Stelvio NTX 8V vs GS Adventure

You’ll often hear sportspeople talk about being in the “zone” – that period when they feel invincible and seemingly can do no wrong. I reckon we saw Aussie Sam Stosur in that impregnable mode when she butchered Serena Williams in the US Open tennis final.

Me? I’ve never felt indestructible in any sporting contest – does social table tennis count? – but on a motorcycle I reckon the closest I’ve come to that feeling is when I ride adventure bikes.

There’s just an amazing X-factor about them – the Goldilocks principle in that they feel just right. And it’s not hard to see why, as they do so many things so well, don’t misbehave, have practicality and versatility written all over them, and generally roam about the countryside with complete authority and dexterity – something which probably looks inconceivable to the naked eye with the initially awkward mix of bike, bars, brawn and sheer presence.

But that’s just a deception, and it’s no wonder the enjoyment level of adventure bike owners is so high, because they know they are onto something extremely satisfying. And they can make the ground really shake, unlike a lot of their other sports bike-riding mates.

But, amazingly, people still continue to snigger at ‘bulldozers’ like the shaft-driven Moto Guzzi Stelvio NTX and the BMW GS Adventure, which the Bikesales Network recently took out on a typical adventure route -- open ‘transport’ sections, parlaying into tight corners and punchy straights, followed by about 60km of dirt roads.

Once again, the outing reconfirmed that adventure bikes – especially the big-bore ones we had at our disposal – are the duck’s guts on so many levels.

I won’t deny they are massive platforms – and definitely not objects of absolute beauty -- but BMW has always had an uncanny knack of making ‘big’ feel ‘small’, and the GS Adventure is an emphatic case in point. And I’ve just learnt the Stelvio NTX has similar weight-beating tricks up its sleeve, too.

The adventure outing kicked off early, and I left home at 7:30am on the Stelvio NTX, en route for a 9:00am rendezvous at Healesville with my colleague Feann Torr, who was GS-mounted.

But Torr got all his commuting sums wrong, and at 9:30am he sauntered into the Healesville bakery – but his tardiness gave me some valuable time to crystallise my initial thoughts on the NTX. But first, a little bit of history.

A few years ago, Moto Guzzi resurrected the NTX name for the first time in over a decade when it released the Stelvio NTX – a harder-edged version of the standard Stelvio with switchable ABS brakes, quick-detachable aluminium panniers, hand protectors, crash bar and powertrain protectors, a metal bashplate and wide-angle headlamps.

We liked it, but it just let itself down in a few vital areas, including a way too small 18-litre fuel tank and injection that probably wasn’t as crisp as it could be.

But the transverse V-twin still had plenty of firepower, and the whole package was one which had arresting performance written all over it – in all conditions.

Well, not only has Moto Guzzi now kept all the good bits from the original NTX in the updated machine, but it’s seemingly ironed out all the bugs too. And traction control has now been added, which can be deactivated just like the ABS.

Aesthetically, the top fairing, windshield and the half-fairing (with integrated turn indicators) are all brand new, designed to give the front end a more aggressive look – and another layer of aerodynamic protection.

Still at the pointy end, the fuel cell now a holds a voluminous 32 litres, which is just one less than the R 1200 GS Adventure.

The NTX still has its full coat of armour, including an oil sump guard, engine guard, cylinder guard, hand guards and an extra large windshield with additional wind deflectors.

There’s a new upper twin-spar frame, made of high-strength steel, with 2.5mm thick directional tubes, where the engine is anchored through six connecting points. The wheelbase is now 1535mm up from 1475, while the front-end sports a new upside-down 45mm Marzocchi fork with 170mm of travel, with the rear a Sachs shock with a 155mm stroke.

Moto Guzzi has definitely taken a great leap forward with the styling, as it’s managed to produce a sleeker-looking bike, but without losing that rugged appeal which is so much a part of the DNA of hardcore adventure bikes.

Styling-wise, the GS holds most of the aces at the front end with the extra layer of protective bars and the signature duck bill, but as we move further back I reckon the Guzzi edges in front, with the all-black shaft drive a major piece of the lovely aesthetic puzzle.

With its more substantive front end, the GS provides better weather protection, and its screen just gets the gong over the Guzzi, too.

Quite simply, the NTX works wonderfully well on the road, and I was taken aback a little when it initially bit into tight corners with startling composure, complete with a full payload of 32 litres.

The machine delivers a wide spread of power, and every power pulse of the hulking transverse V-twin is transferred seamlessly to the 17-inch spoked rear wheel, complete with a trail hoop. But the gearing is quite tall and, while sixth gear would be fine to open the taps in more liberal jurisdictions, I only used it sparingly during the journey.

With a wet weight of 272kg, a 19-inch front wheel and longer wheelbase than the previous model, there are some other potential spoilers to on-road fun, but you’d have to be in a serious press-on mode for the NTX to lose too much finesse. And there are always the wide bars to keep the whole plot on course and let you paint the town red with that wonderful engine.

