We review the Moto Guzzi Audace from price to economy and all its features
THIS week, LUKE BOWLER from Bike World has been thrashing the Moto Guzzi Audace.
Luke says: I think we can all agree on one thing - the Audace looks the nuts. Muscular, fierce, finished in matt black ... it has all the same ingredients that make the Ducati XDiavel such a great bike to look at.
And like the Ducati, there's a big V-twin cradled in that frame. Except instead of a fast-revving 1200cc lump taken from a high-performance superbike, the Audace - which is pronounced OW-DATCH-EE - uses the same 1.4L motor from the Guzzi California.
That means you get 96hp at 6,500rpm and peak torque at only 2,750rpm.
Take those cylinder heads for example, which poke out and vent enough heat into your groin area to leave you infertile
It's not particularly sporty but what it lacks in performance it makes up for in character. Take those cylinder heads for example, which poke out and vent enough heat into your groin area to leave you infertile.
See? Loads of character.
[youtube //www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCFPIGuDG_g&w=433&;h=315]
There's some sophistication in there too. The bike has a ride-by-wire throttle and three riding modes: A sporty one with a direct throttle response, a smoother map and a wet mode where power is slightly reduced.
There's also a three-stage traction control system but with so much grip already it only slows the bike down. In wet conditions it will no doubt be an asset though.
It doesn't take long to establish the Audace is no XDiavel, or even Yamaha Vmax. The looks scream performance cruiser but it's only slightly more sporty than its vintage sibling, the Moto Guzzi Eldorado, which comes with white-wall tyres, dashes of chrome and a much more relaxed riding position.
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Still, it's surprisingly easy to find yourself speeding along at more than 100mph. The type of speeds where many Harley-Davidsons would translate the road surface into back-breaking jolts and shudders. The Audace just glides over them.
I thought the flat handlebars would offer plenty of leverage to wrestle the bike into corners. Not so. Pitch the Audace into a corner and then pray it's on course because once the pegs go down there's not much you can do to tighten up your line.
The Audace is definitely a styling exercise but at £15,136, I'm not sure I get it.
Moto Guzzi's smaller V7 is extremely successful because, as well as offering many of the Audace's trump cards, it's affordable and possibly a better offering.
At around £11,000 I could have overlooked the Audace's shortcomings, but at more than £15,000, you would have to be mad to take it over 7 the Ducati.