Jupiter
10-12-2008, 04:17 PM
[This post is an adaptation of a similar post on STN]
For the last few months as I’ve been wandering in and out of Moto International (Seattle’s Aprilia and Guzzi dealer) the Moto Guzzi Griso has been catching my eye. Dave has three or four 1100cc Grisos hanging around the showroom floor like nightclub bouncers. Shiny and black, like my soul.
When the Griso came out (in 2005?), I thought that it looked cool but lacked a mission. It was a more macho but less usable Breva. It didn’t have hard luggage or a windscreen. Was it a power cruiser without the power? A 550 pound city bike? A mellow country lanes bike, but without a real back seat?
But with time I’ve begun to appreciate the Griso’s looks more and more. And then Dave got in a 2009 Griso 8V. This is the new, improved Griso with a 1200cc engine that we first saw here in the States in the Stelvio. This is the Griso that won BIKE magazine’s four-bike comparo this month.
Let’s say that again, because you don’t get to say it often. A Moto Guzzi won a comparison test in Britain’s largest bike magazine. Given the quality of British bike mags like BIKE, you could effectively argue that this meant that an 8V Griso came out on top in a test in the best bike magazine in the world.
So I kept wandering through Moto International’s showroom while they fixed my Mille’s clutch, and lingering as they mounted freshy fresh OZ wheels on my Tuono, and I’d swing a leg over that new Griso and wonder what this was about. And say to myself, “I should ride the old Griso and the new Griso back to back.”
It became one of those things in life that sounds like fun but was just too easy to put off. For some reason yesterday I had one of those “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…hey! There is no ‘someday!’” epiphanies and decided to go see Dave the very next sunny morning.
This was that morning. After hitting the gym and obtaining the all-important hall pass from my wife I rode the Tuono over to MI and was first handed the keys to the new 8V Griso.
It looked like a black Griso:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2605.jpg
Note the sunny weather--it doesn’t rain every day in Seattle. Actually, from July 4 to the end of October the weather is great. Of course March and April are gray as the inside of a Pittsburgh smokestack and wet as a dog at the beach.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2612.jpg
I’m not a big fan of aftermarket tail tidies because they always look cheap and, well, aftermarket. But something’s gotta be done about this rear fender/license plate monstrosity. Good God that plastic is a waste of our petroleum resources.
The 1200 Griso is a modern bike (This is a compliment). Everything just works.
Perfect bar end/seat/peg placement (granted, I am a relatively small guy at 5’-9” and 155). Clear instruments. Wonderful engine without lumps and dips in the powerband. Clicky-click shifter with a light action. Excellent brakes. It’s…well…it’s the bike the Japanese would build if they wanted to copy Moto Guzzi the way they want to copy Harley.
To the purist, this is probably a negative. But for me, a guy raised on Japanese motorcycles and without the reserves of patience for “character” required by a Ducati owner, it’s a big positive.
And it’s fun to ride. The riding position is classic standard, really, rather than cruiser. The seat height is relatively low and although it’s not light (maybe 550 pounds), the weight is carried low. The bike feels solid and all of a piece up to six or seven tenths pace (more on that later). The engine makes wonderful growls and burbles like a small-block V-8. It’s very tractable and sounds great without sounding strangled like the old bike (more on that later, too). Here’s a hairy-chested power cruiser rare enough that you’ll never see yourself coming down the street; it looks macho but it’s a big pussycat.
The cat has some claws, though. Twist the grip hard and it launches satisfyingly down the road. The redline is relatively short (8,000 RPM) but there’s not the feeling of running out of revs. BIKE dyno’d one of these at roughly 100 rear wheel horsepower and 75 lb-ft of torque and that seems about right. Not as much top end as my Tuono but plenty much for a naked standard, and with that much torque there is a sensation of immediate power when you crack open the throttle.
The Griso’s owner sees this tidy LCD instrument cluster every day. Very similar in layout to an RSV or Tuono, but with clearer lettering and somehow butch-er. Available are not just speed, RPM, odometer and dual trip info, but also a clock, real-time charging voltage, ambient temperature, rider and passenger heart rates, and a stock ticker.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2606.jpg
And I apologize for the lame-ass photography. Not my specialty...
