Another Stelvio thread

[wheelsucker]

I know everyone has their own thoughts about the Stelvio and it have a bug eye look from the front. But once you get past that aspect I think the bike is just beautiful. A dealership is selling one on ebay and they have a bunch of pictures that show its true beauty. That bike is just SCREAMING my name, I'm gonna die when I go see one in person at the local MG dealership (when they get it in). It also doesn't help that I just got a new job with an EXCEPTIONAL pay raise and the credit card companies keep sending 0% interest on purchases made in the first 6 months. That's 0% interest until the balance of the purchase amount is paide off!!! MUST RESIST, but damn that bike is beautiful!!! Anyone know what the wattage/stator output is? How many extra watts are available for accessories?? Is it more than the V11 LM/sport series?

[Steve G.]

I know everyone has their own thoughts about the Stelvio and it have a bug eye look from the front. But once you get past that aspect I think the bike is just beautiful. A dealership is selling one on ebay and they have a bunch of pictures that show its true beauty. That bike is just SCREAMING my name, I'm gonna die when I go see one in person at the local MG dealership (when they get it in). It also doesn't help that I just got a new job with an EXCEPTIONAL pay raise and the credit card companies keep sending 0% interest on purchases made in the first 6 months. That's 0% interest until the balance of the purchase amount is paide off!!! MUST RESIST, but damn that bike is beautiful!!! Anyone know what the wattage/stator output is? How many extra watts are available for accessories?? Is it more than the V11 LM/sport series?

 

 

I'm just finishing reading a test of this bike against the 'known benchmark' in this catagory. Anyways, it says that this engine is basically right out of the Griso, so fairly good power.

As for the design of the bike, and as an owner of two bikes of this catagory, I can say that none, NONE, of the 'adventure' catagory bikes ever made could ever be considered beautiful. Interesting, polarizing, utilitarian, proud, excentric, purposefull, these are word more acurate to describe any of the current big "duallies". That said, as always, I say "beauty is in the eye of the beer holder", so go for it, buy it, you literally only live once!!!!

Last month I was lucky enough to ride the Stelvio Pass [Passo Stelvio]. At the top, walking around looking at the views, t-shirt stands, bikes, and people, I came upon an outside restaurant where Moto Guzzi flags flew. Uopn further inspection was a platform where two MG Stelvios sat, and a sign welcoming everyone to view the bike with the same name as the pass we had just ridden. It was quite cool actually.

Steve

[Guzzirider]

Not sure what the output is but I know some Stelvio owners that have heated grips / spotlights etc with no problems.

Headlights are superb in comparison to any other bike I have ridden.

[Paul Minnaert]

the stelvio has an alternator like the breva, griso, norge that has enough power for your magnetron. 12 V 550 W

 

Driving the Stelvio is fun, very easy and lots of comfort, and loves bad tarmac, because the longer suspension travel

[Greg Field]

I've twice taken one home for the evening and ridden it enough (maybe 200) over everything from streets to goatpaths to get a sense of it. Here're some impressions:

 

Dash

The dash is pretty usable and easy to read. Its backlighting comes on automatically then you enter dark places, such as tunnels. One feature it seems to lack is the instantaneous readout of mpg, which is on the Grisos, Breva 1100s and Norges. The average mpg doesn’t seem too accurate since it read that the average was 25 mpg. The gas gauge seemed entirely useless. It has two LED segments that are displayed when the tank is anywhere above reserve. The top segment stays “lit” until about the same time the low-fuel indicator lights. What’s the point of having the gas gauge? It also has an annoying warning light that flashes red, telling you when to shift. Fortunately, you can adjust the point at which it comes on. Were it mine, I’d set it at the maximum, which is 8,500 rpm.

 

Switches

A little awkward. I found myself turning on the turn signals when I was trying to toggle the Mode button to change the dash displays. This’d all get easier with familiarity, though.

.

Seat

It’s flat and firm and surprisingly comfortable. I never felt any discomfort. The seat has a low and high setting. I did all my riding with it in the low setting. This gave plenty of knee room for my longish legs (35 inch inseam). Riding position is best likened to that of a western saddle position when horse riding. I found it very comfortable, much like a Quota. I think 800-mile days would leave me in little or no pain.

 

Mirrors

The mirrors for the North AMerican market give a broad view to the rear but blur like crazy under engine power. Forget trying to discern whether that car behind you is a cop. At several points I needed to know this, but it was hopeless. I like that the turn signals are integrated into the mirrors on US models, but that makes it more difficult to change to less-buzzy mirrors. If it were mine, I’d fit the integrated turn signals from European models and the the 1200 Sport mirrors.

 

Sidestand

US models have a unique sidestand (as on Brevas and Norges) compared to non-US models. Instead of being straight, it doglegs out to the side, under the left peg. This makes it somewhat awkward to deploy. Familiarity will make this less of an issue, but I’m pretty sure I’d replace it with a Euro sidestand if the bike were mine.

