Here I was on Saturday morning in at Scooterazzi talking to Jono and Mark about getting my drive shaft sorted on my V11 Sport (in this case just greased). There were customers coming in and out so rather than hold the guys up I wandered around and looked at all of the new Moto Guzzis there. I sat on all of them and admired but the Griso 8V kept getting more attention than all of them. I sat on that the most. While the guys were free I talked about it and what they thought of the beautiful black beast.
Then they said “this is the demonstrator, want to take it for a ride?” Well who could refuse that!! Then a little idea entered my head…….
I asked them if I could take it on the HOG 3rd Annual Toy Run that was happening tomorrow and spend a little time on it getting to know how the Griso feels. After all of that, do a review in KB. Thinking it was a long shot, I was very pleasantly surprised when they said no worries. Looking at my V11 Sport and thinking I didn’t want it in the garage when the event was happening, I gave my keys to Jono who agreed to take it out also on the Toy Run.
In this review, I’m not going to go into all of the technical specs of the Griso 8V, more what it was like to ride, and opinions of potential ownership.
Well,…first impressions of the Griso 8V…….
Riding position is very relaxed, wide high bars almost like a big trailie with pegs a lot further forward and lower than the V11.
Key in, tacho needle sweeps around to only 6.5K rpm telling you this is all you’re allowed to rev it to for now and then a jab of the starter.
Noted that you don’t have to pull the clutch in like my V11.
Tried it in gear with clutch out but won’t start which is all good.
Engine note is quiet with a nice whine coming from inside the motor (alternator perhaps?) but still has the classic Guzzi rumble to let you know it’s alive.
Put it into first gear, gearbox smooth with just a wee clunk also telling you she has a big shaft drive back there. A few revs (yup, a little of the swing-to-the-right torque reaction but not as much as the V11), indicate and a HUGE BLAAAAAAAAAHPPPP from the horn !!!!!
WHAAAATTTT ???
Yup, why did they put the bloody horn button up where the indicators should be and the indicators down really low? Is this the new trend for bikes and I’m behind the times??
Anyway, second go at this, indicated successfully and off we go.
Like I said earlier, great riding position for around town, lots of leverage on the bars and the brakes are absolutely superb, these being radially mounted Brembos.
Engine – this motor had around 500kms on it so I wasn’t going to redline it of course. First thing I note is that it doesn’t quite have the pull in the low and mid-range like my 2-valve V11 has. Whether this is due to the motor still being a little tight or not, hard to know, but despite this it’s still impressive. Very torquey.
HOWEVER,…..once you give it a little berries, at around 6000rpm, she really comes alive and takes off like no 2-valve Guzzi does !!
Sure it’s no GSX-R1000 but it doesn’t pretend to be either.
Big strong induction noise plus pretty decent engine braking like normal.
On the open road at 100km/h and 3500rpm-ish where the V11 Sport has a really nasty buzz and renders the mirrors useless, the Griso is completely smooth.
Top marks, Moto Guzzi, on this.
Basically the whole motor is a lot smoother than the V11 Sport so this must have been something they worked on.
Handling – well since this $26,500 Guzzi was not mine, I wasn’t going to push the limits of it’s handling but I did get an impression.
The wheelbase is about 80mm longer than the V11 Sport’s but with the same fork angle.
You feel like the bike is longer when you’re riding it, however this makes for a very stable feel especially when tipping into the corners. The suspension is excellent, soaking up the bumps and keeping it tracking straight and true.
If I was going around the ‘Takas, I would probably prefer the V11 Sport for the fact that it lighter and shorter making for a slightly more nimble feel.
Given time to get used to the Griso 8V though, who knows!!!
The only really complaint if I really had to think about it to the Griso’s handling is that it would benefit from a steering damper. I say this because on more than one occasion the forks gave a headshake when changing gears under acceleration due to the front end being very light!!
Plus it feels a little top-heavy when crawling along at slow speeds.
Ergonomics – well I talked about the bars and riding position earlier. Well suited to around town and surprisingly good on the motorway at 100km/h, the small instrument binnacle acting as a little mini-fairing. I probably wouldn’t want to be cruising at 140km/h all day but then that’s illegal anyway isn’t it!!
The feeling is of sitting on top of the bike rather than into it like the V11 Sport. Just different, not better or worse.
The seat is very comfortable, not too wide but supports your butt just right but the true revelation is the pillion comfort. Well, the V11 is absolute crap in that department to the point where Mrs Nudey refuses to go on the back of it. She loved the back of the Griso though with the nicely padded seat and lower pegs.
The levers and controls fall into place nicely, apart from maybe the aforementioned horn/indicator positioning but I got used to that anyway.
The digital speedo and analogue revcounter and nice and easy to read, plus for all of the techno-geeks you can play around with 2 trip meter combos which also display average speed, highest speed, battery charge, litres per 100km, lap scorers would you believe, temperature and a clock.
Styling – what can I say, she’s a gorgeous machine. Long, lean and mean is how I would describe it. The cross-over headers ending up in the 2 barrelled silencer are awesome.
Lots of chrome and alloy go nicely with the deep black paint work.
Italian style at it’s best.
So all in all, Moto Guzzi has continued their classic theme with the air-cooled v-twin but with 21st century touches. The Griso 8V is very refined, maybe too much, who knows?
I very much enjoyed my two days with the Griso and I thank Jono and Mark from Scooterazzi in Ghuznee Street, Wellington for lending me this beautiful exotic machine.
Now is the time to buy Guzzis as there are some very sharp deals going on.
Would I buy one? Well, I love my V11 Sport to bits but at times it can be a really pain in the butt (literally!!), so…thinking…….plus Mrs Nudey loved (loves) it !!
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Blast From The Past Axis of Oil
Originally Posted by SDU
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