A cool, fresh looking, guzzi for new riders.
	It’s not the fastest thing in the world and more experience riders will be left wanting a bit more oomph

Breva is a southerly wind that flows over Lake of Como in northern Italy where the Moto Guzzi factory is based. Tradition has it the wind is lucky as it takes away clouds and brings with it sunshine and fine weather. It’s a very apt name for the new Guzzi as this bike signifies a change within the company.

Thanks to Aprilia’s backing Moto Guzzi, one of the most historic names in biking, has been given a fresh breath of life. The clouds hanging over the factory have been lifted and the Breva is the first bike to emerge into the sunshine.

The Breva makes no pretences at being a state-of-the-art sportsbike. It’s unashamedly aimed at newcomers to two wheels or those who simply want hassle free biking on a machine that looks good. Because of this the Breva isn’t going to set any race-rep rider’s pulse racing, but fashion conscious new bikers may well want to give it a look.

To ride, the Breva delivers exactly what it promises to do. The 750cc motor sticks with Guzzi’s traditional transverse V-twin configuration and despite looking very similar to the old 750 Nevada motor is actually all-new with fuel injection and many internal parts modified.
Sitting on the bike and revving the motor the whole machine sways left and right with the motion of the crank, which is kind of cool, and once on the move there are just enough vibes through the pegs to give it a healthy dose character without being intrusive.

The engine has been tuned for torque rather than power though, and it’s not the fastest thing in the world. I reckon it would struggle to get much over 110mph, but the torque means that you don’t have to change gears much. New bikers will find it unintimidating and for town use and shorter distance touring it’s fine, although I reckon given a bit more experience riders will be left wanting a bit more oomph, especially if they plan on doing any distance.

Guzzi has spent a lot of time considering what riders new to biking look for in a bike and the Breva has a number of features aimed at making it as easy as possible to live with. For a start there is no nasty chain to adjust and oil, the Guzzi has a shaft drive, the engine is cheap and easy to service, there’s a pillion grab rail as standard with bungee hooks on its underside, the clutch has been made specially light to avoid wrist ache in town and the seat is available in a specially lowered version should the 790mm seat height be too high for you.

The suspension is set up softly to cope with potholes and uneven road surfaces and is basic to say the least but because of the low speed nature of the bike it copes well enough with most conditions and should you wish to take a pillion, the rear shock can at least be stiffened up by adjusting the preload.

Through town and down twisty roads the Guzzi handles well. It feels light and is easy to change direction on, and the low seat height means that its easy to get you feet down to reverse the bike should that gap in traffic you just aimed at close up.

Despite having steel lines as standard the single disc Brembo front brake is merely adequate and lacks any real feeling. To get the most you really need to give it a good squeeze but at low speed it’s fine.

You get the feeling that the Breva has been designed with the central European wine bars/coffee houses in mind. Now congestion charging has taken hold in central London I could see a few of the more fashion conscious Londoners being swung towards owning bikes and the Guzzi is infinitely cooler than a scooter, especially with its range of branded clothing.

The Breva is a no-frills basic starter bike with a bit of street cred. The Guzzi name still carries a certain amount of coolness and the Breva does look good in the flesh. The problem with the Breva is that riding it leaves you somewhat flat.

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