The Brembo radial brakes ensure the NTX pulls up hard, and the Marzocchi fork is probably more suited to a road application with a little more initial resistance – but it’s certainly not too stiffly sprung, as it still has to soak up some serious bumps through its 170mm (front) and 155mm (rear) travel when the dirt roads beckon.

After getting a feel for the NTX’s behavior, I swapped mounts with Feann – and thank god the panniers on the BMW sit lower than the NTX’s, as it took a fair bit to swing my leg over the 910mm high seat without any other obstacles to worry about.

But it can be adjusted back to 890mm, and the NTX also has two settings – 820mm or 840mm. Still, they are twin towers.

The GS Adventure isn’t as precise as the NTX on the road, as it holds its weight a lot higher and the 1170cc flat twin doesn’t spin up quite as freely, especially between 5000-8000rpm. But on the flipside the GS has it over the NTX below 4000rpm, where huge dollops of torque ensure that it keeps on chugging along with real purpose. For a lazy rider, it really hits the sweet spot.

And there’s no problem with running the BMW a gear or two higher in a tight turn, before winding it out – in the same gear – with impressive velocity to the next bend.

The great thing about the BMW is that you know what gear you’re in, which is displayed on the digital inset. No such function for the NTX, which is surprising as I like the way that Guzzi dashboards are laid out – plenty of information in all the right places.

In 2010, BMW Motorrad added another string to the performance bow of the GS Adventure (and the standard GS) by fitting the more muscular DOHC flat-twin engine, adopted from the aggressive HP2 Sport.

With the extra chain-driven camshaft helping things out, it created improvements to both power and torque, with the GS Adventure now producing 110hp at 7750rpm, and 120Nm at 6000rpm. It also now throws out an extra 500rpm jab of power, all the way to the 8500rpm redline.

For more changes to the GS Adventure recipe, we have to go back a few years before that, when BMW introduced two-piece dual colour hand protectors, white indicators, an LED tail light, mildly revised crash bars, a new air-dam for improved cooling, and a beak over the front wheel. The first gear was also made shorter to reduce the “need for the clutch at lower speeds”.

The performance spec sheets for the NTX and GS are so similar that it’s really a ludicrous argument to declare a king of the crop. Both are extremely versatile, sound feisty, and can go from pussycats to combatants with the twist of a grip. But in the case of the BMW, it has a stiffer throttle…

Both have temperature readings, and at one stage on the ride it got down to about three degrees approaching Woods Point. That’s not Elephant Rally cold, but it still packs a punch – and that’s where the GS’s two-stage heated hand grips were irresistible.

They come standard on the GS as part of the $27,290 price point, but not so for the $22,290 NTX.

Also on our GS was the optional traction package (ABS, ASC and RDC) for $2235, ESA for $1000, a full Nav 4 system and bracketing ($500.63), headlight protectors ($237.47) and large bash plate ($348.11). That took out the as tested price to $31,611.21.

That’s certainly a lot of coin, but for value for money – as opposed to value for the masses – the BMW doesn’t get blown away by any stretch of the imagination. And you’re buying a bike which is beyond reproach for quality and cachet.

The NTX has traction control as standard, and like the BMW’s can be turned off on the fly. But the Guzzi’s system has only an on or off function, as opposed to the BMW which has a middle ‘S’ setting which allows some power slides out of corners before it kicks in. The S function equates to Guzzi’s on position, so you can still compare like with like.

But what I really love about the BMW is the ESA, which also allows on-the-fly damping adjustment – changes to preload have to wait until the bike is at a standstill, as does disengagement (or engagement) of the ABS.

For riders who are poles apart in suspension preferences like me and Feann -- we’d make unhappy world endurance teammates… -- ESA is the hottest ticket in town.

The GS’s tyre pressure monitor also came in handy on the morning I was returning it back to BMW HQ, empahsising its practical, real world application. As soon as I turned the bike on a warning light appeared, and a quick glance of the RDC showed that tyre pressure in the rear had dropped from 2.4 to 0.7 bars overnight. I certainly felt that in the heavy steering on the way to the service station, but imagine if it was a slow leak – a rider might not become aware of the issue until he or she was in a far more unpalatable situation. Worth every cent.

We did hit some pretty challenging tarmac early on and the GS was also wearing knobby tyres, which obviously call for a lot more steering input. And the knobbies also squirm a lot more under brakes, which isn’t always a special feeling. The GS’s time would come though with dirt roads just down the road…

But with a kerb weight of 256kg, 16 less than the NTX, the GS is extremely composed, and if there’s any volatility from the bike it comes from the rider doing something crazy – simple as that.

For initial bite and feel, the BMW’s brakes have it over the Brembo hardware on the NTX, although they aren’t quite as progressive. But there’s more than enough power in both.

The gearboxes on both feel very similar. They are surprisingly slick, and even in press-on mode don’t falter.