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/frontendretouched.jpg
Besides the red “8V” decals and the black handlebar, a couple of ways to distinguish the 8V from the 1100cc Griso are the radial brakes and these trick chevroned discs.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2618.jpg
From this pic you might think that my daughter Hallie is unexcited about Moto Guzzis. She is fourteen, however, so she wears this expression most of the time that she spends with her parents.
I got the feedback from my family. “Retro,” said my wife.
“It’s too serious,” said my ten-year-old. The three of them agreed on that. Fair enough, I suppose, but the point of this bike is strength and butch style and it has that in spades. So it’s a man’s bike.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2619.jpg
That’s more like it. A future Guzzista, perhaps?
Negatives for the updated Griso were few from my perspective. The suspension was just a little soft for my taste; fast bumpy corners had the bike moving around a little too much and I could feel its weight working against it. That said, for bimbling around town it was perfect and many Griso owners may not be interested in riding that aggressively anyway.
And it’s expensive. There aren’t many of these bikes available and MI is asking a little more than $14,000. It’s an excellent bike with remarkable build quality and I think it’s worth it if that’s what you want.
Then it was my turn on Griso Version 1.0. If the 1100 Griso could talk it would sound like Vito Corleone. And it would say something like “My throat hurts! I got laryngitis something awful. Call the Doctor. No, no, not Rossi, my doctor’s name is John Wittner.” There’s never been a motorcycle that wants an aftermarket end can more than the 1100 Griso. The Guzzi bark has been muzzled, and it’s a shame because this bike could sound wonderful.
The riding position isn’t quite as refined. The bars are just a little further from the seat and are wider, which isn’t good but just about the easiest thing you could fix on an motorcycle. The bars on the 1200 are black, too, which looks really nice. Before you leave your dealer with your new 1100 I’d have that bar changed to the new style.
The brakes and rotors are not as sexy as the 1200’s, but damn do they work well. They are the same Brembos that the Mille R had in 2002 and they corral the Griso’s ponies with ease and control.
So in conclusion the new bike is the way to go, right? Well, maybe not because the 2009 Griso is so expensive. The 1200 is over fourteen large, and Dave has brand new 1100’s for less than nine (which has gotta be one of the new bike bargains of the millennium). Do you want to/can you afford to spend $14,000 for a motorcycle when there’s one parked right next to it that is visually indistinguishable and almost as capable for $9,000?
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2621.jpg
The 1100 looks like this (the muffler is the giveaway). I realize that I’m an old, old man, old enough to remember the slide rule, but here’s fresh evidence that some technologies bring out the worst in human tendencies toward obsessive-compulsive disorder. This guy stood there while I parked up and took pictures, oblivious to everything but his texting. Jeez, dude, just call her. It’s so easy. The same device that allows you to communicate poorly with a text message can be used for effective voice-to-voice contact!
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2623.jpg
Here’s the 1100’s front end. Not as sexy as the radial brakes and corrugated rotors on the bigger bike, but absolutely just as effective.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2626.jpg
SCORECARD
Riding position: The new Griso’s shorter bar and different seat make it the winner. As pleasant as a VFR.
Engine: The old Griso is fine ridden in isolation, but the new Griso rocks. What a wonderful engine.
Brakes: The old Griso doesn’t have the higher-end spec that the new Griso does…but it’s just as good. Remember, the old Griso’s brakes are the same that were awesome top-of-the-line binders for cutting edge sportbikes in 2002. A tie.
Handling: Both good; the new Griso wins with its nicer ergonomics.
Charisma: Pick ‘em. Only a dyed in the wood Guzzi fanatic could tell them apart.
Sound: From stock, the new bike all the way.
Cost: The old Griso is $5,000 less than the new one. The new one is a better bike, but the difference in value is not $5,000. You’d be miles ahead buying an 1100 Griso, an aftermarket muffler like the one below from Agostini in Italy, and upgrading to the new bike’s bar and seat. Presto, a bike with 95% of the capabilities of the 1200 for $3,500 less.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/AgostiniCanclose-1.jpg
For the last few months as I’ve been wandering in and out of Moto International (Seattle’s Aprilia and Guzzi dealer) the Moto Guzzi Griso has been catching my eye. Dave has three or four 1100cc Grisos hanging around the showroom floor like nightclub bouncers. Shiny and black, like my soul.
