I wasn’t sure I would like this bike, I guess I didn’t want to like it because Guzzi have a little bit of a bad reputation in biking circles because of the various factory changes and lack of spares availability at dealers.

This isn’t just heresay by the way, one of our good friends has a Guzzi and so we know the difficulty he has experienced in the past getting spares.

The recent takeover by Piaggio may have changed things though.

On the positive side Moto Guzzi have an excellent owners club which you can read about by clicking here.

Anyhow back to the Stelvio…..

There is no question this is a two-up bike – the seat is extra large both for rider and pillion and is not lacking in the comfort department either. Full marks there.

We liked the looks, quirky but not run of the mill.

Pete was able to put his feet on the floor easily (he’s 6 ft) even though the bike gave the impression of being very tall. It was very manageable at slow speeds and was easy to maneouvre on and off the centre stand.

The engine is a large, impressive lump but it does tend to ‘rock and roll’ – shuddering from side to side – and be very vibe-y until you increase the revs and a bit like Marmite I feel you either love it or you hate it!
However, the gearbox was easy to use and the engine needed surprisingly few revs before we were away.

We both commented on how easy the bike seemed to handle – it seemed easy to flick from side to side and the brakes are excellent.

Pete feels that the bike could do with some low-down grunt and he thought that two up with luggage it might stall very easily.

The controls are light and easy to use with a large and clear dashboard display. There is a digital speedo with the ‘idiot’ displays clear and easy to follow.

Whilst we were out on the bike the dashboard controls went off and the bike started to run on one cylinder. Thankfully we were on our way back and were able to coax it the last mile or so. This could be a quality control issue or it could just have been a well used hack. It seemed to be easily fixed and as far as I know there were no more issues with it for the rest of the day.

If you like to be different from the crowd this bike is a good alternative to the BMW GS.

Pillion view: Extra large and comfy seat. Despite the juddery feel of the bike especially in low revs this did not translate into any kind of discomfort, unlike other v-twins which immediately translate their vibey nature right through to my rear end. The handling felt extremely good and seemed to do everything that was asked of it.

Motorbikin verdict: 8/10.