We eventually made it to Marysville, which was decimated in the Black Saturday bushfires a couple of years ago. It’s an impossibly beautiful little town, and the ride there is spectacular.

We definitely had a blast, but the dynamics were about to change with about 60km of dirt road beckoning just a few kilometres outside Marysville. And we’d have to do it all again on the way back.

The rotation had me on the GS when the dirt hit, and it was like someone flicked the excitement switch. The GS devours this sort of terrain with ridiculous efficiency and easy manners, and it’s times like these when I find myself really wanting to grab a bike by the scruff of the neck -- when commonsense should tell you to show some extra caution.

I settled into somewhere around middle ground, complete with ABS on and ‘S’ mode for traction control. I’d already made the decision to leave ABS on, as on flat, windy roads it provides a beautiful reassurance – and even when it's activated there’s a subtle pulse, so you can still roll into a corner unencumbered instead of with a bike which wants to push in straight line. That’s also the same feeling I got from the NTX.

Sure, metering speed down a steep hill would probably call for ABS to go into hibernation, but I can’t really think of any other situations which would require such an approach.

I had ridden the Woods Point road previously on a BMW launch, so I knew what to expect as opposed to my travelling companion.

And it also helped that I already knew the GS inside-out, from the wide and sturdy pegs to the neutral standing opposition, which allows the knees to really grip onto the base of the tank. That’s not only comfortable, but it helps to steer the bike, too.

And the knobbies breathed a sigh of relief when the surface beneath them started shifting, and it was their turn to shine.

It’s amazing how deep you can push into a turn with the 19-inch knobby, and the Telelever suspension makes light work of even the gnarliest braking bumps, so the bike doesn’t run wide or tie itself in knots. It just chugs his way through with plenty of purpose (maybe it’s a bulldozer after all…), with the 17-inch rear just eager to keep things on the boil as it searches for traction.

The NTX isn’t as comfortable for stand-up work as the GS, but it wasn’t something that particularly bothered me as dirt roads force you to concentrate extra hard and issues which aren’t acute are soon forgotten about. But the rubber-mounted footpegs do let it down, which are too small and just feel weak. Moreover, Feann’s feet kept on rubbing against the pillion pegs, which inhibited some of his movement.

In all respects, the NTX is a bucket load of fun to ride on the dirt, as it continues the precise steering traits it displays on the road. It will hold lines, change them, and simply accommodate every rider input. For the sometimes unpredictable nature of adventure riding, that’s a boon. It’s just all comes together nicely, and the traction control makes for a lot of fun and encouragement all at the same time.

I had some reservations about the suspension initially, but the Marzocchi fork really works well and, like the BMW, the proof was in how it dealt with those pesky corner vibrations. No worries as it turns out, but some really solid washouts may test the much shorter suspension travel than the GS.

This is a hard comparison test to pick a clear winner, as both bikes have so many endearing traits and lay out the welcome mat for those people wanting to sink their teeth into the adventure scene.

The NTX is a real mover and shaker, and manages to strike a fine balance between on-road agility and off-road stability, which is always the tightrope that adventure manufacturers have to walk.

The GS is well, a GS. It just nails every part of the adventure equation, and it’s a package that has got everything after years and years of pre-eminence.

But at $22,290, the NTX presents an impeccable adventure case all of its own, as well as being a slightly better commuter and scratcher. There’s also a lot of bike for that price, which always brings a smile.

But for more sustained heavy-duty off-road use, the GS gets its nose in front again, which proves just what a tight race it is – both bikes do it all, with plenty of versatility and very little compromise. A coin, anyone?

Visit the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure in Bike Showroom.

ENGINE
Type: 1151cc, air/oil-cooled, eight-valve, OHC, four-stroke, transverse 90-degree V-twin
Bore x stroke: 95mm x 81.2mm
Compression ratio: 11.1:1
Fuel system: Electronic fuel injection
Claimed power: 105hp (77kW) at 7250rpm
Claimed torque: 113Nm at 5800 rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six-speed
Final drive: Shaft

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame type: Tubular steel twin cradle
Front suspension: Upside-down 45mm Marzocchi telescopic fork, adjustable for preload, rebound and compression, 170mm travel
Rear suspension: Sachs monoshock, adjustable for preload and rebound, 155mm travel
Front brakes: Twin 320mm discs with four-piston, radial-mount Brembo calipers
Rear brakes: Single 282mm disc with twin-piston Brembo caliper

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Kerb weight: 272kg
Rake: 27 degrees
Trail: 125mm
Seat height: 820/840mm (adjustable)
Ground clearance: 210mm
Wheelbase: 1535mm
Fuel capacity: 32 litres (seven-litre reserve)

OTHER STUFF
Colours: Lava black
Price: $22,990
Test bike supplied by: John Sample Automotive Pty Ltd, tel: (02) 9914 8799, www.motoguzzi.com.au
Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres