Moto Guzzi’s V85 TT has been around for a few years now. The Italian brand’s entry to the middleweight adventure bike market is typically Guzzi – powered by a transversely mounted V-twin, with shaft drive and styling that can divide a room at 20 paces. Love it or hate it, it’s a welcome addition to the increasingly ‘me too’ ADV sector, but the proof is always in the riding – so just what is the V85 TT like where it matters most?
This is a sector Moto Guzzi has been in and out of quite a bit over the years. It’s hard to believe that it’s around seven years since the V85 TT first hit our roads, but with a fairly significant update last year it seems like the right time to revisit one of the few truly unique motorcycles on sale today.
If you want to compare, then the V85 TT we tested costs about as much as an entry level Africa Twin, weighs only a little less than a R 1300 GS and doesn’t even make as much power as a V-Strom 800. On paper, it really isn’t anything to write home about.
But the Moto Guzzi, indeed any Moto Guzzi, is incomparable. Sure, it’s an adventure bike – with two wheels and an engine – but it’s ploughing its own furrow. Unique is an overused word but, for sure, in many aspects the Moto Guzzi V85 TT is certainly unique.
Those stats will undoubtedly put some off, as will the polarising looks, but if you can get past all that you’re probably starting to get what it’s all about. This is a bike with character and presence. It’ll start a conversation in a way few other modern bikes will and while it’s performance may not be up there with the competition by traditional measurements, it still delivers. If character was measurable, the Moto Guzzi V85 TT would be best in class.
That’s because the Moto Guzzi is, in many ways, defined by its engine. The transversely mounted V-twin layout has been Guzzi’s signature since 1967 and has been unique to the company for all that time. Today the company has two powerplants across its four model range and, while the water-cooled 1042cc unit found in the V100 Mandello and Stelvio utilises modern tech like twin camshafts and double overhead valves, the 853cc engine found on this V85 and the V7 roadster has stayed closer to its roots.
Despite pressures to meet Euro5+, it remains a traditionally air-cooled unit with two pushrod operated valves per cylinder. It’s as traditional a design as it gets, but don’t confuse that for being old fashioned. You can’t underestimate just how much clever engineering has gone into keeping Guzzi’s 60-year-old icon compliant with modern standards and still delivering respectable numbers.
Climb on board and it’s not feeling all that different from other bikes in the class. The big banana shaped handlebars are an unusual design, and the sticky out cylinders seem to define a shape that’s further emphasised by the large and heavily sculpted fuel tank, but overall it’s not too unconventional. The modern TFT dash, for example, is everything you’d expect in 2026, as is the manually adjustable windscreen and neat switchgear.
But fire the Guzzi up and you’re greeted by a gentle rocking as those pistons punch their way from side to side. The only other place you’ll feel a similar sensation is with a BMW boxer, and it’s a charming feature I’ve always appreciated. In a world where all motorcycles, the V85 included, are getting increasingly computerised, a Moto Guzzi still feels mechanical first and foremost.
Surprisingly, the engine loves to be revved hard. Annoyingly, Moto Guzzi set the factory shift light at around 5000rpm, when a rather crude red LED starts blinking away and encourages you to change up through the gearbox. You can programme the shift light to come on later though, which I would if I owned one. Peak power comes at 7750rpm and although there’s a big fat wodge of torque in the mid-range, it feels sad not to keep the engine singing to at least a bit closer to the red line.
Guzzis do feel smoother and more modern than they did a decade ago, but it’s still got loads of character to it. You can still feel a bit of torque reaction as the shaft drive lifts the rear under acceleration, and while you still wouldn’t describe the V85 as having the slickest gearbox, none of it is anything as pronounced as it was on previous generation models. For all you could criticise the V85 TT for its lack of performance on paper, the reality is that there’s more than enough for the real world. It’s a fun and engaging backroad warrior, and while more powerful bikes will make more capable two-up tourers, you’d have to be really demanding to ask for much more.
Physically it feels big, but not too intimidating. The 830mm seat height is in the adventure bike ballpark, but the front of the saddle is tapered and very narrow – making it fairly easy for short riders like me to mount and get my feet down on. Comfort was an area where I didn’t really fall in love with the Guzzi, but I think that was a lot to do with my short stature and the fact that I tended to naturally find myself sitting right on the front of the seat.
