Worth Waiting For?

Moto Guzzi is Italy's oldest bike manufacturer in continuous production since its birth in 1921, though Covid forced the postponement by a year of its 100th birthday celebrations held at its Mandello del Lario factory on the shores of Lake Como

- Alan Cathcart

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 - here's a second new model which was designed and engineered alongside the Mandello, 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 prioritise the Stelvio over the Mandello but, hey, better late than never. After an exclusive ride aboard this new model along the fabulously scenic, supergrippy and ultra-demanding mountain roads of the Ligurian Alps north of Genova on a sunny winter's day, I soon understood that this is a very significant new model that moves Moto Guzzi to the forefront of all-round everyday motorcycling.

Named after the legendary Dolomites pass in northern Italy, the 2024 Moto Guzzi Stelvio is, nominally speaking, a reincarnation of the previous model bearing that name, which debuted in 2007 and was shelved in 2016 as unable to meet Euro 4 compliance. However, powered by Guzzi's 1200/8V Big Block motor, this was a physically much larger and 30kg heavier motorcycle than its modern counterpart, and represented an Italian air-cooled V-twin alternative for those who didn't want a BMW R1200 GS. The new Stelvio is a very different package which, like the V100 Mandello, ticks an array of new boxes for the historic Italian brand.