Ageing tosser books Breva test ride!

[belfastguzzi]

I hope you don't expect an apology!  :!:

59962[/snapback]

 

 

sorry

[Guest Nogbad]

sorry

60022[/snapback]

 

Not you, me! I thought the complaint was my deviation......

[belfastguzzi]

Not you, me! I thought the complaint was my deviation......

60088[/snapback]

 

Sorry

on behalf of the deviant, Nogbad

[big J]

So, has the aging tosser had a ride yet?

 

Curious to see if something so ugly IMHO is any good.

 

Baldini rates it.

 

Any info?

[pete roper]

I haven't ridden it yet, but I got to sit on it at the NSW Guzzi rally last weekend.

 

Bugger me it's un-necessarily big! God alone knows why, probably trying to appeal to the American market. Anyway, from what I could glean by pawing it and sitting on it everything is very *modern*, ie, it's covered with a whole load of useless crap to disguise the fact that it's actually a MACHINE and make it look like it's a 'Lifestyle Accessory'. Fine if you want that sort of thing but to me it's just ugly and pointless extra weight!

 

I can't comment on the rear CARC system as I haven't been able to see any exploded pictures of it and on the bike you have few clues as to what happens within the swingarm. Obviously though it's going to be some sort of enclosed variant of the V11 set-up which seems to be fairly bulletproof.

 

I personally don't like all the crappy chrome/plastic bling on it, in fact I passed comment that if ever there was a machine crying out for an all-over coat of rattle-can black this was it. Needless to say this led to a rather stiff reply from the importer's rep who had bought the bike along

 

Look, it felt comfy to sit on, the riding position was very upright and easy to live with and it has a dashboard full of widgets and lights to tell you where you've been, where you're going, how old you are, your shoe size and when you next have to go to hospital to have your rectal prolapse put right. All of which is bloody useless complication to me, but I'm NOT who the bike is aimed at so just because I think it's stupid junk doesn't mean that it has any real downside apart from adding weight and complexity, and people seem to love that, as long as the wretched thing can still go stupidly fast, (on paper at least!).

 

Six speed box looks a bit shorter than the *old* six speeder, not having actually ridden it I can't say how it actually performs. All the rest of it is basically bog-ordinary *modern* motorbike.

 

Do I want one?????? Well, that's a good question. Yes, I would like one to play about with. I'd like to work with Cliff to build a decent exhaust/efi combination for it and try to manage all the awful emissions munt and performance stranglers it's fitted with, (Don't get me wrong. I'm all for environmentally friendly. It's just that IMHO the cost of adding and manufacturing all the crap like Cat-Cons on small volume manufactured bikes in terms of environmental pollution over the life of the machine makes it a false ecconomy!!!!!) Would I want one as a replacement for what I currently own? Honestly? No. Why? Because what I currently have does everything I want and has that ellusive content, 'Charisma' that I found sadly lacking in the Breva 11 .

 

Yeah, yeah. I know. Get with the programme, get modern, don't live in the past, yadda-yadda. Sorry, but I don't subscribe to the 'New has to be Better' philosophy. The local Snap-On man was trying to sell me a U-Beaut $700 digital torque wrench the other day. It was a lovely tool, but I didn't need it. He didn't make the sale either. This isn't to say that the Breva 11 won't be a great bike, and maybe the Greaso, (Which I belive is Italian for 'Stand-over Merchant' ) won't also be a great bike. It's just thatI don't think, even if I had one in the garage, I'd find myself taking it's keys off the hook in prefference to those of the 'Vert, the SP or the Hot-Rod, (Which doesn't have a key <_>

 

Pete

[guido]

hi Peter. Nice to hear what you actually think of the bike.

I sit with my lime green V11, which in my view is a classic. Unfortunately I came off and the bike has to be rebuild. I am just wondering if the new Breva is an alltogether better machine, the credentials of the V11 scares me a bit, It never felt like a truely sorted bike, it was wobbling in the corners, it might have a problem with head shake (at least with the original steeper fork), the gearboxes have issues and there are niggling smaller things as well. It also gives me reason for thoughts, that they have modified the engine, made a new gearbox and tossed the spine-frame. Litterally, nothing significant is carried over to the newer models. Not exactly vouching for the old machines credentials!

If the Breva is a markedly better bike, it would hardly be worth it clinging to the V11, in spite of all its charisma. If not, I better get my machine back on the road.

 

So I can't wait for a riding report by someone who actually knows the Guzzis.

[pete roper]

Guido, I actually preffer the looks of the V11's. The early, short-frame, models really tempted me for a while but it really didn't do anything I wanted $17,000 better than my old Tontis, and that remains the case with the new Breva.