Taller riders will probably sit further back, on the more generously padded part of the saddle, but I found myself having to make an effort to move from my natural seating position to get comfortable. A bit of research seemed to suggest most owners are happy with the comfort, and a straw poll of other journalists who rode the V85 TT on the same media day as us suggested that it was probably just me. The windscreen is manually adjustable, with 70mm of adjustment over five settings, and a bigger ‘touring’ item available as an accessory option, so hopefully most riders can tweak the settings to suit their personal tastes and stature.
The V85 TT is middle of three V85 variants available these days. For £800 less, at £11,395, you can get the Strada (translated from Italian as Street) version which replaces our bike’s spoked wheels with cast ones and swaps the dual purpose Michelin Anakee Adventure tyres for more asphalt orientated Dunlop Meridian Trailmaxes, as well as losing a few trinkets like the engine bash plate and rear rack. You also get plainer graphics and there’s no cornering ABS or off-road ride mode.
Unusually for a ‘street’ version there’s no chassis changes to make it more accessible to shorter riders. The suspension and seat height remain the same, although it’s a few kilos lighter due to the different wheels and lesser equipment. At the other end of the scale, there’s the £13,495 Travel, which comes with factory fitted panniers, a bigger windscreen and heated grips and saddle. It also gets an additional, user defined, ride mode.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the V85 TT feels a little light on spec for a 12 grand bike. At the time of writing, the manufacturer is offering a £900 voucher for accessories as a sales promotion, allowing you to add a few more bits and pieces, but when the same money gets a higher-performing Africa Twin or Tiger 900 GT, you are going to have to really fall in love with a Guzzi to get on board.
The looks are subjective. Some love them, some hate them. It’s sort of retro, but not really a copy of, or homage to, anything from a bygone era. I like it, and the random people who commented every time I parked up suggested I’m not the only one.
To ride, the chassis is taut and modern. With its 19” front wheel, it’s more road orientated than the ‘rally’ styled competitors with 21” front hoops and really long travel suspension, but the riding position is tall and those wide ‘bars give plenty of leverage with which to hustle.
With the whopping 23 litre tank brimmed up, it can feel a bit top heavy in traffic and cumbersome when it comes to low speed manoeuvres, but on back roads it actually adds up to a nice and stable machine that’s engaging to ride. Sure it’s not as powerful as most, but the flipside is that it urges you to work that V-twin motor. Rev it out and you feel like you’re bossing it, although you can surf the torque and it’s suitably lazy.
The TT has four ride modes, Road, Rain, Sport and Off-Road, which modify the throttle response, ABS and traction control settings. With only 80bhp to worry about, I was happy just to stick it in Sport and be done. The other ‘street’ modes soften the power delivery and increase electronic intervention but, to be honest, I never really felt the need to change from Sport. If I was to have a gripe, then there’s no quickshifter – even as an accessory option. It’s something we’ve gotten used to these days, and while the Guzzi’s gearbox is more than adequate, it’s not as slick as others either.
But the Moto Guzzi V85 TT is one of those bikes that’s as hard to review as it is to categorise, because it really is so objective. It’s an oddball, and some will dismiss it out of hand without even thinking of giving one a try. Personally I am a massive Guzzi fan. One of my earliest introductions to motorcycling involved an early ‘80s Le Mans 850 and I’ve always had a real penchant for the modern day V7. I like the V85 TT for all its quirks, but know that it won’t butter everyone’s parsnips.
But if you’ve made it this far and are still interested, it’s definitely worth a trip to your local Moto Guzzi dealership to bag a test ride and decide for yourself if you are ready to join the Guzzisti.
Moto Guzzi V85 TT specification
Price: £12,195
Engine: 853cc, air-cooled, transversely mounted 90° V-twin, two-valves per cylinder
Power: 80bhp @ 7,750rpm
Torque: 83Nm @ 5,100rpm
Suspension: 41mm upside down front fork with preload and rebound adjustment. Single rear shock absorbers with adjustable preload and rebound damping
Wheels: Tubeless cross spoked, 19” front and 17” rear
Tyres: Front 110/80-19, rear 150/70-17
Weight: 230kg wet
Seat height: 830mm
Fuel tank: 23 litres
Contact: www.motoguzzi.com
