The Forgotten Sport Tourer That’s Better Than Ever
Motorcycles have a habit of following trends. When one category becomes the darling of the market, everything else can start looking like yesterday’s news. Adventure bikes have become the Swiss Army knives of modern motorcycling, promising long-distance comfort, upright ergonomics, and enough suspension travel to make a questionable road seem like a deliberate route choice. Sport tourers, however, were built around a simple idea: make something fast and composed enough to take corners at high speed, but comfortable enough that these corners litter a 200-300 route from one city to the next.
Why Sport Touring Still Matters
How The ADV Boom Left Sport Tourers Behind — And Why That May Be Changing
Sport touring once occupied a sweet spot in the bike world. These machines were quick enough to entertain on a winding road, but relaxed enough to cover hundreds of miles without turning the rider into a folded lawn chair. They offered fairings, luggage, sensible riding positions and engines that could make highway speeds feel effortless. Then the ADV boom arrived, and suddenly motorcycles were expected to have tall windscreens, spoke wheels, and enough suspension to jump over a small mountain.
ADV motorcycles are extraordinarily versatile, but that also means compromise: a tall chassis, long-travel suspension, and a large front wheel are useful when the road disappears, but they aren’t necessary for a rider crossing mountain passes or settling into long interstate runs. A road-focused machine does not need enormous ground clearance or a 21-inch front wheel when its natural habitat is asphalt.
The ADV Shadow Has Somehow Made Road Bikes More Interesting
The sport tourer takes a different approach to the ADV. It starts and ends at the pavement, asking only one question along the way: how fast do you want to go? Sport tourers are based on sport bikes, but they’re meant for travel. They get better seating positions, taller windscreens, luggage mounting options, and yet, they still retain sport bike DNA. While the ADV can be exciting in the corners of a winding mountain road, the sport tourer is absolutely thrilling.
Thanks to their sport bike DNA, they lean into corners with confidence, stiffer suspension keeps them from bouncing around, and powerful, high-revving engines help blast them out of the exit. One bike, largely overlooked since its launch, might be the clearest proof of everything sport touring promises — and it does it with technology that most ADV riders don’t even know exists.
Meet The Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello
The V100 Mandello Is Neither Naked Nor Sport Bike — And That’s The Point
The V100 Mandello is an unusually good candidate for the title of forgotten sport tourer. It’s not old per se, but you find it so far in the back benches that the light doesn’t reach it. It’s a very distinctive bike. It’s less of a sport bike and more of a roadster, but it’s not a completely stripped-down naked, either.
For its sport tourer credentials, though, the Mandello gets a road-focused chassis, a comfortable sitting position, an electrically adjustable windscreen, and adaptive aerodynamics — thekind that adjusts deflectors according to the speed and riding mode. This may not be the kind of tech you absolutely need for a jaunt down the highway, but it is certainly welcome when carving through the mountains.
The Mandello’s Engine Is A Modern Take On A Classic Layout
Powering the V100 Mandello is a 1,042 cc 90-degree transverse V-twin. Moto Guzzi is pretty much the only manufacturer to use this engine now. Honda used a variation on the transverse V-twin a while back, but that’s beside the point. Maximum power is 115 horsepower, coming in at 8,700 rpm, while 77 pound-feet of torque comes in at 6,750 rpm. Unlike typical sport tourers, the Mandello makes its torque lower in the rev range so you have more pull for passes and overtakes, but the higher-rpm power also keeps things interesting when the speed rises.
Another highlight of the V100’s engine is the shaft drive. Aside from removing the hassle of maintenance and lubrication, this more direct link to the rear wheel allows you to feel the motorcycle more intensely. The engine isn’t completely free of quirks, and some owners have reported a notchy gearbox. But another owner also reported the engine becoming smoother over thousands of miles.
The Chassis Helps The V100 Mandello Find Its Rhythm
That torquey, shaft-driven V-twin only makes sense if the chassis underneath can translate it into confidence — and here the V100 delivers. On the standard V100, you get 41 mm USD front forks and a rear monoshock with adjustable preload and rebound damping. The S and Wind Tunnel variants upgrade that to a 43 mm front fork and monoshock from Öhlins, both fully adjustable and with semi-active compression and rebound damping. Fancy stuff, really. These are then connected to 17-inch cast-aluminum wheels, with road-biased tires to properly tie you into your pace.
Braking hardware is equally serious. Up front, you get two 320 mm floating discs stopped by four-piston Brembo radial monobloc calipers and a radial master cylinder. At the rear, a 280 mm disc and a two-piston Brembo caliper provide stopping force. Now, at 513 pounds, the V100 is not a lightweight bike, but it gets a 4.5-gallon fuel tank and a 50-mile-per-gallon average, so range is not so much of a concern.
How Active Aerodynamics Make The V100 Unlike Anything Else On The Road
The V100 Mandello Is Designed Around The Wind
The Mandello’s ride-by-wire system allows for four riding modes, and this ties into the adaptive aerodynamic system that is the centerpiece of this Moto Guzzi. Deflectors positioned alongside the fuel tank move automatically depending on speed and the selected riding mode, allowing for sportier airflow when the situation calls for it. According to Moto Guzzi, the system is capable of reducing wind pressure on the rider by up to 22 percent.
The V100 is otherwise well-equipped with technology, too. It gets a six-axis IMU that manages cornering ABS and traction control, cruise control, an electrically adjustable windscreen, a full-color TFT dash, and full LED lighting. The S variant onwards adds tire pressure monitoring, smartphone connectivity, up/down quick shifter, rider assistance systems like forward collision warning, blind spot monitoring, and lane change assist. Essentially, the V100 is kitted up to properly rival bigger ADVs.
Miss This One Now And You’ll Be Hunting It Used In Five Years
The Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello reminds us why sport touring worked in the first place. Even if it doesn’t fulfill that desire for a fast-looking machine, the V100 has the performance to make any winding road more interesting. It has the comfort for really long touring days, the technology to rival most other sport tourers out there, and a distinctive V-twin that you won’t find anywhere else on the market. The world may not be ready for it yet, but with its blend of Italian character, modern technology, and road-focused engineering, the V100 Mandello makes the case that it should not be forgotten, lest it become a cult classic too soon.
Source: Moto Guzzi
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