When the Griso came out (in 2005?), I thought that it looked cool but lacked a mission. It was a more macho but less usable Breva. It didn’t have hard luggage or a windscreen. Was it a power cruiser without the power? A 550 pound city bike? A mellow country lanes bike, but without a real back seat?
But with time I’ve begun to appreciate the Griso’s looks more and more. And then Dave got in a 2009 Griso 8V. This is the new, improved Griso with a 1200cc engine that we first saw here in the States in the Stelvio. This is the Griso that won BIKE magazine’s four-bike comparo this month.
Let’s say that again, because you don’t get to say it often. A Moto Guzzi won a comparison test in Britain’s largest bike magazine. Given the quality of British bike mags like BIKE, you could effectively argue that this meant that an 8V Griso came out on top in a test in the best bike magazine in the world.
So I kept wandering through Moto International’s showroom while they fixed my Mille’s clutch, and lingering as they mounted freshy fresh OZ wheels on my Tuono, and I’d swing a leg over that new Griso and wonder what this was about. And say to myself, “I should ride the old Griso and the new Griso back to back.”
It became one of those things in life that sounds like fun but was just too easy to put off. For some reason yesterday I had one of those “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…hey! There is no ‘someday!’” epiphanies and decided to go see Dave the very next sunny morning.
This was that morning. After hitting the gym and obtaining the all-important hall pass from my wife I rode the Tuono over to MI and was first handed the keys to the new 8V Griso.
It looked like a black Griso:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2605.jpg
Note the sunny weather--it doesn’t rain every day in Seattle. Actually, from July 4 to the end of October the weather is great. Of course March and April are gray as the inside of a Pittsburgh smokestack and wet as a dog at the beach.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2612.jpg
I’m not a big fan of aftermarket tail tidies because they always look cheap and, well, aftermarket. But something’s gotta be done about this rear fender/license plate monstrosity. Good God that plastic is a waste of our petroleum resources.
The 1200 Griso is a modern bike (This is a compliment). Everything just works.
Perfect bar end/seat/peg placement (granted, I am a relatively small guy at 5’-9” and 155). Clear instruments. Wonderful engine without lumps and dips in the powerband. Clicky-click shifter with a light action. Excellent brakes. It’s…well…it’s the bike the Japanese would build if they wanted to copy Moto Guzzi the way they want to copy Harley.
To the purist, this is probably a negative. But for me, a guy raised on Japanese motorcycles and without the reserves of patience for “character” required by a Ducati owner, it’s a big positive.
And it’s fun to ride. The riding position is classic standard, really, rather than cruiser. The seat height is relatively low and although it’s not light (maybe 550 pounds), the weight is carried low. The bike feels solid and all of a piece up to six or seven tenths pace (more on that later). The engine makes wonderful growls and burbles like a small-block V-8. It’s very tractable and sounds great without sounding strangled like the old bike (more on that later, too). Here’s a hairy-chested power cruiser rare enough that you’ll never see yourself coming down the street; it looks macho but it’s a big pussycat.
The cat has some claws, though. Twist the grip hard and it launches satisfyingly down the road. The redline is relatively short (8,000 RPM) but there’s not the feeling of running out of revs. BIKE dyno’d one of these at roughly 100 rear wheel horsepower and 75 lb-ft of torque and that seems about right. Not as much top end as my Tuono but plenty much for a naked standard, and with that much torque there is a sensation of immediate power when you crack open the throttle.
The Griso’s owner sees this tidy LCD instrument cluster every day. Very similar in layout to an RSV or Tuono, but with clearer lettering and somehow butch-er. Available are not just speed, RPM, odometer and dual trip info, but also a clock, real-time charging voltage, ambient temperature, rider and passenger heart rates, and a stock ticker.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2606.jpg
And I apologize for the lame-ass photography. Not my specialty...
