Test drive Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello

Wf a motorcycle is called Mandello, it makes sense to also present it in Mandello. That’s what happened last week. Moto Guzzi chose the Mandello del Lario factory site in Lombardy as the starting point for the driving presentation of its V100 Mandello. The machine that, based on tradition, is intended to herald the dawn of a new technical era. Packed with symbolism, she begins her mission.

Every Moto Guzzi has been manufactured in Mandello since 1921. The property, which is getting on in years, is both a place of production and a place of worship. The V100 Mandello bears his name, the number 100 commemorates the first 100 years of the company’s history, which has been a dazzling one, peppered with ups and downs.

The date of the 100th birthday was March 15, 2021. Unfortunately, the celebration of the anniversary was disrupted by a pandemic. With a delay of more than a year, celebrations were made up recently, which was better than nothing, but of course not the same. And the V100 should now be called the V101, strictly speaking.

But she doesn’t. At the same time, it is supposed to signal the start “into the next 100 years”, as the Italians proclaim without a hint of recognizable self-doubt. With the V100 they want to open a “completely new chapter”. For this purpose, an engine is put into service that has never existed before. With its two cylinders protruding laterally under the tank, it maintains external continuity. It also traditionally drives the rear wheel via a cardan shaft. For the first time, however, it is on the left side of the vehicle, integrated into a long aluminum single-sided swingarm, and many other things are also different. The V100 masters electronic magic tricks that have been admired elsewhere but not previously at Moto Guzzi.

With the freshly designed V2, the company, which belongs to the Piaggio Group, wants to lay the foundation for future model families: 115 hp and 105 Nm from a displacement of 1042 cubic centimeters, for the first time water cooling, wet instead of dry clutch. The cylinder heads were turned outwards by 90 degrees, recognizable by the fact that the exhaust manifolds do not lead forwards but downwards. According to the engineers, more space in front of the knees, straight, streamlined intake ports to the combustion chambers, and overall higher efficiency are the desired effects of the shoot.

The “Compact Block” has become quiet and economical, so called because of its amazingly short length and overall small dimensions. The consumption according to the WMTC standard is given as 4.7 liters of petrol per 100 kilometers. With the power available, the engine pretty much hits the perfect spot for life on the open road, not too much, not too little. It is said to already deliver 82 percent of the torque at 3500 revolutions, i.e. bull character. It pushes, so the impression during our first test drive, from below with gentle, evenly increasing vehemence onto a plateau, impresses with its sophistication, rumbles into the heart with a pleasantly deep Guzzi sound. Only later, at 9500 rpm, does the rev limiter intervene. Despite the water cooling and balancer shaft, the V2 is a rustic edge, as you would expect from Moto Guzzi. He bangs and drums and rejoices in the shaking. Excellent engine.