It's official: I am now the happy owner of a 2011 Guzzi Stelvio 1200 NTX, which will take me wherever I want to go for the next 20 odd years or so. What a bike! Any other stelvisti out there?

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

Looks one stunning machine

What a fantastic beautiful bike you got there.
Congratulation mate.

Niklas

A nice looking bike and congratulations for not choosing one of the usual suspects. No reason it should not last you the next 20 years, my R80GS, yes one of the ususal suspects, is 20 this year and has taken me to many places, is still getting me to work every day and I hope will go further still.

I've had a 1200 Sport for the last 2 years and love the engine. Mine is the old 2 valve lump. There were issues with the cams on the first of the 4 valve engines but yours should be good as a 2011 bike. Although date of manufacture is a better guide, mine was almost a year old when I registered it. It's worth asking your dealer though.

Modern Guzzis are pretty reliable and beautiful things to ride. The gearbox on mine is the sweetest I've ever had and the CARC shaft drive is perfect. I don't notice it's there, no clunks or snatching at all.

What size tank is on yours? The 2011 model should have a 31 litre tank, the previous model had only 18 litres. My Sport has a very useful 23 litre tank which gives me around 230-250 mile range.

There's lots of good info on Guzzitech.com

Guzzis in general have water ingress issues with the speedo sender. The first thing you should do is pack the rubber boot with silicon grease. I did and haven't had any issues.

One major pain with owning a Guzzi though is the spares availability. It takes at least 2 weeks to get anything that your dealer has not got in stock. You can forget August as well as the factory is closed for the whole month! A guy on 1200sport.com has had his 4v in the dealers for 8 weeks awaiting parts for the cam upgrade. He's ended up buying another bike for the summer!!

Don't let this put you off though as they're a great bikes to own. Lots of noise and smiles

Thanks

I've had Guzzis for several years and have a few of them in my garage, so the 2011 was a natural choice for me, to be honest. This is the newest Quattro Valvole engine and 32 l tank. I just love the pull in that amazing engine. I've never had problems with spares supplies and get my orders instantly or - at the lates - within four days.

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

Hi Hans, you obviously know a lot more about Guzzis than me as this is my first. The upgraded Stelvio is the bike the earlier one should have been. It's a good replacement for my Sport when I'm ready to swap. That's if I can reach the ground, how tall is it? The reach often depends on how the seat is shaped and I guess I'll have to go and sit on one to tell.

You're lucky with your spares supply, things don't seem to get here that quick from Italy.

I look forward to seeing some pics of the Stelvio against your lovely scenery.

Not sure about the seat height. I'm not of the tallest, 178, but seat heights have never bothered me. I don't think the Stelvio is particularly high.

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

I had a 2007 California Vintage for three years. Bits fell off (an indicator, the panniers locks), bits broke (relays), the dealer's idea of customer service was crap (wouldn't chase Italy for parts delivery)and parts supply from Italy was abysmal (10 months for a mudguard, 6 months for a tacho). Guzzi owners are very loyal to the brand and appear able to put up with this, I couldn't buy into this although when it ran it was a joy.

Hi Indu i have also always had a Guzzi in the garage, I sold my last one - a Spada and replaced it with a 2012 Stelvio - thats what I ride these days, great bike simple as an old BMW airhead to service and maintain, excellent components and quality.

I decided to go with the cast wheels and standard touring panniers as keeps the bike quite a bit lighter for my old bones.

Rides superb its involving like an old italian bike with the comfort of a modern bike tourer.

Parts are easy to get Im in the uk but they are pretty reliable beasts with some recorded as clocking over 200,000 miles already.

Make sure you use the right oil they don't tolerate anything other than fully synthetic 10/60 of the finest quality as those exhaust ports run very very hot - also watch out for the engine not getting up to temperature in colder climates worth masking part of the oil cooler in cold weather or fitting a thermostat.

I'm popping up Norway again next spring on it with the lad that has my old Spada which he will be riding. Heading North again upto Kirkness.

Tchus Jake.

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