V85 as an overlander / trans-continental contender
 

Reviving this thread as I am seriously looking at the V85.
Has anyone ridden it as an overlander or on a long trans-continental adventure? Cheers

With one foot on the footpeg!
 

Amigos,
This moment is getting closer, and I will swap from passive to active! It has been a long time planning, using this bike in epic 'domestic' roads.
Finally I have at least a fixed week where I will depart an hit the Panamericana hg/road (and others) facing south on a Moto Guzzi v85tt 2up.
With also an arranged appointment, I plan to reach Huaquillas/Tumbes border and I look forward to be cruising on the Peruvian roads for almost 2 weeks and get to Bolivian territory by mid February.
We also plan to spend open time in Bolivia and no agenda to face to south and joion fellow riders and keep connected in order to border crossing and current info.
My main idea is to reach Ruta 40 and flow with time, budget with a sort of goal to return hitting Carretera Austral and go back to the mythical Argentinan axis.
Rather than changing the horn, I feel the side-stand sensor is too exposed, I will protect it, and maybe a bigger front windshield. I will appreciate if you can share mods or important info to make it a traveller bike.
Feel free to write, or simply suggest the DO'S and DONT'S of this ride.
Follow us on IG as @andariego2.0
Cheers,

The front windshield, I had forgotten about that since I sorted it out. I have the taller factory screen fitted at the moment - I have the standard one as well but it doesn’t do enough to keep my head out of turbulent air. I have also fitted a small extender to the tall windshield and now there is next to no turbulence moving my head around and it is much quieter.

Another mod I am considering is an extended front mudguard so the the engine gets some protection. There is one available, for Aprilias I think, that is a direct fit - there are links in one of the V85TT threads on the HUBB.

All in all I am very happy with the bike - it is happy when two up and neither my son nor I are lightweights - but there are a few areas that are under developed - the horn and the mudguards being generic to all riders and the windshield down to my height (not that I am exceptionally tall at 1.82m).

i'm happy to have found this tread. i've been thinking about getting V85tt for this same purpose, riding 2up thru Latin America. i know the V85 is not ideal for offroading but i am a sport rider and certainly would not take us out of our way looking for a challenge in the dirt. the relatively small size, cruise control and shaft drive are some of the main reasons i like this bike. my main concern is reliability, tho i understand recent Guzzis do well in that regard. i look forward to hearing more about this journey and about the moto fares.

bien viaje!
kev

Just bought a V85TT. I'll post some impressions after we have had a chance to bond.

Hi @nugentch
How is the bonding going?

My friend has had the v85tt travel version from new , for about two years now i think . First issue was the dealership overfilling the shaft hub......I believe mg did a bulletin regarding this .
Second issue was trying to alter the shift lights on the dash......bit first world but they are set low from new . Other then that it has been very reliable.........u do have to rev it to wake it up but it certainly moves when u do . Corrosion wise........just use acf50 or similar......rear shock does seem to suffer .
Front mudguard thing from aprillia looks good and works OK.
I bought him a motech travel rack for it.....looks good and easy to install .
Tyre wear is excellent not hard on them at all . All in all it appears to be very reliable....... although that's probably screwed it now .

There is also an extender available for the hugger mudguard from the Apillia - I'll have a look to get a link. EDIT - the mudguard is from an Aprillia Caponord 1200 Rally 2016-17. The link I had has stopped working for some reason. The extender is available from here. One thing worth saying about the exptender is silicon sealant only works for so long - fortunately I saw that it was tryiong to escape so save it but I think a couple of rivets may be used when I refit it.

Without the hugger there is a lot of muck sprayed around but the hugger controls it pretty well and the hugger extender keeps the road crud off the engine. I just wish I had fitted them from the start...