Moto Guzzi have unveiled a special edition V85 TT at EICMA. The 2022 V85 TT Guardia d'Onore is a special edition bike that will be available in limited numbers... Press release: Moto Guzzi.
It was the post WWII era when the Cuirassiers’ Regiment, the special Carabinieri unit responsible for the honour guard and security of the President of the Italian Republic, chose Moto Guzzi as its first motorcycles. The new V85 TT Guardia d’Onore honours that moment…
“The Eagle brand manufacturer celebrates this important collaboration, which has lasted uninterrupted for 75 years, presenting the Moto Guzzi V85 TT Guardia d’Onore, or Guard of Honour, at EICMA 2021.”
The Eagle brand manufacturer celebrates this important collaboration, which has lasted uninterrupted for 75 years, presenting the Moto Guzzi V85 TT Guardia d’Onore, or Guard of Honour, at EICMA 2021. This is a special, numbered limited edition of its highly popular classic travel enduro which, precisely in Moto Guzzi’s centennial year, joined the Cuirassiers’ Regiment’s motorcycle fleet. In fact, with a presentation ceremony to President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella on 20 May 2021, two Moto Guzzi V85 TT units joined the California 1400 Touring bikes already used by the Cuirassiers.
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Just like the V85 TT bikes delivered to the Head of State at the Quirinal Palace, the V85 TT Guardia d’Onore features the typical black livery with white graphics that characterise the Cuirassiers’ Moto Guzzi machines. The white decorations run along the front mudguard, continuing onto the fuel tank and the side panels and they are also picked up on the oversized Touring windscreen. The latter is part of the standard equipment package, along with the centre stand, the engine guard bars and the supplementary LED lights. The pair of side panniers dedicated to this model are available on request.
The Moto Guzzi V85 TT Guardia d’Onore will be limited to just 1946 units, a number reminiscent of the first 75 years of partnership between the Mandello Eagle and the Cuirassiers’ Regiment, as well as a tribute to the year the Italian Republic was established. To further highlight the exclusive nature of this special edition, the progressive number of the unit is engraved on the handlebar riser, from 1 to 1946.
“The Moto Guzzi V85 TT Guardia d’Onore will be limited to just 1946 units, a number reminiscent of the first 75 years of partnership between the Mandello Eagle and the Cuirassiers’ Regiment.”
Everyone who purchases this special edition V85 TT will also receive a valuable celebratory case which includes a brochure with the history of Moto Guzzi bikes used by the Cuirassiers and the stamp collector’s folder containing the postmarked stamp issued on the Moto Guzzi Centennial.
The V85 TT features the famous air cooled V-Twin seen throughout Moto Guzzi’s range…
The long history that binds the Cuirassiers’ Regiment to the Eagle from Mandello has its roots in the second post-war period when modern cars began to be favoured over the outdated royal carriages for institutional travel involving the President of the Italian Republic. Consequently, the escort unit made up of select – and extremely tall – elite Carabinieri needed a means of transportation more suitable than horses to follow the motorised vehicles.
Confirming years of collaboration with the Italian armed forces, the choice fell almost naturally to Moto Guzzi, a true source of national pride, partly because of their countless victories achieved in motorcycle racing since the ’20s. The need to quickly motorise a unit that had been strictly equestrian until then led the Cuirassiers to adopt 4 different Moto Guzzi models in just over five years. And so, the Alce, military bike par excellence, the Superalce, the Astore and its direct evolution, the Falcone Sport joined the regiment’s fleet. However, it was only from the Astore that the bikes were specially outfitted to adapt to the needs of the Cuirassiers, including those connected to their specific height (in fact, the minimum height requirement to join the regiment was 190cm).
“Just like the V85 TT bikes delivered to the Head of State at the Quirinal Palace, the V85 TT Guardia d’Onore features the typical black livery with white graphics that characterise the Cuirassiers’ Moto Guzzi machines.”
As the 1960s approached, it was still the Falcone Sport (with electric starter from 1959) that escorted the President of the Republic and the various foreign Heads of State visiting Italy. In line with the technological evolution in the motorcycle field, the first true change in the Cuirassiers’ motorcycle fleet came in 1968. With the V7 Special units, the single-cylinder was definitively surpassed to embrace the new Moto Guzzi era and the revolutionary transversal V-twin, destined to become the manufacturer’s calling card.
In 1975, one of the most innovative Moto Guzzi models arrived on the market – the V1000 I-Convert. With its increased engine capacity that reached 1000cc and its unprecedented integrated braking system, the I-Convert went to work straight away escorting the President of the Republic, paving the way for the next 40 years of maxi-cruisers from Mandello destined for this role.
The mid ’80s marked the start of the long relationship between the Cuirassiers and the various Moto Guzzi California models, increasingly more muscular and with increasing engine capacity. Displacement went from the 948cc of the California II used in 1985 all the way to the 1380cc of the segment monarch, the California 1400 Touring, which cut a fine figure in the Cuirassiers’ parades and in presidential transfers from 2007.
In May of this important year, which marks Moto Guzzi’s 100th birthday, the Eagle brand presented the current President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, with V85 TT units which joined his personal escort fleet. The brand-new bikes feature a livery created specifically for the occasion, chromatically reminiscent of the California 1400 units already used.
2022 Moto Guzzi V85 TT Specifcations
Price: TBA
Colours: Special Edition Guardia d’Onore scheme
Kerb weight: 242kg
Fuel capacity: 23L
Power: 59kW@7750rpm
Torque: 80nM@5000rpm
Engine: 853cc four stroke, Transversal 90 degree V-twin, 2-valves per cylinder, 84 x 77mm bore x stroke, 10.5:1 compression, EFI 52mm single throttle body, Ride by wire.
Gearbox: Six-speed, shaft drive
Clutch: Dry single disc
Frame: Steel tubular
Suspension: 41mm hydraulic telescopic USD fork, adjustable preload and rebound. Double-sided swingarm with monoshock adjustable for preload and rebound.
Brakes: Brembo radial-mounted four piston calipers, single 260mm rear brake two piston caliper.
Wheels & Tyres: Spoked 2.50 x 19, 4.25 x 17, 110/80-19, 150/70-17
Dimensions:
Wheelbase: N/A
Seat height: 830mm
Ground clearance: N/A
Instruments: TFT Cull-colour dash.
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