Moto Review: 2025 Moto Guzzi V85 Strada

Motorcycles
August 20, 2025
Dan Gunay

The 2025 Moto Guzzi V85 Strada is proof that sometimes, less is really more. Guzzi took its charming, do-it-all adventure bike and stripped it back to the essentials – no crash bars, no spoked wheels, no off-road cosplay. What’s left is a lighter, sharper, more honest touring machine that finally admits what most riders actually use it for: carving city streets and weekend backroads with that signature transverse V-twin character humming beneath you. It’s the ADV bike for people who don’t own hiking boots – and it might just be the purest version yet.

From the curb, the 2025 Moto Guzzi V85 Strada looks like someone sent the regular V85 TT to Milan Fashion week and told it to ditch hiking gear. The beak is still there and it has a cleaner nose that makes the twin LED headlights – The Guzzi “owl eyes” – the star of the show. Adventure oriented spoked wheels? Gone. The strada gets lighter cast alloys, which somehow make the whole bike looks faster just sitting still.

There is new simplicty to it: bodywork is pared back, surfaces are tighter, and the whole bike has the muscular honesty that makes you wonder why ADV bikes ever pretended to be Dakar racers in the first place. Hop on, and you are greeted with an upright, commanding seating position that’s comfortable without towering over traffic. The wide bars fall right into your hands, the seat is plush, but narrow enough for easy footing, and the ergonomics scream “daily ride me” instead of “expedition to Patagonia.”

Spend five minutes around the V85 Strada and you realize Moto Guzzi sweats the small stuff. The paint has a richness that feels boutique, the seat stitching could have come from a Milan furniture studio, and the switchgear clicks with a mechanical satisfaction most brands lost a decade ago. Even the exposed shaft drive and that transverse V-twin hanging out like a pair of boxer’s gloves give it an industrial honesty you can’t fake. It’s not pretending to be rugged – it just is.

Up front, the TFT display delivers the info you actually need without burying you in sub-menus, while controls feel intuitive rather than a homework assignment. You get cruise, traction control, and ride modes, but they are background characters instead of headline acts. The way you interact with cruise control button can be annoying for the first timers, but the tech here is useful, not overbearing. The build quality feels more “crafted” than “assembled”. It’s the rare modern motorcycle where the screen and buttons don’t distract from the engine – they simply frame it.

At the heart of the Strada beats Guzzi’s trademark 853cc transverse V-twin, air-cooled and unapologetically mechanical. It makes a modest 80 horsepower and 60 lb-ft of torque, but the way it delivers that torque – broad, flat, and full of character from 3000 rpm – is what makes the bike feel alive. The longitudinal crank layout means you still get that little sideways rock at idle, a quirk most brands would engineer out but Guzzi proudly leans into. Power is sent through a six-speed gearbox to a shaft drive that’s as drama-free as it gets: no chains to lube, no grime on your wheel, just twist and go.

The chassis setup keeps the V85 Strada planted where it belongs – on pavement. Conventional 41mm inverted forks replace the TT’s beefy, long-travel units, saving weight and sharpening steering response, while a preload-adjustable monoshock keeps the rear end composed. Suspension travel is reduced compared to off-road oriented TT, trading rock-crawling articulation for better road manners, which makes the bike feel more sport-tourer than an adventure bike.

Braking is handled by twin 320mm discs up front with Brembo calipers and a 260mm rear, all managed by ABS that intervenes gently enough to keep you feeling in control. The braking system is confidence-inspiring, the lever feels predictable, and offers good initial bite even at spirited pace. The result is a motorcycle that doesn’t bluff about being an off-road warrior. It’s engineered for real-world roads, and it feels better for the honesty.

On the road, the Strada feels surprisingly confident for a top heavy touring bike. Compared to off-road variant, the lower suspension and cast wheels drop unsprung weight, which should make the turn-in feel quicker and more deliberate. Mid-corner stability is where it shines, you can lean it over, let that V-twin hum, and the bike just settles in a calm fashion – never wallowing or second guessing itself. The wide bars give you leverage to flick it through tight bends, yet the long wheelbase keeps it planted on sweepers. It’s the rare motorcycle that feels equally at home slicing through traffic and tearing down an empty backroad.

Throttle response is smooth but not sterile, with just enough of that signature Guzzi throb to remind you there is a lump of air-cooled mechanical soul between your knees. Around town, the torque means you can surf second and third gear without ever working the gearbox hard. Out on the highway, the Strada cruises comfortably at highway speeds with a little bit of vibration coming through the footpegs at higher RPMs.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Moto Guzzi without a couple of quirks. While 80 horsepower is plenty for the Strada’s mission, in an era where middleweight twins are regularly cracking 100, it can feel modest if you are chasing numbers. The gearbox is still more clunk than click, reminding you that every upshift is a mechanical negotiation rather than a seemless transaction. While the pared-down design makes the Strada look lean and mean, it also means you lose some of the long-haul creature comforts: no massive windscreen, no luggage racks, no center stand, no illusion that you are about to cross the Sahara.

The verdict? The Moto Guzzi V85 Strada feels like the unlikely love child of BMW and Harley-Davidson, with Italian flair. It’s got the mechanical heartbeat and charisma you’d expect from Milwaukee, the touring composure and shaft-driven practicality you’d expect from Munich, and then that layer of design drama only Mandello del Lario could deliver. More importantly, it stands alone: the only shaft-driven touring motorcycle anywhere near this price point. To get the same blend of comfort and low-maintenance practicality elsewhere, you’re shopping BMW GS territory – and writing a much bigger check. The V85 Strada strips away the ADV cosplay, focuses on real-world riding, and ends up being exactly what most riders secretly wanted all along.

2025 Moto Guzzi V85 Strada – Specifications
Engine	853cc air-cooled transverse V-twin, 4 valves per cylinder
Power	80 hp @ 7,750 rpm
Torque	60 lb-ft @ 5,100 rpm
Transmission	6-speed, shaft drive
Frame	Steel tubular frame
Front Suspension	41mm conventional forks, preload adjustable
Rear Suspension	Single shock with preload adjustment
Front Brakes	Twin 320mm discs, Brembo calipers, ABS
Rear Brakes	260mm disc, ABS
Seat Height	Approx. 32 in (820 mm)
Fuel Capacity	~5.5 gal (21 L)
Weight	~490 lbs (dry)
MSRP	C$14390
Website	motoguzzi.com/ca_EN studiocycle.ca