The global trend by motorcycle manufacturers to attract new riders is being fueled by some very smart thinking: most of the major brands have an amazing array of new wheels to choose from, but prices tend to run well above $10,000 for the most desirable models. That leaves many first-time bike buyers out in the cold as the sort of salaries being earned by your average twentysomething don’t often stretch to cover the monthly payments and high insurance costs of high-end rides.
Increasingly, the OEM’s are cranking our streetbikes that clearly address this discrepancy with Italy’s 125 year-old Moto Guzzi just announcing their first entry-level machine. The company, well-loved for their shaft-drive, transverse V-twins, are now offering the Trip, a cleverly named 500cc standard guaranteed to compete for the accessible bike dollar. Everything from the water-cooled parallel twin’s seat height (just 30.5 inches) to its learner license-friendly 50 horsepower output is designed to make the new bike attractive to riders either un-interested or unable to afford one of the firm’s bigger capacity twins. At 396 pounds, the Trip may be a tad heavier than some other middleweight offerings, but the smooth power delivery and stress-free ergonomics should make for a motorcycle that appeals to a broad audience.
Though no US price has been revealed- the Trip is being presented to the world’s motorsports press next week at Italy’s massive EICMA motorcycle industry trade show- Moto Guzzi claims it’s set to fall right in the middle of this highly-competitive field. Though the Trip should be affordable, MG swears it’s been developed with many of the same high-end amenities that today’s riders have come to expect from new bikes: there’s a full-color TFT gauge, ride-by-wire throttle activation and three distinct rider modes.
The Trip bears more than a passing resemblance to Guzzi’s popular Griso sport-roadster twin and shares its smooth lines and is equipped with radial twin four-piston front brakes.
according to official factory sales-speak, “introduces a new design language for Moto Guzzi: pared back, contemporary and authentic. Every element has been designed by taking away rather than adding, letting what really matters come through: balanced proportions, clean surfaces and the stage presence of the twin-cylinder engine in its deep, minimal black finish.”
The four -gallon metal fuel tank should make the mounting of a magnetic tank bag a breeze and Moto Guzzi brag about some finer details including an LED headlight that “gives a modern twist to the iconic Moto Guzzi eagle,” and a circular 3.6-inch TFT display that connects seamlessly with a smartphones- and if that ain’t acknowledgement that this bike is aimed at the youth market, nothing is. There’s even backlit handlebar switchgear that makes finding teh proper buttyons after dark a breeze.
This bike comes at an interesting time as Harley-Davidson are rumored to be on the verge of importing their own beginner-friendly wheels into the US next year in the form of their Indian-engineered 440cc single. Like Moto Guzzi, H-D have built a decades-strong following with heavyweight machines, but with serious market changes underway, this may prove the perfect time to break form and strive for the new. Motorcycle ownership levels in our country have lagged behind those of many other developed nations for years and if the sport is to survive, it’s going to do so with bikes like the Trip attracting new blood.
