Once again the Italian and German manufacturers battle it out: it’s difficult to say which model is the most convenient, certainly, this two-wheeler knows what it’s doing. The builder is legendary.
The Italy-Germany challenge is alive more than ever in all fields: in the gastronomic one, in the economic one, in the sporting one – with the path of the two national teams to Euro 2024 which risks crossing paths even in the round of 16 in the event of a suitable placement – and naturally in the motorsport one. The German company BMW, for example, is a great rival of Alfa Romeo in the four-wheeler sector and of important Italian brands such as Ducati and Benelli in the motorcycle sector.
However, if there is a competitor who more than all the others can aim for the throne that BMW boasts in the Adventure and Enduro sector in our country, this is it can only be Moto Guzzi, a company that produces beautiful motorcycles with a sporty character that are not afraid of getting their tires dirty on long journeys. In 2023, BMW recorded over 16 thousand registrations in our country, a growth rate of 1.6% compared to the previous year: with models like this, however, the challenge in Italy could be rekindled.
In fact, the Italian company has presented a model capable of challenging even the R series of the German company BMW Motorrad thanks to many intriguing and interesting features. It’s about the Moto Guzzi V-100 Mandello Sa prodigy of Italian engineering that is placed on the market with its excellent 106 horsepower four-stroke engine and a base price of 15,499 euros compared to 21,300 for the BMW R1300 GS: let’s see what emerges from the road tests.
Suitable for travel
In a challenge with a sacred monster like BMW no feature can be missing important: from the point of view of on-board equipment, the V-100 does not disappoint with the S version which raises the price to 17,999 euros but offers the centaur grips that heat up automatically in winter, Öhlins suspension and electronically controlled gearbox, sensors which among other things record tire pressure and an on-board monitor to check the status of the vehicle.
In short, a rich array of options, but they are not there just for beauty: on the road, according to a test Of In the saddle, the bike handles very well. The verdict, among other things, includes the following sentence: “Ride comfort is one of the strong points of the V100 S. The electronics are well calibrated, minimally invasive but effective. The Guzzi twin-cylinder always manages to have the necessary grit to travel fast”. The only flaw found in the test was the gearbox not always up to the task.
However, there is no road test without a second opinion. Here you find that of the canal Superbike Italy which in turn carried out a road test of the V-100 in S version; in short, it seems that the Italian company can give BMW tit for tat with an interesting product, well equipped with options and, last but not least, which also costs a little less than the German two-wheeler.
