The Eagle Has Landed

15 Comments

1. Looks awesome!

   • It shows it heritage as well.

2. Worth the wait, looks gorgeous and I imagine handles like a dream.

   • Oh, yes.

3. How does it compare with the BMWs? I would expect the Beemer to have better build quality but the Guzzi to have the edge on handling. There are a lot of similarities otherwise. Are you going to pop around to your old BMW shop to show them how they lost a sale by quibbling over half a pint of petrol?

   • It’s very much not a BMW. Build quality is, indeed, excellent as you’d expect from a modern premium bike. As is handling. What sets it apart is that it still has the heartbeat of the transverse Vee that BMW seemed to iron out of their big boxers. You know you have a big lump below you. I think they call it character.

     Not sure I can be bothered to go back to my old BMW dealer. I told them at the time, so that’s that really.

4. I’m sure it’s wonderful but I’m more of a Kawasaki W650/800 kind of guy.

   • The Enfield Scram does that for me.

5. Lovely machine, bit too modern for me though. I have a Spada III though…

   • My father had a V75SP, which was the successor of the Spada.

     This one is the next generation on. It still feels like a Guzzi.

6. The only one of this marque I’ve ridden is the 850 le mans. But then I’m pretty old. It was weird having the crank in line with the chassis. It leaned more when cornering and you opened the throttle. I can’t remember which way. Liked it, though, a very stiff chassis unlike most bikes in the early eighties with massive power and swing arms made of licorice. How do you find it? Looks great.

   • It still has that slight lateral movement. Enough to have character but not enough to hamper handling. Goes round corners like it’s on rails.

7. Congratulations ?

   • Congratulations for persevering through what was probably the worst purchasing experience I can recall.

8. It’s very shiny!