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For your delight and delectation; the Moto Guzzi Bellagio. (Or ten grown men playing in Italy on new motor bikes) Believe it or not I was a little unsure as to whether or not I really wanted to ride the Bellagio back from the factory when the idea was first floated by the UK importers. Surely a bike this pretty was going to be bloody uncomfortable; it has no screen, nor any sort of weather protection and absolutely no luggage space. But with my customers best wishes at heart, knowing how many of you have been waiting to test ride this bike, off to the factory I went, like a good little dealer to get a demonstrator for you all to play on. Our first view of what we would be riding for the next three days and thank god, the saddle was more comfy than I remember from the Milan show. We hand over our number plates and are then given a V.O.(ordinary) P. tour of the factory, by Daniele whilst some nice techies fit them for us. Boy have these chaps been spending money-the new engine assembly shop looks positively modern and the whole factory had a sense of urgent busyness about it, that was never present on my previous visits; the new range is obviously proving popular. I’m not allowed to talk about the new models we spied, but suffice it to say the R&D dept. looked busy ensuring the factory remains busy and the sound of that engine….. After securing our bags to the rear pillion seats we set off and enjoyed the twisting lakeside roads for all of 15mins when we stopped and waited for the ferry to cross Lake Como. The plan had been to take the ferry to the village of Bellagio, so we could get some shots of the bikes in the hamlet they are named after. This plan had to be abandoned after some hi-tech nav aid problems; Colin’s sat nav bracket put up more of a fight than was expected and cost us about an hour. We decided to push on rather than run the unthinkable risk of getting to France after the bars shut. After miles of tight twisting hairpin bends we stopped at the summit to take in another amazing view. The Bellagio really came into its own on these roads. Its handling at these speeds was sure footed and confidence inspiring. There is plenty of ground clearance. The sweet torquey motor produced plenty of glitch free power which married to the switch like six speed gear box made light work of the steep ascents. In fact they were so nice to ride in the mountains that we altered our route to take in more alpine roads and passes. These detours were lots of fun, but they did eat into our already depleted daylight hours not to mention our drinking time. With this in mind the pace was picked up. Up till now the bikes had been allowed to wander along at their natural pace of about 75 mph. At this speed every thing seemed to gel, with the engine sounding relaxed the chassis coping ok with its part and the wind blast being just noticeable enough to be pleasant. For the mile munching straighter roads ahead the speed was increased to about 95mph, which the engine still seemed more than happy with. The handling however went to pot with the bike shaking its head and weaving even in a straight line. A quick fettle of the multi adjustable suspension at the next fuel stop cured this and normal dependable Italian handling was returned. A screen would have improved things at these speeds as the wind blast although bearable was now very noticeable; Guzzi will soon be launching a range of accessories for the Bellagio which will include at least one screen and hopefully a luggage rack. We made it!-the bar was still open at the hotel in Colmar, we even found a restaurateur who was prepared to feed and water 10 travel weary Englishmen, (9 actually, as Mel’s a Scot). All in all a good days riding! After a very welcome nights sleep everyone was up and ready for an early start and a day of playing on the French back roads and byways. Speeds were more relaxed and the bikes were loving it, when catastrophe hit and one of our number suffered a total electrical failure, the dash board warning was saying that the ECU was disconnected! After a quick check under the seat it was found that the main system relays and fuses weren’t pushed home correctly, after a quick poke and a prod normal service was resumed. (Note to techies, when we checked nearly all of the bikes had some components in the grey box under the seat that needed a shove home, I would recommend this done at PDI) We reached Reims by late afternoon and spent an enjoyable evening relaxing, (eating and drinking too much). Another early start and some very enjoyable riding on French D roads saw us at Calais for lunch time. After a quick crossing we all prepared to face the hell that is the UK road net work on a Friday afternoon. When we reached the predictably car park like M25 the Bellagio proved nimble enough to filter with the best of them and on the clear bits it was more than able to keep ahead of the traffic. Made it! What a great trip and an even better bike. Even the saddle was quite comfy, although after 3 days of sitting on it my bum was feeling a bit numb. But I found myself waking the next morning feeling disappointed that I didn’t have a days riding ahead of me. It’s your go now, as this very bike will be cleaned, serviced and added to our Guzzi demo fleet. What are you waiting for, come and have a test ride on Moto Guzzi’s latest new model, then you can tell everyone what you think of it on our message board. Ian Have you got something you'd like to say on this topic? Then go to the MaxMoto Message Board for the Moto Guzzi Ballagio ( 20 comments). Would you like to receive regular news items like this? And be entered into our regular prize draws? Then, Join our Newsletter. Related Links: Full Bellagio Rideback Gallery | Moto Guzzi Bellagio
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MaxMoto News 01/08/07.
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