MANY motorcyclists are looking for an Italian alternative to a four cylinder sports model and no bike is more Italian than a big V-twin Moto Guzzi.

Moto Guzzi offers three styles of machine - the new 750cc Breva all-rounder, the 1100cc California cruisers and the V11 sports bikes.

The latest incarnation of the latter is the V11 Cafe Sport which is fitted with Ohlins gold finished front forks, bronze fuel tank and seriously sporty looking chequered black carbon fibre parts.

Pressing the electric starter produced a rorty big twin bark from our test machine, which was fitted with the Moto Guzzi Titanium “silencers”.

The six-speed gearbox is an improvement on the previous five-speed one and is well matched to the thumping power of the big twin.

Pulling this big bike down from high speed is surprisingly easy. This is mostly down to the front brakes - high spec four piston Brembo calipers holding onto twin 320mm stainless floating discs.

The Cafe Sport costs nearly £1,000 more than the standard V11 “Ballabio” model and this is mostly down to the top spec gold finished, 43mm Ohlins upside-down front forks and Ohlins monoshock rear suspension, all of which are fully adjustable for spring preload, compression and rebound damping. Topping this lot off, is the high spec Ohlins steering damper, so if you cannot find a suspension setting to suit you, you are not trying hard enough.

In keeping with the streetbike style, Guzzi has fitted the Cafe Sport and Ballabio with higher “straight” handlebars, rather than the usual V11 Sport model clip-ons. The handlebars are finished in gold on the Cafe Sport and grey on the Ballabio.

They look good and make the bike more controllable in traffic. The V11 Cafe Sport is available in Bronze and costs £8,579 on the road.

The V11 Sport Ballabio comes in red or silver and costs £7,629 on the road. All new Moto Guzzi bikes come with two years unlimited mileage, manufacturer’s warranty and two years European roadside assistance and recovery. For information call 01293 823890, or visit www.motoguzzi.it