There's got to be something magical in the pasta sauce in Italy. How else can you explain how one country can produce such a large variety of universally loved motorcycles. Its beautiful, winding roads are practically saturated with the likes of Aprillias, MV Agustas and Ducatis. All known by the motorcycle riding world to be undeniable gorgeous, high performance, if a bit tempestuous, works of art. They have racing pedigree and are modern to their very last bolt. But there is another Italian brand that people often forget to mention in the same breath as the other three.

Moto Guzzi has been kicking around as a motorcycle company since the 1920s and are primarily known for the funky, longitudinal 90 degree v-twin, though Moto Guzzi calls it transverse for any number of extremely Italian reasons. Think BMW's famous boxer engine, but raised up at an angle on each side. Moto Guzzi has been through it all, even taking 14 world racing titles, and yet their bikes have remained somewhat simple and old-fashioned. Even with the release of the striking V85 TT, Moto Guzzi were playing with nostalgia. But when word got out about their latest model, the V100 Mandello, and the first pictures and specs began appearing online, there was no doubting what Moto Guzzi's plans were going forward. Their gaze was now firmly on the future, and the V100 Mandello was shaping up to be a fantastic modern machine.

Let's start with the least modern thing about the Mandello, and that's the 1042-cc V-twin. It has four valves per cylinder and is equipped with ride-by-wire. It is liquid-cooled and produces 115 hp, with 77 lbs of torque. Respectable, if nothing else. When we move down to the suspension, things get a little livelier. The front suspension is a fully adjustable Öhlins Smart EC2.0 fork, that has semi-active compression and rebound damping. The rear suspension consists of an Öhlins TTX Smart EC2.0 monoshock, which has semi-active compression, rebound damping and remote preload adjustment. The Brembo brakes also add a premium touch, with 4-piston up front and 2-pisons at the back.

To assist the brakes and the suspension in providing you with the best possible ride, you get some fancy, deluxe features like cornering ABS, ride modes, cruise control, traction control, cornering lights, electronically adjustable windshield, heated grips and what Moto Guzzi calls 'adaptive aerodynamics.' And if you don't know what that is, they are little wings on the sides of the motorcycle that deploy to do... something. Well, they're meant to deflect air automatically, depending on your speed and rider mode. Sounds fantastic, but only time will tell if this is an expensive gimmick, or if owners will swear by it in the future.

Italian designers are incapable of creating anything ugly. That seems to be an iron-clad fact. Ducatis and Aprillias have some of the most beautiful machines in their stables, and let's not forget that Italy is also responsible for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo. The same could be said about Moto Guzzi. Though their line of motorcycles is a little more vintage leaning, they are no less beautiful than their contemporaries. The V7 and the V9 can both go toe to toe with anything that Triumph or BMW can throw at them from their modern classic lineups. But the V100 is an entirely new beast, it's almost as if the engineers designed the silhouette first and then worked their way through to add all the other components.

It must be said that the Verde color version of the S variant is subjectively the best out of all the options. The classic racing green front and back are broken up by the modern addition of silver of the tank and engine, with minor champagne accents on the top of the cylinders and exhaust. And though the front end of motorcycles can sometimes be garish and brutalist in nature, we're looking at you Yamaha MT10, Mandello's is a thoughtful exercise in restraint. Moto Guzzi seemed to be going for classy, sophisticated and refined. And we think they knocked it right out of the park.

A few years back, some folks in the industry lamented that motorcycle sport touring was on the decline, replaced seemingly overnight by adventure motorcycles. And if you look at that period of time with a magnifying glass, that may as well have been the truth. But sport touring motorcycles have seen a resurgence as of late, as riders have become more sophisticated in choosing how or why they ride their bikes. And for every rider that likes to take their BMW 1250 GS off-road, there's someone behind them who elects to take their Yamaha Tracer down a well paved mountain road instead, and that's who Moto Guzzi is going up against. There's also the Ducati Multistrada, the Triumph Tiger Explorer and KTM Super Duke GT to name a few. And if you were to zoom out even further, you'd see sportier options like the Suzuki GSX-S1000GT and more relaxed options, like anything that Harley-Davidson or Indian may have on offer. The good news is that for all intents and purposes, the V100 Mandello is passing all tests with flying colors. It can 100% hang with all of those bikes, it's priced just right for the market, it looks fresh and different enough to stand out, and if the goal is to ride in comfort on a modern, stylish, unique and engaging motorcycle, then Moto Guzzi would like to sell you their very finest offering. A sport touring bike, not stuck in the past, but speeding headfirst into the future.

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