Healing and Stelvios..

[atadaskew]

It's been a while since this happened:





But this weekend thanks to a year of PT at the gym, I had no issues throwing a leg over the Stelvio at the local dealership.  I found it sits a little lower than the Duc MS1200, but that bike was fine too.
When I tried this same exercise about 6 months ago, these bikes seemed unsurmountable!

I know people are jazzed about the new Stelvio that has the 8 gallon tank, while this one is about 4.8 gallons.
But wouldn't 8 gallons of gas make it a pig to handle?
What other improvements were made?

[falconati]

It also got a better (bigger) price tag!  

[Roadscum]

No need to fill the tank if that'a concern, but it is nice to have that capability when you travel. In some parts of the world you'll need all the gas you can carry. Ever been through West Texas  

Regards, Paul

[Rincewind]

The extra fuel would make the new Stelvio around 20lb more top-heavy.  I don't think that will make it a pig - the bike was already well balanced.  

I rode a MTS1200 and Stelvio back-to-back the other year.  The Stelvio has more of an open-cockpit feel and was slightly more upright in seating.  It felt more like a tourer where the MTS felt more like a tall, upright sportbike.  

Glad to hear you are healing up, good luck.  

[atadaskew]

I rode a MTS1200 and Stelvio back-to-back the other year.  The Stelvio has more of an open-cockpit feel and was slightly more upright in seating.  It felt more like a tourer where the MTS felt more like a tall, upright sportbike.  

Did you write up a more detailed comparison?  If you didn't, would you mind?
The 2009 Stelvio is now offered as new/left over unsold stock for $12.5K WITH the hard metal cases luggage.
I'm only really interested in it as a sight seeing touring bike that has really good suspension for the crappy roads which now seem to be everywhere, so the fact that the Duc is much quicker is not of much concern.
I also like the shaft drive, but am not that crazy about spoked wheels (are the Stelvios tubeless?)

[Rincewind]

Did you write up a more detailed comparison?  If you didn't, would you mind?
The 2009 Stelvio is now offered as new/left over unsold stock for $12.5K WITH the hard metal cases luggage.
I'm only really interested in it as a sight seeing touring bike that has really good suspension for the crappy roads which now seem to be everywhere, so the fact that the Duc is much quicker is not of much concern.
I also like the shaft drive, but am not that crazy about spoked wheels (are the Stelvios tubeless?)

I didn't write up a detailed comparison.  It was 1-1/2 years ago so my impressions have faded somewhat.  

Like I wrote above, the Stelvio was much upright, almost with a slight lean-back compared to the MTS and my previous Tiger 1050.  The Stelvio motor is strong in the mid-range, but really pales compared to the MTS1200 and Tiger, both which pulls very strong from low revs, through the mid-range, and to respectable redlines.  Really the MTS1200 is borderline overwhelming in the amount of power it makes, and the Stelvio seem very sensible in comparison.  Once the Stelvio gets going, that strong mid-range means it doesn't drop behind from chasing Ducati's, which I was doing that day, but it has to build power rather than having it right away.

The MTS1200 riding experience is great and at that time it overshadowed my Stelvio experience by quite a lot.  Not only is the power incredible, the feast of electronic wizardry is itself mesmerizing.  The MTS is a lot more like a big supermoto sportbike meaning it is involving and exciting.  But after the passing of some time, and thinking about the "living-with-it" part of the equation, the Stelvio emerged as probably the more sensible of the two for long-term ownership.  The MTS clubbed me over the head with it's abundant power, while the Stelvio just sort of whispered sweet nothings.  

Like I mentioned above, the Stelvio felt a lot more like a touring bike than the sports-oriented MTS and Tiger - almost to the point of being a bit boring.  The Stelvio is likely more suitable as a "sight-seeing touring bike" for your needs.

My final thoughts after riding both was that they were too similar to my previous Tiger 1050 and that I wasn't that interested in having a tall touring bike as an everyday bike, sport-oriented or not.  My preferences now are for smaller road bikes.

