2017 MOTO GUZZI MGX-21 FLYING FORTRESS
FIRST RIDE
P104
70 mph as smooth as
riding on glass. Elastic-
kinematics basically
allows the engineers to
control the parameters
of the flex and stretch
of the mounts, which, in
turn, allows them to bet-
ter control the unwanted vibra-
tion felt by the rider—it's a similar
method to what Victory uses with
their baggers.
There's 89 lb-ft of stump-pull-
ing torque here, which is a good
thing as the MGX is a big ol'
girl at 751 pounds dry and you'll
use almost every one of those
pounded feet to get it going.
Acceleration isn't what I'd call
aggressive but it's ample
enough for a bike this size,
although there's nowhere
near enough exhaust
noise for my tastes. The
induction noise has some
bite to it, but the exhaust
sounds too flat for a bike
that looks this good.
But there's an upside to this—it
allows you to hear the stereo!
Above 80 mph the stereo is
drowned out as it doesn't have
the wattage to overcome the
wind noise, but it's brilliant below
those speeds and will let every-
one know how crappy your mu-
sic tastes are the next campsite
or bar you roll up to (it happened
to me at Sturgis multiple times).
At low speeds the enormous
front wheel isn't as much of a big
deal as you'd think. Although,
push the bike above 90 mph and
the bike suddenly feels discon-
nected, like the front end has
gained an extra three inches of
trail. The 21-inch wheel, as one
of my riding buddies at Sturgis
puts it, feels like it tries to climb
over itself when you pitch it into
a corner at anything resembling
high speed, thus giving the
disconnected feel (which means
the front now matches the back,
as the driveshaft does the same
thing!). Get higher than 90 mph
and you'll be privy to some pretty
You need to
lay the MGX
over pretty
far by bagger
standards to get
it scraping.
