V9 Bobber (MY2021)

Moto Guzzi builds the V9 Bobber around one idea: the 853 cc air-cooled 90° V-twin sitting crossways in the frame, cylinders out in the wind where you can see them. That layout does the styling work no fairing panel could fake, and it gives you 65 hp with 54 lb-ft underneath. Shaft final drive keeps the right side clean. Fat 16-inch rubber front and rear, mid-set pegs, a wide bar, and a 30.9 in seat put you in a low, planted, unhurried position. ABS and traction control are standard, and Guzzi had the sense to keep them out of sight.

It rides the way it looks. There is real weight to the controls and a mechanical honesty to how the bike responds, but at 463 lb wet it turns into a corner far more willingly than the bobber silhouette suggests. Metal where you expect metal, LED lighting, a USB port, an adjustable rear shock: modern enough to live with, old enough to feel. This is a bike for the rider who wants character over stopwatch numbers. The honest caveat is the ownership side. Reports of broken rocker arms exist, and final drive weeping, ignition switch faults, and steering head bearings rusting early from thin factory grease all show up often enough to check before you buy.