Wixom Brothers Moto Guzzi 850 Eldorado
WIXOM BROTHERS MOTO GUZZI 850 ELDORADO
Cycle World Road Test
A Transcontinental Explorer With A Touch Of Elegance Thrown In For Cruising The Boulevard
WHEN IT COMES to touring, lots of bikes will do, but few can match the stamina or comfort of a Wixom Brothers equipped Moto Guzzi 850.
The Eldorado, you see, is one of motorcycling’s heavies. It’s a bike for crossing continents, not states.
It’s a bike that can carry 200 lb. of gear for camping and a passenger at the same time. And, it’s a bike that can eat up 300-mile sections of expressway and leave the rider free from fatigue.
The Guzzi is a sound machine all right, but appearance wise, it takes some getting used to. Fenders are flared and effectively enclose the 4.00-18-in. Pirelli tires fitted at both ends. And a massive front end and bulbous fuel tank, and you have a machine that closely resembles a Harley 74.
It’s the kind of styling you either love, or hate. There is no in-between. If you can dig it, our test Guzzi will really interest you as it’s a “dresser” in the full sense of the word.
Up front, there is a Wixom Brothers Ranger Fairing, complete with optional turn signals and pinstriping. Retail price of the fairing is $69.50, less turn signals which run $7.50 more. Pinstriping is an additional $5.
Complimenting this at the rear is a centrally mounted travelcase and twin saddlebags. Like the fairing, the luggage components are both color coordinated and pinstriped. The travelcase retails for $69.50, less pinstriping and running lights, which run an additional $5 each. Saddlebags are slightly more at $104.50 and again pinstriping is an extra, at $7.50.
The full dress look is expensive, but it’s worth it if you spend a lot of time on the road. And, the majority of Wixom components are pretty trick. Take the saddlebags, for example. They are mounted on sturdy brackets, just as you’d expect, but Dzus fasteners allow detachment from the brackets in a matter of seconds. Consequently, you can use the bags like suitcases and carry them right into your motel room or whatever.
The travelcase is the same way. Undo four Dzus fasteners and take it with you. If, on the other hand, you prefer to leave the bags and travelcase mounted, they lock. As a final touch, the forward portion of the travelcase is padded and doubles as a back rest for the passenger!
Climb aboard the lull dress Eldorado and the first thing you notice is the superbly contoured, amply padded seat. It’s comfortable to begin with and remains comfortable, no matter how long you spend in the saddle.
The fuel tank seems enormous, but its contour blends in with the front of the seat and it in no way interferes with the rider. The portion of the tank which contacts the rider is chromed to preserve the finish on the machine.
Footpegs are properly placed and are comfortable for riders of all sizes. An immense brake pedal is located on the right. A rocker-type shift lever is on the left.
Grasp the bars. They are fairly narrow and high, forcing an upright riding position. With the Ranger Fairing, this isn’t objectionable since it isn’t necessary to lean forward into the wind. Without a fairing, most riders would opt for somewhat lower bars.
Flandgrips are thick and soft for optimum comfort, but handlebar mounted control switches are awkward, if not impossible to use. On the left there is a rocker-type switch for high and low beam and a similar switch to activate the lights. In order to operate the high/low beam switch, the rider must remove his hand from the grip. This is not only annoying, but also dangerous on mountain roads.
On the right, a similar rocker-type switch controls the turn signals. Again, the rider must remove his hand from the grip (the throttle in this case) to operate the switch. Actually, it’s easier to use the left hand for turn signals, and this is in no way satisfactory.
Just forward of the bars, there is a centrally located dashboard which contains a covered ignition switch and four idiot lights. For the first time, the lights, which indicate neutral and warn against overheating, low oil pressure, or faulty generator, are coded with a letter to indicate their function. On previous models, owners either had to memorize the position of the lights, or guess the ailment if one came on.
In typical motorcycle fashion, a tachometer is located to the left and a speedometer to the right of this panel. The tachometer is interesting in that it is electric and not mechanically driven by a cable, as is usually the case. Unfortunately, the needle wanders quite a bit, especially at low rpm or when executing quick shifts. Tike the tach, the speedometer is not overly accurate. Also, the odometer is not resettable, so the rider must make a mental note in order to properly judge refueling intervals.
Fean the Eldorado upright, retract the sidestand, and plant both feet firmly on the ground. Even short riders can reach the ground on this one. Ground clearance is absolutely minimal. Flip on the ignition switch, advance the handlebar mounted choke slightly, and press the starter button. As soon as you notice the starter groan, the V-Twin fires and settles down to a somewhat erratic idle.
As with previous Guzzis, no kick starter is fitted and quite frankly, none is needed. The battery is an overly large, 32 amp/hour unit and it drives an 0.7 bhp starter motor. Any time an 850cc Twin can’t be started with this setup, it’s time to start looking for other problems!
Almost immediately after starting, the choke can be retarded and the idle will smooth slightly. Pull in the clutch and ease the Guzzi into gear. The shift pattern is just the opposite of most bikes. It’s up for low and down for the remainder of the five speeds.
As soon as the Guzzi gets underway, the cumbersome feeling disappears. The Eldorado is actually quite agile in town; surprisingly so on turnpikes or the open road. No doubt this is why several police officers favor Guzzis for traffic control duty.
Enter a bumpy turn, though, and problems arise. The suspension can handle it, but the massive chassis is too low to the ground. Consequently, is scrapes. It scrapes in left turns, right turns, and sometimes when entering driveways straight on. The funny thing about it is that Moto Guzzi realizes the problem, and has built steel skids into the forward portion of the crankcase to enable it to slide over obstacles and protect it from damage.
