Moto Guzzi V85 TT

I got a phone call today from my dealer that my V85TT Centenario had arrived and they will have it set up in a couple of days along with the others of their allocation, all of which are sold.

Dan

Spot on! When I was in grad school at MIT back in the late 70s ("Gosh, were there PEOPLE then?") my summer vacation was

Step 1) Drive from Boston to our home up in Maine
Step 2) Pull the cylinder head.
Step 3) Take it apart and pull the burned valve.
Step 4) Grind in a new one and put the head back together.
Step 5) Bolt it back on, torque everything down, and reset the valve clearances.
Step 6) Drive back to campus.
Step 7) Add the old valve to my Burned Valve Collection -- sort of like Burning Man, only different -- on the shelf above my desk.

It wasn't much of a vacation, but I got fairly good at Steps 2-5. By the time I graduated, I'd gotten that part down to less than four hours. Strangely, this all seemed entirely normal

Oh for the days when vehicles were simpler and could be fixed at the side of the road and not need plugging in to reset codes and service lights etc.

My old BSA superrocket has one simple carb. Magneto ignition which is stone reliable and either works or it dosn't. Separate dynamo/charging system which are only involved in the lights, I bought it early seventies and must have done 100,000 + miles. Only one serious blow up when an oil pipe split on the motorway which resulted in a full engine rebuild end feed roller crank conversion all balanced up etc etc. That was about 15 years ago barely anything done since then apart from regular oil changes. don'tt do as many miles on it as I used to when it was my only transport year round.

The thing is that modern bikes don't break down by the side of the road compared to older more 'simple' bikes. I've never, ever had a failure that's left me by the side of the road on a bike since 1998 when I started riding 'modern' bikes. Even the bikes that I had in the late 70s and early 80s never left me by the side of the road. I don't understand why so many have so many issues. There again, all of my bikes remain factory standard, so that might be the key. Even if you are unfortunate to get a breakdown, insurance often includes comprehensive recovery. Mine will take the bike back to my home country if necessary, provide me with a rental car, hotels, flights, trains etc. No need to worry at all about what is in effect, a 1st world 'problem'.

I have mixed feelings about the era when vehicles were so simple they could be fixed on the side of the road. On the one hand, it was nice to be able to fix vehicles by the side of the road. On the other hand, I did seem to spend an awful lot of time fixing vehicles by the side of the road. In the summer, in warm sunny weather, by a quiet road in the countryside when you weren't in a hurry, this could be a strangely satisfying experience -- a triumph of intellect and skill. In Buffalo, in the winter, next to the freeway, with a bitter icy wind blowing off the lake, it was not always quite as much fun. And then there was rain...

Had a starter relay fail on a 3 month old bike with about 10,000 miles on the odo. I had just crossed the border into the USA & had to get the bike towed back into Canada. As it happened, the closest dealer was where I purchased the bike & while they didn't have a relay in stock, they did pull one from a bike on the floor. I resumed my trip the next day

Yeah, IMHO one of the biggest problems with newer bikes are issues with electronic sensors, many of which didn't exist on older bikes (like, for emissions).
I will say, however, that the scheduled maintenance indicator is really a simple fix, and you don't need to plug anything in. Just put a piece of black tape over the indicator light, and get on with life. Assuming you are actually doing regular maintenance, there's nothing that light can do to hurt you or the bike, other than annoy you with its mere existence.

__Jason

This is helpful. My own Suzuki VStrom 650, which I bought in part due to it's reputation for reliability, required a transmission replacement this year. I've never heard of that with another Vstrom. My practical side says Tenere 700, my heart says V85.

My V85tt has spent the last two weeks in the shop. Waiting on seals for the final drive. In a few more days it will have spent more time in the shop than in my garage.

That stinks. Curious, if you had to do it over, would you still buy it?

Don't discount the fact that supply chains in general have been fucked up since COVID started. The Suez Canal debacle didn't help much either (not sure if Guzzi was impacted directly by that or not, but I know other manufacturers definitely were). That's not to say that getting parts out of Italy is normally "fun" (expecially in August, when the entire country shuts down for the month), but... we are in extraordinary times right now.

__Jason

I would still buy the bike. But I would fix it myself. Not mess with dealer

That's what I keep coming back to. I don't know what I would need the dealer for outside of catastrophic failure or electronics. It's really one of the appeals of the bike.

Unfortunately the rear drive is quite complex. So really needs serviced by dealer . Just wish the dealer was a little better about returning calls or letting me know what is going on.

I was absolutely planning on the Tenere 700. I'd test ridding the V85 but it was outside of my budget. I ended up seeing a bargain price at AF1 and then Yamaha didn't open up pre-ordering when I thought they would so I bought the V85.
A friend bought a T-7 when they showed up, evidently someone decided they didn't want what they had pre-ordered. I took it for a ride and am happy with my decision. Evidently I want a little less dirt bike than what the Tenere delivers.

I bet those same seal sizes are available at a transmission supply

I do to. But it takes special tools to take it apart and have to set the gears up. Has to complete disassemble to do seals. Not a very well though design.

Springtime in the Netherlands is a bit chilly and rainy this year, but that's way better than the heat and drought we had in the last couple of years. During the trip I did today on some lovely backroads, I enjoyed nature's fresh 'green' look.
I had to refuel after 502 km - my first +500 - and still needed only 21.1 liters. The tankrange of this bike is really great.

Or any bearing house. If it was mine I'd go look at the housing to make sure there aren't some imperfections that need polishing up. I'd be pissed if they replaced the parts without finding the cause. Very common with V7's in the past.