Moto Guzzi 850t Interceptor

MOTO GUZZI 850T INTERCEPTOR

Cycle World Road Test

Mama mia, thatsa somea nicea bike.

EUROPE HAS long been known for its spiffy street racer-kitted bikes and exotic production motorcycles that try to copy the looks and, in some cases, the performance of various Grand Prix racing machines. Perhaps the most performance-conscious and race-inspired manufacturers have come from the small and crowded country of Italy.

Over the past several decades, Italy has produced such winning machines as the Gilera 500 Four, the 250cc Morini (which gave the Honda Fours a tussle on short courses); the Benellis; one of the winningest racers of all time, the MV Agusta; and the fabulous Moto Guzzi V-8.

The bike business is starting to boom all around the world, and as it does, more and more “pseudo racers” are beginning to hit the market. As is to be expected, at least from our standpoint, Italy leads the field. In addition to performance, the hot-blooded Italians, for whatever reason, seem to be more concerned with such important machine characteristics as handling and stopping. Second on their list of priorities are such things as switches, electric starters and the like.

Moto Guzzi has been on the scene here in the US for quite some time now. Until just recently they had very little to offer the sport rider. They have primarily concerned themselves with the touring type of enthusiast (the kind of rider who would be interested in Harleys and other such bikes), not to mention the various police departments across the country.

After several years in America, Moto Guzzi has come to realize the need for a sport version of their tourer, and has recently made two such models available to the American public. They are the V7 Sport and our test bike, the 850 Interceptor.

Generally speaking, the requirements for a sport machine are quite different than those for a long-distance cruiser. The 850, to our surprise and pleasure, exhibits traits that are welcome in both worlds. When we first received pictures of the 850, we all drooled a bit over the bike’s sleek good looks.

The real thing was something else at first. In person, the bike gives the impression of being large (which it is) and bulky (which it also is). The culprit is none other than the large and bulbous gas tank. This gargantuan container holds 6.2 gal. of fuel, which is enough to make it look a lot more attractive. We measured the fuel consumption at 44 mpg. That provides an effective range of approximately 260 miles; a definite appeal to the long-distance rider.

The tank is brown in color and accentuated with bright, gold-colored stripes in various widths. From a functional point, the tank should have been covered with a clear lacquer (or similar substance), to prevent the stripes from peeling off. The appearance of the remainder of the machine presents no surprises. There is nothing that would catch anyone’s eye, just good, clean craftsmanship.

Starting at the front of the bike, we find a Michelin tire, a brand that is just beginning to gain quite a reputation on some of the racing equipment in Europe. The size is 3.50-18, which is pretty much standard for bikes this size. The rear tire is also a Michelin, 4.10-18. Both tires are of the same tread pattern, one that is unusual in shape when compared to the majority. They held their grip quite well during all of the paces the bike was put through.

One of the most crucial items on any bike is a good stopper, and the Guzzi has one that will perform with the best of them. It is a disc of an approximate 12-inch diameter, and has a two-piston caliper that is rigidly attached to the right fork slider.

The disc is as much as several inches larger than some units. This larger diameter aids in the stopping ability of the brake, although brake usage is hampered somewhat by the uncomfortable and inconvenient shape of the brake lever. It is necessary to have a hand as large as Wilt Chamberlain’s to easily grip the lever. And even with the aid of hydraulics, it takes an extra amount of pressure on the lever to initiate its stopping force. We feel that the reason for this is the awkward ver position.

As is indicated by the braking figures, the 850, though rather a heavy motorcycle, can be stopped in short order. One reason for the short stopping distance is the very efficient rear brake. It is a double leading shoe stopper that is by far superior to the single leading shoe brakes fitted to most bikes. When taking their first ride on the 850, most people will find this binder somewhat sensitive compared to what they are use to. With a little practice this touchy brake will become a welcome asset.

Guzzi has utilized a rather unique approach to the problem of good suspension control. From all outward appearances, the front forks are the same telescopic, oil-damped units found on most road bikes. This, however, is not the case.

A total of six oz. of oil is used in each fork for lubrication alone. The damping is controlled by a sealed hydraulic cylinder attached to the slider and fork tube. As usual, the compression damping is controlled by a coiled spring. Under severe braking we noticed that the forks would bottom; travel was 4.5 in. Under normal conditions this was not the case.

The rear shocks are five-way adjustable and, believe it or not, are well-suited to the machine and a wide range of rider weights or payloads. The spring rate can be adjusted without the aid of any special tool and with very little effort on the rider’s part.

Because of the built-in racer characteristics of the 850, the suspension tends to be on the stiff side. But even at that it is like riding on a feather bed when compared to some of the Japanese bikes. On the other hand, it doesn’t even come close to matching the luxurious ride of a BMW. As it stands, the suspension offers, more or less, the best of two extremes—a smooth satisfactory ride for long-distance touring, and exceptionally good control for those of us who enjoy scratching through the corners.

The 850 uses the same tubular double cradle frame as the V7 Sport. Some bikes tend to wallow through a high-speed corner due to too soft a suspension. But not the 850. It does not suffer from any frame maladies. We found the chassis and suspension components more than capable of handling any high-speed situation that they were subjected to.

The Guzzi is one of the few roadster/sport bikes tested that didn’t have a tendency to drag one thing or another through a tight corner. The spring-loaded side stand (a la BMW), fits up closely to the left exhaust head pipe. The center stand tucks in so well that it is almost undetectable. Neither one of these even comes close to scraping the ground and wreaking havoc with the rider’s safety. The rider footpegs do not fold, but present no clearance problems either.

