Guzzi Griso 850.

[gsp0702]

Well I had a test ride on a rare beasty today at TSS in Lower Hutt. Ollie very kindly chucked the keys of the recently arrived Griso 850 he'd taken in part ex.

So i borrowed it for half an a hour for a quick blast out of lower hutt along the river via Taita and Stokes Valley and then back up SH2 to TSS. Not the longest of rides, but enough for a taster and was my first ride on any Guzzi, previous best being perched on a Griso 1100 with the motor running.

Visually looks the same as the 1100, Does from memory feel lighter than its bigger brother and sounds pretty much the same. The OEM muffler is way to effective. One definite difference is that blip the throttle on the 1100 and it sort of rocks from side to side i guess the mass of those big pistons coming into play, the 850 doesnt. Rearview mirrors are crap but then the Tigers are pretty good compared to most bikes.


Anyway on the move the 850 is light pretty nimble, nice easy throttle response for town riding, Second and Third gear roll ons are good and it makes a nice noise when on the throttle, bit bland when cruising at steady low revs (that muffler again), Over taking was a breeze and she handled really well, was good fun on the back roads, despite no wind protection was good on the motorway, sits happily at 100Km/h with the airflow onto your chest not a problem, no buffeting of the head which was good.

Also a thumbs up for the Brakes and Gearbox, which was positive and no false neutrals.

Now Ollie reckons the 850 is lighter than the 1100, obviously less torque but makes up for it being lighter slightly quicker of the line, wouldnt want to comment myself without a direct comparison.


Did I like it? A resounding yes, so I would definetly like a Guzzi. This ones probably a bit outside my price range unfortunately.

One question, I cant see anyone advertising the 850 version and so no idea what the new price would be to see how well priced TSS have it.

I will now try and stop smiling.


Oh and no Tractor jokes I read the Guzzi threads whenever they turn up and I think I've seen em all.

[Devil]

Ah didn't know there was an 850 griso out.
I've ridden the 1100 and fell in love with it. Just not it's price tag

[gsp0702]

The 850'sbeen available for 6monthes or more, they are 18,990 Aussie dollars and looks like a 3-4k uplift in proce to NZ, so guessing at about 22K NZ ish, so for 900km's bike TSS asking price is probably reasonable.

Apparently my guess was a couple of K of, just shy of 20K.

[Hillbilly]

What about the Breva 750? The price is a bit more reasonable. They're soooo beautiful in red. Here's a link to the Breva in Oz: http://www.motoguzzi.com.au/breva7b.html

[Stampy]

I saw it sitting outside TSS when I dropped my wheel off for a new tyre.

[nudemetalz]

I've heard that the 850 is quite a lot revvier than the 1100.

[gsp0702]

Thats the rub no direc comparison as i havent ridden the 1100 in any guise (Griso, Breva or V11 sport), but reading a few reviews they have shortened the stroke of the 1100 to downsize this to 850cc (rather than boring out the 750) so similar the comparison is meant to be like the BMW R850R vs R1100R. Anyway pumps out 12bhp less than its big brother and 20nM of torque less, weights basically the same apparently (must be slighly less as no oil cooler).

I am sorely tempted, but I would like to try a 1100 just to be sure.

But will probably go and take another look at it this week. And have a chat.