If you’ve ever wondered what a retro Aprilia Tuono might look like, we have our closest answer yet. Moto Guzzi, another Italian manufacturer known for its retro-styled motorcycles, has just revealed ‘The Trip’, powered by a 500cc twin. It’s currently the brand’s smallest displacement motorcycle, and we believe the engine is actually shared with the Aprilia Tuono 457.
- Shares the retro-inspired design language with bigger Guzzis
- Weighs 180kg with a 790mm seat height and a 15-litre fuel tank
- Gets ride-by-wire, dual-disc brakes and three ride modes
Moto Guzzi 500cc Roadster: What do we know so far?
The brand has a parental connection to Aprilia
For the uninitiated, both Aprilia and Moto Guzzi are owned by the same parent company, Piaggio and that’s how this unexpected crossover has happened. We say unexpected because Guzzis are known for their V-twin engines with longitudinal cylinder heads poking out both sides. So, for enthusiasts this is akin to sacrilege. That being said, the Trip might just take Moto Guzzi to a whole new demographic so we’re not complaining, yet.
As we said, expected to power the Trip is an Aprilia 457cc based parallel-twin engine, making close to 48hp in it. Torque figures are unknown at the moment, but for context, the Tuono 457 makes 43.5Nm. Speaking of specifications that are unknown, here’s all we know at the moment. The Trip has a 790mm seat height, 15-litre metal fuel tank, weighs 180kg and has a gold USD fork and a monoshock unit that connects the subframe directly to the swingarm. Rest of the details such as the sizes of the dual-disc brakes, additional rider aids are expected to be clarified by the brand at EICMA 2026, happening from November 3 in Milan, Italy.
The design takes a lot of cues from bigger Guzzis and of course, the Italian brand’s heritage. Like all other motorcycles from the brand, there’s a metal flying eagle logo in the tank and there’s a flying eagle silhouette across the width of the rounded headlight. There are additional embellishments like an embroidered ‘The Trip’ logo on the seat. However, the Trip is more modern than its appearance suggests. For example, it has a 3.6-inch circular TFT display and has ride-by-wire, which enables three ride modes (Road, Rain and Sport). The switch cubes are backlit and Moto Guzzi offers a quickshifter (likely a bi-directional one) and turn-by-turn navigation as accessories.
While price remains to be one of the unknown factors at the moment, we do know the Trip will reach Moto Guzzi dealerships in 2027. Prospective customers then will have three colours to choose from, Black Metropolis, Green Grove and Red Beat. There’s also a special edition called The Opening, but we await the brand to clarify what makes it special. Moto Guzzi famously manufactures its current portfolio at Mandello del Lario in Italy, but we could see the Trip be built in Piaggio’s Baramati plant in India instead. It’s where the Aprilia 457 duo and its scooters are being manufactured and exported.
Moto Guzzi has an extremely limited presence in India and there are currently no indications that the brand is planning on selling the Trip here. That being said, it would be an accessible way to get a glimpse of the brand and increase the presence here. We should see this and other mysteries about the Trip get clarified at EICMA 2026, which is less than a week away.
Suraj Sreekumar
Vishal Venugopal
Dinshaw Magol
