Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport

Sporting chance

WHAT IS IT?
A 1200 version of Guzzi's two-valve twin running the company's version ofa sports chassis.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?
Though no track bike, the Sport is a responsive bit of kit that is fun on the right road.

THE BIKE
"Sport" - a great word. Attach it to anything and suddenly, whatever you're talking about, it's sexier and better. But when it comes to motorcycles, what is it that makes a particular machine worthy of the "sport" label? After all, over the years there's been Pure Sport, Hyper Sport, Super Sport, Dual Sport and of course just yer plain old Sport. For some it's enough that the bike has a history of race track success, which I suppose is the most common usage and bikes like Suzuki's GSX-R have achieved amazing success through exploiting the development that comes through racing.

For me and, by the looks of it, Moto Guzzi as well, "Sport" means that the bike is equipped with superior components, so that I and people like me can ride it faster than a more pedestrian example and feel, well, sporty I suppose. Personally though, I don't actually need anything associating the bike with the racetrack to feel sporty, but I don't mind admitting, there's nothing wrong with it if there is.

WHERE'S IT FROM?
Good question, the Sport in question is in fact a merging of the excellent 1100 Breva and the newer and as yet untested (by me anyway), fully-faired touring 1200 Norge. Although fundamentally the same bike as the Breva, the Sport now hardens the intent in a way the Breva cannot, thanks to transference of the 1200 engine. Power from the traditionally configured 1151cc V-twin is 95hp at 7800rpm with a meaty 10.2kg-m of torque at 6000rpm thanks to revised cam timing and work on the inlet and exhaust. Being fuel-injected there's a revised ignition map that allows the engine to spin up noticeably quicker than the Breva while the hugely improved six-speed gearbox delivers the power to the back wheel via a double UJ shaft drive with a floating bevel drive.

Gone are the high and very comfy cast handlebars and in their place a lower set of less comfy, oddly shaped and weirdly wide tubular units occupy the top clamps. Odd? Yeah. Well, they kind of conspire to tip the rider forward in a semi-aggressive hunch while at the same time spreading the arms and pushing the wrists out as if you just went over the bars of your pushy.

Anyway, adding to the sporty look is a neat little handlebar fairing that goes some way to tying the bike to the original Le Mans 1. Of course there is vastly superior suspension compared to anything that has gone before. Guzzi has in the past managed to mismatch suspension to a whole range of machines, turning fine bikes into absolute dogs. Not so this baby. Uncomplicated but well researched, preload and rebound-adjustable, 45mm, conventional forks, coated with fashionable black TIN surface treatment, grace the front-end matched to a single-sided swingarm and a rebound and preload-adjustable, progressive, rear shock. Adding to the trendy new-look front-end are the brick-cutter-style 320mm discs married to four-piston calipers. Down the back a simple 282mm disc is squeezed by a two-piston caliper.

GETTING SPORTY
Right up front it's obvious that this is no racetrack refugee; so there's no expectation for the Sport to be like more cutting-edge sports machines, but sporty it is. Despite the claimed 229kg dry it probably tips in at closer to 260kg wet. Add to this a lengthy wheelbase of 1485mm and the Sport steers surprisingly well at low speed. Its inherently low centre of gravity settles the weight between the wheels and makes light of the 25 degrees of rake and 120mm of trail.

This Guzzi more than any other I've ridden so far, is the most responsive - not just in the way the engine sucks air and fuel to turn it into energy, but in the way it responds to physical input. Those numbers that worked so welI at low speed also translate at every speed the engine can muster. I can only liken it to a big horse that you've grown up with. Where you know it and it knows you. A press of the knee and the turn progresses with accustomed ease, but you do need to be physical in order to tell it who's in charge. There's no light and flighty sense of nervous overtip you can get with say a modern 600. Instead there's the feeling of a time-considered decision, of being drawn down into the surface. It's all stable and reassuring. A turn is never heartbeat quick but it is quick, the suspension calming the divots and depressions without sacrificing anything in feedback.

When it comes to comfort, once again the Breva lineage shows through. With the exception of the bars this is a machine built for big rides. 23 litres housed in the tank give a genuine range of 400 kilometres at our low level national speed limits and while the seat will start gnawing at your nether regions at 300 it's never so bad that you just have to get off to gain relief.

Of course no bike is perfect, and despite my appreciation of the Sports attributes that probably speak more to my personal tastes, it's still a mature rider's bike. Young riders simply won't tune into something like this for a long time, maybe even never and that's a shame. There's a lot to like about the Sport such as the attention to detail and the obvious thought that new owners Piaggio have had the engineers put into matching the suspension etc. However it's still a bit quirky. The CARC (Italian acronym for: compact reactive shaft) shaft drive that smoothes the torque reactions to the rear wheel struggles to cope with the fuelling at very low on-off throttle speeds calling for more clutch slip to smooth the transmission lash further than I would have liked. In these days where a 600 makes almost 120hp, the fact that there's under 100hp will put some people off. A first ride will do little to convince them either as despite being easy to balance, there's no hiding so much weight. So you have to be prepared to learn to ride the Sport well. Personally I think it's worth the effort.

MORE PONIES SIR?
As for the lack of horses, Guzzi have seen this coming, so you can buy the hot-up kit that includes special pipe, chip and inlet tracts to boost power over 100hp. Really though, only dedicated Guzzisti are ever going to do that. If it were me I'd buy the optional panniers and a different set of handlebars to gain a lot of real world capability I'd benefit from all the time - rather than gain a little extra oomph that I'd benefit from once or twice a month.

ROUNDING IT UP
If I'm honest, there's not a lot of difference in actual performance between the Guzzi and its natural competitor the BMW R1200R. Price wise, though, the Guzzi comes with a price penalty of more than $3000, compared with the BMW. As for being deserving of the Sport title, the 1200 Sport is the most sporting of any Guzzi ever made and arguably more so than the BMW. Although in all fairness, BMW make no such claim.

So, could you ride one faster than a Breva or a Norge? Without doubt where the Breva's concerned, as for the Norge - probably. I guess that's why it's called the 1200 Sport then.

NOT SO GOOD