Initial thoughts on the V100

The V100 is a modernized GRiSO, as new as next week but in some ways the same.
With that in mind, and considering that (I'm guessing) a lot of us will buy one, having a forum for them hosted in this community just seems logical.
And I get that there are more pressing issues to address first.

LUCKY DAVE wrote:

... (I'm guessing) a lot of us will buy one...

I am not so sure about that.  The Mandello seems more like a modernized Norge to me.  I think it would generate more excitement among GRiSO owners if Piaggio would come with a streetfighter version.

agreed. an exciting looking machine, lighter than the GRiSO, with more power and a shorter wheelbase and without all the stupid tech would be amazing. They could do it with this new engine from the looks of it

Had a 50 mile testride and it was................ ok.

Compared to my GRiSO it has a quicker revving engine, lighter easier to use controls, better gearbox, better low speed handling and a more comfortable riding position.  But it lacked the grunty, creamy thrust of the GRiSO. Overall up to 60 it feels less powerful than GRiSO.  
I can't comment on the handing; the bike felt imprecise on sweeping turns and bumpy tarmac but the roads were damp in places .. it felt like the standard tyres lack feel - maybe they improve when hot?

What i was hoping for was the heart of the GRiSO with lighter, better laid out controls, better gearbox, modern handling: light steering at 10mph & still stable at 100mph, but what i got, felt like a Guzzified 950 Multistrada.
I guess that may be what Aprilia are aiming for, after all many people like Multistrada s but personally i find them bland to ride, lacking in sensation - might as well be a 4 cyl .

And that is what i found the V100 - nice, easy to ride but a bit bland and not as shockingly grunty as i had hoped.

After a good test ride usually you get back on your own bike and notice its bad bits.  
This time I got back on the GRiSO and immediately it felt much more responsive, more 'alive' and more powerful.
And that 'it's a better bike' feeling lasted until i had to change gear and then slow to weave through traffic!         .

My conclusion - the V100 has less of that 'Guzzi feeling' that I like. Less than even the small block bikes do!
I get a more visceral 'man and bike' feeling (includes woman, LBTQ+ etc)...............on a Royal Enfield Interceptor or a BNW1250RS.

Take it out again in the dry and rag it

Were you in sport setting ?

jagger wrote:

Were you in sport setting ?

Only ever in 'Sport'.

But the moist roads meant I was looking for the mid range thrust you expect from a big block Guzzi rather than revving it out.

Sadly It did not provide that thrust.

lcjohnny wrote:

jagger wrote:

Were you in sport setting ?

Only ever in 'Sport'.

But the moist roads meant I was looking for the mid range thrust you expect from a big block Guzzi rather than revving it out.

Sadly It did not provide that thrust.

Yes...."thrust" and "moist" used in the same paragraph.

What's not to like?

LUCKY DAVE wrote:

The V100 is a modernized GRiSO, ....

NO!

It is a modern...


If you investigate what is necessary to adjust the valve clearance...

Jeez. Not this again. It's not that hard. The hardest bit will be removing the plastic to drop the radiator if you need to change shims. I don't want a V100 but it isn't servicing the thing that puts me off.

Out for a ride last weekend with a friend on the new V100 and Stelvio, no doubt the V100 is a beauty, we haven't swapped bikes yet, but I am curious to see how his V100 compares to my GRiSO eventually.

Pete Roper wrote:

Jeez. Not this again. It's not that hard. The hardest bit will be removing the plastic to drop the radiator if you need to change shims. I don't want a V100 but it isn't servicing the thing that puts me off.

Checking maybe not but adjusting is a lot of work if the valve clearance is not within the tolerance - at least according to the workshop manual.

Last week my buddy Marc (like me, a championship winning roadracer) and I took the GRiSO and Mandello s out for a long ride in the mountains, swapping back and forth.
The Mandello does everything better. It handles better, the wheelbase is three inches shorter so it changes direction much quicker without needing nervous steering geometry, the brakes are much better, the suspension is light years better, it's far more comfortable, it's more refined, and it's a bunch less effort to ride. With all that said it still feels like a Guzzi.
The only thing it isn't is faster in a roll on from 40-120 mph. After that it disappears in the distance.
Mind you, my GRiSO is properly piped and mapped with expensive custom suspension and sticky tires, the Mandello is bone stock other than installing dunlop roadsmart 4's.
Am I going to get rid of my GRiSO? No, I still like it for that vintage feel it has, but I have to say the Mandello is a home run.

Interesting observations Dave and I think the last one is particularly pertinent, at least to me.

While I don't know that I'd use the term 'Vintage' to describe the GRiSO it's probably as good as any descriptor. To me it, and indeed the rest of the CARC series, do *feel* like I expect a motorbike to feel and behave. I'm not ignorant of truly 'Modern' motorcycles and I'm probably on the whole about a generation behind in my experience of the modern models with all of the electronic controls and interventions as the last one of those I rode for any length of time was probably a TV-4 back in about 2015!

Most modern bikes that I have swung a leg over have tended to be blindingly fast, handle and brake impeccably, can be set up to protect one from one's own over-enthusiasm and, at least to me, are anodyne to the point of being almost boring apart from that blinding speed factor!

Now I'm not saying that is bad and nor am I expecting everyone to agree with me. Vive La differance and all that but I think that, in a nutshell, is why I still prefer my GRiSO over every other bike I have ever owned or ridden.

Does that make me a fossil? Oh, probably. But it is what it is and although I remain interested in the onward march of development as I slither off into retirement I'm more a 'Casual observer' rather than an 'Active Participant'.

It's really nice to see so much positive press on the V100 though. Perhaps, at last, Guzzi will hit it out of the park! That would be a first for my lifetime!

I hear ya Pete.
I too like a direct feel on some of my bikes, our land speed supercharged Aprilia makes 198 hp at the wheel on pump gas with zero nannies, not even ABS. If you want to rev it over 7k you had damn well better have it pointed in the right direction, have lots of room in front of you, and have the rear brake covered because it will come over backwards on you in a blink in any gear.
I also like my Norton Commando which is as crude as it gets, and my street legal dirt tracker, which has had any and all civility hot rodded out of it.
Still, for daily riding in the mountains the modern electronics on my super nakeds are a good thing.
I have twelve bikes, most of them are the latest thing with advanced electronics. They work really well once you get used to them, and learn how to set them up. And let's face it, 175 hp at the wheel is safer with nannies.

Visited a Piaggio/Indian dealership this afternoon. Finally saw, sat on, but did not ride, a V100. I think I’d get another GRiSO first. Any U.S. SE’s up for adoption out there? Eliminated the FTR from consideration, the Api ‘Toe-rag is too tall, and seriously thinking the V85TT is good enough for me for southern Utah back-roads… egads, I’m becoming an old man with Guzzis. Am I really so un-sexy?

I am keeping my 2009 GRiSO, but most often ride the Mandello V100S. It's so much nicer to ride, but the GRiSO has that brutish raw feel, and it looks great in my garage

If you look at the progression from the original V7, the Le Mans, the 1100 variants, the GRiSO and the Sport and now the V100, you are looking at progression. Each new iteration is more betterer than the previous, which was harsher, more visceral, the more you go back.

It is like comparing my V85TT to my 2 valve Sport: they have 3 things in common:
- A v twin
- the same mirrors
- Made by Moto Guzzi

They even weight the same but they are as different as chalk and cheese. For instance the Sport grunts up from torque aplenty, the V85 likes to rev and very quickly. Totally different in so many ways.

So, in essence, I don't think it is even fair to compare the new with the older - they are different and you take away what want with each of them - says the bloke with a couple of BSAs from the 60s...