taking into account Guzzi's claim that, thanks to its new engine and the three-way catalyst exhaust, the Breva is the first European bike to be Euro 3-compliant. Two years before the tough new noise and emissions limits come into force in '07, it already seems thoroughly modern and sophisticated, producing a claimed 86 crankshaft bhp at 7800 rpm, with 64 foot-pounds of torque delivered at 6000 rpm-though at 514 pounds dry the Breva V1100 is a little overweight.
If you discount the discolored exhaust headers with pitted plating you can admire the level of finish and undoubted presence the new Italian model has, with clean, imposing styling by Marabese Design's Rodolfo Frascoli of what is actually quite a big motorcycle in spite of the 2.75-inch shorter transverse V-twin motor. The engine is positioned 41.6 inches farther forward as well as higher in the all-new tubular steel cradle frame to load up the front wheel. But the wide, well-padded seat is spacious and comfortable, allowing you to sink snugly into it. Well-positioned, adjustable footrests now thankfully allow your knees to avoid making friends with the protruding cylinders (which still make great hand-warmers in chilly conditions) and tuck tightly into the sculpted flanks of the broad 6.3-gallon fuel tank-good enough for 250 miles of, er, spirited riding.