Moto Guzzi, the Italian marque, has unveiled their new motorcycle – V9 – at EICMA in Milan, Italy. Designed at the Piaggio Group Style Centre and with inputs from the group’s advanced design centre in California, the V9 will be available in two options, the muscular Bobber and the minimalist Roamer.
The V9’s styling toes the line of retro designs we have seen for the Ducati Scrambler, Triumph Bonneville and the latest on the bandwagon being Yamaha with its XSR 900. The simple and minimalist design of the V9 focuses on leisure riding. The V9 is powered by an all new 853cc 90-degree V-twin engine that is mounted longitudinally – signature Moto Guzzi. The motor develops 55bhp of power at 6250rpm and 62Nm of torque at 3000rpm and transmits power to the rear wheels through a 6-speed gearbox and shaft drive. With peak torque accessible at as low as 3000rpm, riding the V9 should certainly be a lot of fun.
The V9 gets standard 40mm forks in the front and adjustable rear shocks. Front brake setup is a 320mm disc with a 4-piston caliper from Brembo while the rear brake has a 260mm disc with a 2-piston caliper to bring the 200kg motorcycle to a halt. The 15-litre fuel tank gets a four-litre reserve. The V9 misses out on ABS though.
The V9 Bobber version is a muscular motorcycle and comes in solid dark hues like Black and Grey. It gets a high profile fat tyre on a 16-inch matt-black multi-spoke alloy in the front and sits 5mm lower. The Roamer gets bright colours like Yellow and White with a scrambler-like 19-inch alloy in the front.
It would be interesting to see if Moto Guzzi brings the V9 to India to add to its current line-up of the California, Griso, 8V and the Bellagio. It will compete globally with the BMW R NineT and the Yamaha XSR 900 and if it gets to India, it will certainly be positioned above the Ducati Scrambler, somewhere near the Triumph Thruxton.