Fortunately, at high speeds, the problem is not as acute. It just isn’t necessary to lean the bike over far enough to cause a problem. To prove it to ourselves, CYCLE WORLD staffers spent several hours on mountain roads. Handling is actually superb for a bike of this size, allowing any combination of sweeping or hairpin turns to be taken at a healthy rate of speed with confidence. Sure, the Guzzi can be grounded, and hopefully this will be remedied for an additional safety margin, but you have to exceed the limits of the law to get into any real trouble.
Mountain roads didn’t shake our confidence in the handling, but they did draw attention to the brakes. The rear unit is overly sensitive, probably due to the inordinate amount of leverage made possible by the design of the rear brake lever. Contrasting this is the front twin-shoe drum which fades after a couple of panic stops and requires a great deal of lever pressure any time it’s needed. This is unusual in that previous Guzzis we’ve had for test have proven superb stoppers with similar brakes.
It may seem strange to harp on the brakes of a touring machine, but one must realize that the Guzzi is capable of cruising along at 100 mph. Acceleration is brisk as well. Just roll the throttle on. Any gear will suffice. Shifting isn’t really necessary. There’s that much usable torque and power on tap.
When shifting does become necessary, however, it isn’t the pleasurable task found on most machines. The gearbox clunks slightly, although nowhere near as severely as on previous Guzzis, and considerable pressure on the pedal is required for gear changes. This clunk when shifting won’t hurt the transmission, but it is decidedly annoying in view of the engine’s silent running.
More annoying than the clunk is the fact that the neutral light comes on occasionally when the bike is still in gear. Let out the clutch rapidly and you’ll find out just how awkward an Eldorado can be when it’s tipping over.
While we’re on the subject of handling and riding, a few words about the Wixom accessories are in order. The Ranger Fairing is simply fantastic. It protects the rider’s entire upper body, hands included, from 90 percent of the wind, regardless of the speed involved. And, handling isn’t affected at all until the 100 mph mark is passed. Above 100, the bike oscillates slightly, but not enough to cause alarm. Without the fairing, the oscillation above 100 never appears. In fact, the Guzzi Eldorado is one of the most stable motorcycles on the market today.
The saddlebags and travelpack are equally impressive. When empty, they are not noticeable at all. With a moderate load, this remains true, although drag racing starts will produce wheelies if anything in excess of 80 lb. is carried in the Wixom components.
In spite of the Eldorado’s full dress styling and capable handling, the machine’s power train remains one of its more interesting aspects. Highly automotive in character, the engine is a 90-degree V-Twin mounted transversely in the frame, much like a BMW.
A massive forged steel crankshaft rides in automotive-type plain main bearings and carries the connecting rods, one beside the other on the same crankpin. The 90-degree layout allows balancing to eliminate primary vibration, although it does allow a slight amount of rocking couple which is not present in the BMWs 180-degree layout.
WIXOM BROTHERS MOTO GUZZI 850 ELDORADO
$2189
Plain bearing inserts are used in the connecting rod big ends and bushings carry the piston pins. The high oil pressure required for such a setup (54 to 60 psi) is provided by a two gear oil pump. The pistons have two compression rings and two oil control rings. The final oil control ring is unusual in that it is located below the piston pin. The pistons are set up to run at a very small clearance in the chrome plated cylinder bores.
Light alloy cylinder heads feature hemispherical combustion chambers and special cast iron valve seats. Two 29mm Dellorto concentric oarburetors with square slides provide the fuel/air mixture and these are tucked in toward the centerline of the machine to prevent the rider’s legs from hitting them.
The high mounted camshaft is gear driven by the crankshaft and operates the valves through tappets and short pushrods. Even though the Guzzi is not a high rpm engine, a short valve train makes it possible to use lighter valve springs with resultant smaller amount of wear on the camshaft, rocker arms and valve guides.
The area between the cylinders is filled with a heavy-duty automotive type Marelli generator. It’s rated at a healthy 300 watts and is driven from the crankshaft by a rubber V-belt. The lower pulley has notches on it to correspond to proper ignition timing at different engine speeds, making it easy to check the timing with a strobe light.
A twin-plate dry automotive-type clutch separates the engine from the five-speed gearbox which is a moderately close-ratio unit. Heavy-duty gears are changed by a selector drum, but silent gear changes require allowing the engine and road speeds to synchronize because the straight-cut, nonsynchronized gears are spinning at engine speed.
A shaft drive is totally enclosed, silent, and requires a minimum of maintenance. It is slightly less efficient than a chain because of the bevel gears, but the rear wheel stays clean and the rider doesn’t have to worry about getting oil all over his back. Further, there are no periodic adjustments, cleaning, or lubricating drills. Aside from changing the rear end oil every 6000 miles, the secondary drive train can be forgotten.
Because the Guzzi V-Twin is simple, periodic maintenance is easy to perform. In fact, any knowledgeable home mechanic should be able to service his machine with the aid of the well written and illustrated rider’s handbook. Large filler and drain plugs simplify oil changes, and all items requiring adjustment are within easy reach.
CYCLE WORLD has reports of riders going in excess of 70,000 miles on their Guzzis with little more maintenance than changing the oil, periodic tune-ups, and tire replacements. Like we said, the Moto Guzzi 850 Eldorado is a machine for crossing continents. As miles pile up, most other machines will have trouble maintaining the pace.