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/frontendretouched.jpg
Besides the red “8V” decals and the black handlebar, a couple of ways to distinguish the 8V from the 1100cc Griso are the radial brakes and these trick chevroned discs.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2618.jpg
From this pic you might think that my daughter Hallie is unexcited about Moto Guzzis. She is fourteen, however, so she wears this expression most of the time that she spends with her parents.
I got the feedback from my family. “Retro,” said my wife.
“It’s too serious,” said my ten-year-old. The three of them agreed on that. Fair enough, I suppose, but the point of this bike is strength and butch style and it has that in spades. So it’s a man’s bike.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2619.jpg
That’s more like it. A future Guzzista, perhaps?
Negatives for the updated Griso were few from my perspective. The suspension was just a little soft for my taste; fast bumpy corners had the bike moving around a little too much and I could feel its weight working against it. That said, for bimbling around town it was perfect and many Griso owners may not be interested in riding that aggressively anyway.
And it’s expensive. There aren’t many of these bikes available and MI is asking a little more than $14,000. It’s an excellent bike with remarkable build quality and I think it’s worth it if that’s what you want.
Then it was my turn on Griso Version 1.0. If the 1100 Griso could talk it would sound like Vito Corleone. And it would say something like “My throat hurts! I got laryngitis something awful. Call the Doctor. No, no, not Rossi, my doctor’s name is John Wittner.” There’s never been a motorcycle that wants an aftermarket end can more than the 1100 Griso. The Guzzi bark has been muzzled, and it’s a shame because this bike could sound wonderful.
The riding position isn’t quite as refined. The bars are just a little further from the seat and are wider, which isn’t good but just about the easiest thing you could fix on an motorcycle. The bars on the 1200 are black, too, which looks really nice. Before you leave your dealer with your new 1100 I’d have that bar changed to the new style.
The brakes and rotors are not as sexy as the 1200’s, but damn do they work well. They are the same Brembos that the Mille R had in 2002 and they corral the Griso’s ponies with ease and control.
So in conclusion the new bike is the way to go, right? Well, maybe not because the 2009 Griso is so expensive. The 1200 is over fourteen large, and Dave has brand new 1100’s for less than nine (which has gotta be one of the new bike bargains of the millennium). Do you want to/can you afford to spend $14,000 for a motorcycle when there’s one parked right next to it that is visually indistinguishable and almost as capable for $9,000?
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2621.jpg
The 1100 looks like this (the muffler is the giveaway). I realize that I’m an old, old man, old enough to remember the slide rule, but here’s fresh evidence that some technologies bring out the worst in human tendencies toward obsessive-compulsive disorder. This guy stood there while I parked up and took pictures, oblivious to everything but his texting. Jeez, dude, just call her. It’s so easy. The same device that allows you to communicate poorly with a text message can be used for effective voice-to-voice contact!
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2623.jpg
Here’s the 1100’s front end. Not as sexy as the radial brakes and corrugated rotors on the bigger bike, but absolutely just as effective.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/IMG_2626.jpg
SCORECARD
Riding position: The new Griso’s shorter bar and different seat make it the winner. As pleasant as a VFR.
Engine: The old Griso is fine ridden in isolation, but the new Griso rocks. What a wonderful engine.
Brakes: The old Griso doesn’t have the higher-end spec that the new Griso does…but it’s just as good. Remember, the old Griso’s brakes are the same that were awesome top-of-the-line binders for cutting edge sportbikes in 2002. A tie.
Handling: Both good; the new Griso wins with its nicer ergonomics.
Charisma: Pick ‘em. Only a dyed in the wood Guzzi fanatic could tell them apart.
Sound: From stock, the new bike all the way.
Cost: The old Griso is $5,000 less than the new one. The new one is a better bike, but the difference in value is not $5,000. You’d be miles ahead buying an 1100 Griso, an aftermarket muffler like the one below from Agostini in Italy, and upgrading to the new bike’s bar and seat. Presto, a bike with 95% of the capabilities of the 1200 for $3,500 less.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s177/raincitysmoothie/AgostiniCanclose-1.jpg