 

This is NOT, I hope people understand, me slagging off the bike. It's just ME saying that it probably isn't necessary or right for ME. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to actually get a ride on one and I'll give what I hope will be an objective appraisal but remember I don't particularly like *modern* motorbikes which doesn't mean that they aren't good, just that they aren't my cup of tea, any of them I've currently ridden.

 

If you look at it from my point of view for the cost of a new Breva I can buy, modify and complete my 'El-Vert' project, register and insure it for a couple of years and still have a heap of money to spend on travel and beer AND I'd have a pretty rare and unusual motorbike, not unique, it's been done before, but probably the only one in Oz. I find that far more *fun* than having a 'New' motorbike, but that's me.

 

Pete

[Paul Minnaert]

Pete, your priomised driving it.

[pete roper]

Paul, I'm longing to ride one! The thing is that the bloke from the importer who turned up on the Breva at the rally wasn't offering test rides. My closest official dealer and I have various 'issues' so I probably won't get a test ride there and anyway, he doesn't have a demo bike . That means that I have to ride to Sydney to get to plonk my arse on one and take it for a test ride. Now Sydney is about 2 & 3/4 hours away from me down a very boring expressway. If I want to go and ride a Breva I have to book ahead and then take a full day off work to go and take a short test ride in a city. Brilliant!

 

I'm really looking forward to it, but common sense dictates that I can't drop everything simply to go and ride a bike I probably won't be wild about anyway. It would also make more sense for me that if I do decide I want one I wait until they start apearing 2nd hand so that somebody else takes the big depreciation hit that comes with being a new purchaser.

 

Pete

[Guest Nogbad]

So... er.. I guess that's a no then Pete. Sure the Breva 11 wasn't ok, and it wasn't just soreness over the recent cricket that coloured your perceptions??

[Baldini]

....If the Breva is a markedly better bike, it would hardly be worth it clinging to the V11....So I can't wait for a riding report by someone who actually knows the  Guzzis.....

 

We can't know if it's a markedly better bike til it's been around a while & any problems/faults show up.

 

I had a brief ride on one & a good look over it. Gearchange is much slicker than V11, as good as Jap. Shaft is enclosed. S/a is much longer & rear end set up makes V11 feel crude. Handles well. Motor is moved forward in frame which must improve weight distribution & consequently handling (V11's carry wt too far back). Motor feels like it has slightly less power & less bottom end than V11 (but I'm guessing that could be sorted w/in/ex mods). All round it feels smoother. FI set up on one I rode felt spot on (Dealers personal bike). Seat is extremely comfortable. It looks & feels very thoroughly thought out & well put together but only time will tell.

 

It's not expensive. It must have been built down to the price but it's hard to see where.

 

Looks are subjective & can always be altered. It looks better in life than in photos.

 

I have had Guzzis over 20 yrs. I felt like Pete towards the new bikes (spines) & it was only the Ohlins kit & the knock down price made me go for one. I love my old Tontis, but since I've had the Scura the old bike's hardly been out of the shed. I think the Breva is a significant step forward for Guzzi. It's dealt with problems that needed sorting & whatever the diehards say it's still a real Guzzi.

 

KB

[guido]

Thanks Baldini! At least one person who has actually ridden one. Guess I will have to wait patiently till the bike arrives here and then go and dirve one as well.

Still, that lime green V11 sure is a good looker.

However, must be getting old, I must admit, that of my bikes, the favorite is my G5 (almost a convert, Peter , at least a manual convert), its not fast, and maybe not the most comfortable, but it just does everything nicely!

I'm getting this sickly feeling, that maybe I should upgrade to a Breva, and then offer to buy the wrecked V11 off the dealer!!

[pete roper]

I'm getting this sickly feeling, that maybe I should upgrade to a Breva, and then offer to buy the wrecked V11 off the dealer!! 

60208[/snapback]

 

Now THAT my friend is beginning to sound like a plan

 

Pete

[richard100t]

I'm getting a bad feeling that if I test ride that Breva I may really want it too. I'm not a big fan of the way it looks but I got a feeling they made a good bike this time. Not that the others arent good, I think I mean to say well sorted or something like that. That Breva 750 is so smooth & comfy I'm scared to think how nice an 1100 will make it.

[Guest kfz]

Yer heads gettin' soft.

 

What good is a bike that'll run all day with modern brakes, steering, drivetrain?  Nah, Get some shite with 16 in. wheels, brakes that don't stop and fairing bits that leave a trail of where ya been...............

 

Lord, If I can't depend on the nutty old Guzzi farts, I think I'm lost

59335[/snapback]

 

 

 

LOL, Pretty funny