 

Centerstand

It’s a good one. It’s fairly easy to get the bike up, and it hoists the rear tire off the ground. It looks like it would be fairly easy to drag it, but I never did. The roads were wet from fog, and I was following someone with a faily bald rear tire on his Ducati. He wasn’t pushing it. SO, I never really found out if dragging would be a problem.

 

Windshield

It’s pretty effective. I had it all the way up and was getting just a hint of buffeting. It really blocked the wind well to the torso such that despite the Stelvio’s bolt-upright riding position, I never had to fight the wind, even at 95 mph. This is a motorcycle I could ride a long way.

 

Front suspension

These forks are pretty good. They’re massive upside down Showas. I never felt any flex, but they are harshly sprung and damped. I backed off the preload and damping all the way, and then they functioned pretty well. Lighter springs and some valve tuning’d be in order if the bike were mine. Long-travel suspension on a road bike should feel plush. These would take some work to get there.

 

Rear suspension

It seems way oversprung and poorly valved, too. I backed off all the pre-load, and it still kicks up. You can reduce the kickup by adding rebound damping, but even with rebound damping cranked fully hard, the rear still kicked up. It was the best balance with both preload and damping backed all the way off. Still, it wasn’t plush, like long-travel suspension on this type of bike should be for street use.

 

Wheels

I think the wheels are one of this bike’s stand-out features. Rims’re black and farily conventional in construction. The spokes, however, are where all the magic happens. Each is sealed with an o-ring so that they can be run tubeless. Guzzi fitted topnotch 90-degree valvc stems, too. The V7 Classic needs these wheels. So does the Cal Vintage.

 

Front Brakes

They’re just OK by modern, $15,000-bike standards. Guzzi gave it radial calipers but then fitted a second-rate conventional master cylinder, wasting all the potential of the expensive calipers. This is the same complaint as I have about the 8v Griso’s brakes. They should’ve spent the extra $10 per unit and made them great. Still, they’re pretty good brakes, about what an 1100 Sport had a decade ago.

 

Rear Brake

It’s very effective. Basically, you can lock it anytime you want, but the bike skids very controllably. I never once felt that the locked rear was sending me into the high-side zone. Maybe it's the leverage given by the bars? Whatever it is, it works.

 

Headlights

This double unit is fabulous. I wish my V11 had lights like these.

 

Driveline

I like the way the transmission shifts. I love the way it has positive stops when you shift down into fist an up into sixth. I like the feel of the single-plate clutch. It has nice engagement. It’s actuated by a master cylinder and slave with good ratios, for a much lighter pull than on the V11 Sports. Like the clutches on all the later Guzzis, it hooks up in the last few millimeters of lever travel. I wish this was adjustable, because I prefer it to hook up nearer the handlebar. Unfortunately the only hope for adjustment is to fit one of the four lengths of clutch pushrod offered in the parts diagram. Why there would be four lengths of them I cannot imagine, but there are.

 

I really hate how much lash there is in the driveline, though, and the loss of the transmission cush drive. It’s very difficult to ride smoothly in traffic as this slop gets taken up, bucking and jerking and clacking. Add in the slight surging of the EFI at 3500 rprm and below, and negotiating traffic heavy traffic. Micha thinks some of this can be tuned out. Hopefully that’s true. Especially since all the 1200s will now have this clutch and transmission.

 

Engine

I’m not sure I like the 4vpc engine that much. Yes, it has vastly improved top-end power. Yes it is smooth, though it is also buzzy and put my right hand to sleep. This buzziness may attenuate as the engine breaks in. It may also improve with some tuning. Time will tell. It loves to be revved and ridden very differently from the 2vpc Guzzi motors. The latter, like the one in my V11 Sport absolutely shine in the 2500-5500 rpm range. This motor hates being ridden below 4500 rpm. As long as you keep it 4500-8500 rpm, you can hardly tell that rpm increases or decreases, you just notice that it has more power or less power. The rush really comes on at 5,500 rpm, and it’s quite a rush compared to any previous Guzzi 2vpc motor.

 

Below that rush point, it seems markedly less torquey than the older motor. Also, below 4500 rpm, the fuel injection exhibits these “micro-surges” on neutral throttle that exacerbate the lashiness of the driveline to seriously compromise ride quality anytime you are following traffic and thus cannot keep positive throttle. I noticed the same on the 8v Griso. If all you do is ride on the open road, you’ll never notice this, but the bike becomes very uncomfortable and “bucky” in stop-and-go traffic. I hope this is tunable. I hope.

 

Overall

Of all the two-wheeld SUVs currently on the market, I like this one best. It doesn’t have the grunt of a KTM or a Caponord, but it’s also nowhere near as top-heavy as those two. It’s less refined than the BMW, but that’s OK with me. The big difference between the two of them is suspension quality, and the excessive lash in the Stelvio drivetrain. The suspension seems fixable on the Stelvio; I’m not sure the lash issue is. The turnoff for me regarding the BMW is its (IMO) overcomplexity. Like I said, though, I’m not wild about the engine, but I do not deny the possibility that is will improve during break-in or that tuning will help.

[Paul Minnaert]

this shows how easy more potential can be gotten from the engine:

 

http://www.hmb-guzzi.de/html/tuninggriso8v.html