Born in 1921, Moto Guzzi is Italy’s oldest bike manufacturer in continuous production. Covid forced the postponement — by a year — of its 100th birthday celebrations, which were held at the manufacturer’s Mandello del Lario factory on the shores of Lake Como. But Guzzi’s now making up for lost time, and after the launch last year of the first bike based on its all-new next-gen model platform — the multi-faceted V100 Mandello, which aspires to be both an urban Roadster and a mile-eating Sports Tourer — comes a second new model, the Stelvio Adventure tourer.
Given the current significance of the ADV segment in global market terms, it’s rather surprising that Guzzi’s owner Piaggio didn’t prioritize the Stelvio over the Mandello; better late than never. I soon understood on an exclusive ride aboard this new model along the fabulously scenic, super grippy and ultra-demanding mountain roads of the Ligurian Alps north of Genoa, Italy, on a sunny winter’s day, this is a very significant new model that moves Moto Guzzi to the forefront of all-round everyday motorcycling.
Priced at $18,990, this new Moto Guzzi is a valid option to mid-sized twin-cylinder ADV contenders like Ducati’s $21,695 Multistrada V2 S, Suzuki’s $17,999 V-Strom 1050 and Honda’s $17,266 Africa Twin.
“YOU FEEL MUCH MORE LIKE YOU’RE SITTING IN IT RATHER THAN PERCHED UP HIGH ABOVE IT”
A NEW GENERATION OF STELVIO
Named after the legendary Dolomites pass in northern Italy which connects two valleys via
