My initial impressions of the Moto Guzzi Breva 1100 are:
It has a fairly good ride quality on the standard recommended suspension settings, and a comfortable slightly leaning forward riding position (for me at 5' 6" tall) to fairly wide handlebars. It has a comfortable seat which is fairly wide, but that makes putting my feet down when coming to a halt a bit of a stretch (not helped by my motorcycle boots which restrict my ankle movement so I can't stretch my foot down so much).
Moto Guzzi produce a lower seat which they claim to be 3 cm lower and to be fitted with a gel pad. I bought one of these but took it back because it was identical to the original seat, except that it didn't fit so well. The dealer ordered another one which was slightly lower in the middle of the seat (at most 1 cm lower) but the same height at the sides of the seat so again it didn't make any difference to being able to reach the ground and it didn't fit as well as the original seat. That's a shame because a lower seat as they claimed would have been a worthwhile investment (at £122).
I also find it a bit of a stretch forward to reach the sidestand to pull it up when I'm sitting on the bike, so overall the bike does feel a litlle bit too big for me. However, it is a nice bike to ride so it's worth the effort! It reminds me a bit of the Harley Sportster 1200 Roadster that I had, only it's better! It has similar engine and geachange characteristics, but it has a smoother engine (although it still vibrates, getting smoother with higher revs) and a much lighter gearchange and clutch. The gearchanges clunk, but not as badly as the Harley, and with practice I'm getting better at it and it's not too difficult to do perfectly quite and smooth changes, although it's more difficult changing down. The gear changes between the higher gears are easier to change smoothly and quietly than the lower gears, but again with practice and familiarity I'll hopefully get better at it.
I like the way it corners. It turns in nice and smoothly , not requiring much effort to get it to turn (at low speads at least), and it feels like a lighter bike than it actually is. I've not ridden it very hard round bends (yet) but it seems to handle well, although occasionally on bumpy bends the softly setup suspension perhaps feels slightly under damped (which could probably be cured by adjusting the suspension, but I won't bother for now as I'm happy with it and I like the comfort).
The standard exhaust sounds quite nice at lower revs (say up to 3,000 rpm), and overall it's a nice bike to ride. My main dislike is that it can be a bit snatchy going on and off the thottle at low revs in the lower gears, but I'm still enjoing the bike so far.
I like the information available from the trip computer (and the fact that it's controllable from handlebar switches), although the average fuel consumption is quite a way out. I think it might be calibrated to display miles per US gallon rather than per imperial gallon (I could perhaps check that by changing it to display litres per 100 kilometres instead). It often indicates about 42mpg whereas I'm actually getting 51 - 52 mpg, which is a little bit disappointing, but it might improve a bit by the time it's fully run in. Speaking of which, I was surprised that the running in service at 625 miles (1000km) is not free like it is for most bikes - it cost £199. The service includes tightening the cylinder head bolts, which is not something you normally have to do on modern engines. (I was also surprised that the service indicator did not come on the display as it's supposed to at 625 miles. It eventually came on at about 1500km, which makes me wonder if the owner's manual is wrong!)
The switchgear is a little different from the normal Japanese switchgear, in particluar the indicators and horn switch are swapped around so I occasioanlly beep the horn when I intend to turn the inciators on or off!
Specifications:
Engine: Engine type 90 degree transverse V- twin, air cooled 4-stroke, Displacement 1064cc Bore x stroke 92mm x 80mm Compression ratio 9.6:1 Lubrication system pressure-fed system, adjustment through valves and lobe pump Fuel feed system electronic injection (Weber - Marelli) with stepper motor Ignition electronic digital ignition, twin sparkplugs per cylinder Power 86bhp @ 7500rpm, 62ft-lb @ 6800rpm Emissions 3 ways catalytic converter in collector box, Euro 3 Oil capacity 3.6L Air filter dry cartridge Fuel tank capacity 23L (4L reserve) Clutch type dry Transmission 6 speed Wheels aluminium alloy, chill cast Front 3.5" x 17" Rear 5.5" x 17" Front travel 110mm Rear travel 140mm Front tyre 120/70 ZR17 58W(Metzeler Roadtec Z6) Rear tyre 180/55 ZR17 73W Front brake twin floating 320mm stainless steel discs, 4 pistons Brembo calipers Rear brake single 280mm stainless steel disc, 2 pistons caliper Dimensions: Overall length 2195mm Overall width 870mm Overall height 1125mm Seat height 800mm wheelbase 1495mm Ground clearance 185mm Dry weight 231kg (248kg in running order)