The seating position of the Interceptor is a compromise between sitting straight up and bending over to reach a set of clip-ons. While the handlebars may look awkward, in actuality they are not. The riding position allows easy control of the large bike even in slow traffic, and at higher speeds the wind does not have a tendency to force the rider off the back of the bike. This is an important point for long trips, since the fatigue factor is definitely lower than with many another bike.

Another fatigue factor that doesn’t rear its ugly head is vibration. Aside from the V-Twin shake at lower speeds that is common to rubber-mounted engines, the 850 exhibits no vibration in the cruising range. The Guzzi and the BMW are without doubt the smoothest pair of Twins on the road.

Another plus in the comfort column for the 850 is the low seat height. It is only 31.5 inches above the ground. This makes the bike easy to handle even for short-legged people. The seat itself is actually a bit too soft and slightly too narrow. It’s enough to cause numbness in the posterior after about 100 miles or so. But the seat is long enough to make two-up riding a snap. Our six-foot-plus staffer did have a bit of trouble clearing the cylinder heads with his knees, but none of the rest of us did.

This year the Guzzi comes fitted with all new control switches. And they are a big improvement over the switches fitted to previous models. At least now it is possible to reach the controls without removing your hands from the bars. Some of us felt that it would be better to use smaller diameter grips, while the rest of us found the standard units satisfactory.

One thing that we all agreed upon 100 percent was the need to reduce the spring tension on the carburetor slides. When we made mention of the Chamberlain hand necessary to reach the brake lever, we neglected to say that you also need the strength of Goliath to open the throttle and keep it open. Once out on the highway it is possible to put tension against the throttle spool by tightening a stop screw on the grip. This makes it quite easy to hold a steady speed without any effort. But around town, Aargh!

Usually a motorcycle tester can point to the horn on any given bike and complain about its inability to emit a loud enough warning signal. The Guzzi, however, has dual horns that are enough to make a truck driver flinch. We would like to see everyone follow this example.

There aren’t any trick or unnecessary indicator lights fitted to the 850. With the ever-increasing pressure from the government, it won’t be long before the Guzzi and othÄ machines will be fitted with lights to tell the rider everythi™ from oil pressure to whether the passenger is properly deposited on the seat. For now, the lights include a neutral, charge, oil pressure and high beam indicator.

The two instruments on the 850, the tach and the speedo, are easily read day or night. We would like to see a trip meter on the speedo. This is handy for figuring gas mileage and accumulative trip mileage. The odometer managed to seize up at 999 miles, while the speedo continued to function properly. But, as the data panel indicates, it is quite optimistic.

The engine is basically the same power plant found in the Eldorado, the touring version of the 850. The bore and stroke remain at 83x78mm. The camshaft is of a slightly different grind for greater valve lift and duration. The 90-degree V-Twin’s power is very predictable and, to say the least, docile. There is no definite range, just good, strong power from just above idle to the red line at 7300 rpm.

It doesn’t take long for you to become aware of the 850’s extremely high gear ratio. For example, 65 mph (indicated) is only 3500 rpm. At this rate, it is possible to run around im third and fourth gear at all times with the existing speed limit ®

The spread between ratios is satisfactory; only the final drive ratio is too high. By lowering this ratio, low-speed performance would be improved. Shifting to a higher gear is as easy as cutting warm butter, going the other way is a real hassle. It was impossible to just gear down from third or lower without clunking the shift.

With a little practice, downshifts can be double-clutched and thus accomplished smoothly. According to ZDS Motors, the West Coast distributor, the cure for this is miles. We had the opportunity to ride a V7 Sport (it has the same transmission) with 1200 miles on it, and it shifted as smooth down as it did up. Neutral is easy to find at a stop from either first or second gear.

MOTO GUZZI

850T INTERCEPTOR

The clutch is a two-plate dry type. Disengagement is easy, as little pressure is required on the lever—if you can reach it. Engagement is positive and at times vicious. This is just the nature of a shaft drive bike. The drive line doesn’t stretch or absorb shock like a chain does. This, however, isn’t noticeable unless the rider is on the gas.

Starting must be accomplished by the electric starter, as other means are impractical or impossible. No kickstarter has been fitted. Æ

For cold starts it was necessary to close the chokes on bo™ carburetors. No throttle and one quick jab on the starter button brought the V-Twin to life. After a few seconds of warm-up, it’s all go. Warm starts are just as easy, only the choke isn’t needed.

Once started, there is a discernible tick tick noise from the top end of the power plant. The sound is very reminiscent of that of a very quiet Triumph Twin. This is nothing to be concerned about, once under way this noise gets lost in the wind. The exhaust sound was like music to our ears.

After putting more than 500 miles on the 850, we were happy to see that there were no oil leaks or even any seepage from the crankcases.

During our testing period we were able to strike up more than a fleeting acquaintance with the big Interceptor, and it became obvious that this bike is more than a touring or sport bike. Its quality surpasses the requirements of both of these categories. In short, the 850 is designed and built in the interest of the performance-minded rider. At the same time, it has all of the comfort necessary to appeal to the long-distancá rider.

The Moto Guzzi is not without faults, but they are minor ones. The most distressing is the long reach to the clutch and brake levers. The throttle slide spring is too strong and the seat did not give us enough support. Aside from these points, the 850 is a bike that deserves more than a superficial glance from anyone who is in the market for a “dual-purpose” road bike.