All the Stelvios use tubeless tires, I believe.  

[ConPilot1]

I thought that last Stelvio release was WAY prettier than the GS, and looked to be comparable in function.

I liked it, a lot. One may be in my sights someday. Definitely leaning towards a big dual-sport type of thing for my next bread and butter ride.

I want to check out the Tiger's too. I've heard too much good ranting and raving about the Tigers to not test ride one for future consideration.

Stelvio is a good looking DS bike for sure.

[atadaskew]

Thanks Rince.

Con, that is the newest Stelvio, not the 2009s that are being discounted.

[Gee-Tee]

Don't worry about the small gas tanks on the first generation Stelvio's add a 2.4 gallon Aux tank from Stucchi!

[BobW]

Mine did real well, never left me stranded and after being broken in and with the latest tune gave same MPG as my r1200r, counted on 43-47 MPG. I carried extra fuel even in Texas, but never required it, came close a couple times, but 200 miles had past often by the time a station was found. A lot of internet chatter just like any bike, try it, it will call to you or not, the rest is NO problem if she does talk dirty to you. Glad your "better".

Cheers













Like the good old Ford tractor, timeless in it's own way with great reliability and design and she is a better contender than given credit without all the BS.

[atadaskew]

Thanks Bob, great pics.

[WitchCityBallabio]

Glad you're healing and throwing a leg over bikes again.

I think you'd be hard pressed to talk to anyone with a Stelvio that didn't absolutely love it. Mine has been perfect for nearly 20,000 miles in it's first year. I use it as a commuter as well as my main touring mount. Maybe the best all around bike I've ever owned.

Since there are some pictures being posted....

[Rincewind]

Want!  

[atadaskew]

Glad you're healing and throwing a leg over bikes again.

I think you'd be hard pressed to talk to anyone with a Stelvio that didn't absolutely love it. Mine has been perfect for nearly 20,000 miles in it's first year. I use it as a commuter as well as my main touring mount. Maybe the best all around bike I've ever owned.

Very very nice!
I notice the Griso Se in the one pic.

About the engine and hand guards.. those are Guzzi pieces, right?  I think you got them in the deal Guzzi had a while back (came with the bike) but any idea how much separately?

I'm torn between the Griso and Stelvio.

[WitchCityBallabio]

Yup. I got the hand guards, engine guards, rear drive guards, aux. lights and bags (not the top case) all for that 12k deal. Love the thing.

I think the hand guards are about 175 on MG Cycle, the engine guards are something like  375, the rear guard 175, the aux lights can be had from Hella for about 50 bucks I think. The luggage from Trax with the mounts I think is about 1500 bucks. Since those pictures were taken, I've changed the pegs to the Touratech versions (fantastic) and the narrower NTX rim. The bike is so much lighter feeling with the narrower rear rim that they should only come with it.

That's the wife's Griso SE.

The Griso 8v is a very special motorcycle. An absolute pavement ripper. Even though, the engines are basically the same, the bikes couldn't really feel more different.  I would have a very hard time picking one over the other.

[Flightar]

Has anyone tested the engine and drive guards yet? Just curious as to how well they work, or not...if anyone has tested them, how did they work at keeping the upper fairing off of the ground? T.he fairing looks like it would be quite expensive and easily broken were it to ever hit the ground since it looks like it's two large peices...maybe three?

[mugwump58]

[jsanford]

Get the Stelvio.

I have to ask--was your puppy with you?  Is s/he better too?

[atadaskew]

Get the Stelvio.

I have to ask--was your puppy with you?  Is s/he better too?

No we found Pepe abused/abandoned and that was after his final surgery.  I had my accident by myself.  Well, me and the Subaru that t-boned me.  Anyway, we were both in casts and it made for a cute pic.

There was a killer deal on a used Stelvio in NorCal - 2010, 1K miles, metal cases, perfect, $10K.  But I dragged my feet too much and it sold. It actually was on the market for a long time.
But I feel glad because as nice as that bike is, I've realized that that is not the Guzzi that I want...