Moto Guzzi Griso 1200 8v

MOTO GUZZI GRISO 1200 8V

This train runs on time...and then some

JOHN BURNS

IT REALLY IS ALL RELATIVE, ISN’T IT? IF YOU want to compare this new, horsepower-fortified Guzzi to a ZX-14 or whatnot, you’re going to be disappointed. If you want to compare it to the last cool Guzzi that was supposed to rejuvenate the company-like the V11 Sport of a decade ago-then you’d have to call the Griso 8V a rousing success and a major accomplishment.

Well, it’s actually not a new motorcycle at all. The Griso 1100 has been out for half a decade

now. But the all-new eight-valve engine in this version boosts power in a big way, especially beyond 5000 rpm. Four-valve heads allow a compression-ratio bump to 11.1 : l, and they let this Guzzi surprise Ducati Hypermotards when the light turns green during the usually boring evening commute. I know it surprised me the first time I screwed the 8V all the way open ’til the red shift light blinked. I think the word I shouted into my helmet was Hoobastank!

CYCLE WORLD TEST

Compared to the last Guzzi I remember riding, the V11, the Griso is light years ahead. Your paws are no longer vibration-numbed after 10 minutes at cruising speed (though you can still feel a little at about 4500 rpm and 80 mph). With your toes, you’re able to feel that the six-speed box has joined the 21 st century, with light, positive, short throws that engage the next gear pretty much every time. And you no longer need two handfuls of throttle to get to wide-open. About a fifth of a twist is all you need, and when you get there the reward is well worth it-this one runs like no Moto Guzzi

you’ve ridden unless you’re one of the lucky few to have ridden the old eight-valve Daytona. And the Griso probably outruns it, too.

At the same time, the Griso’s a great urban assault vehicle.

A black handlebar politely hands you the grips, the footpegs are in a good place, though taller persons might think there’s not much legroom. Non-adjustable levers may now be thankfully a thing of the past, so it’s easy to get the clutch and front brake levers where you like them (the shifter and rear brake are eccentric-adjustable also). The seat is good, soft yet supportive, and my favorite passenger says the rear portion reminds her of a “comfortable toilet,” which could be a veiled slap but I don’t think so; women are bathroom-centric, no?

She did complain that the missing vibration from the handlebar seems to have moved crosstown into the passenger pegs.

Whether or not you'll like the Guzzi experience is partially age-dependent. If you don’t remember three-channel TV or corded phones, you’re maybe not going to get the Griso. But if you spent any time rolling around in big V-Eight-powered American cars circa 1968, nothing else two-wheeled takes you back there like this Guzzi, which feels pretty much like a slice of seriously breathed-upon big-block Chevy with a couple of extra gears. And something whirring in there makes a noise like somebody replaced the cam chains with a gear drive, too.

The bike itself doesn’t feel particularly heavy, but the Griso’s longitudinal crank does give it that primocentric feel of everything having been designed around it pre-Copernicus style-we’re all here to serve this pair of pistons, not the other way around. If you’re prone to toppling to your left at red lights, this is your bike: A blip of the throttle results in a quick 1 -2 combination that stands you right back up. And once rolling, the Guzzi has that full-speed-ahead battleship feel common to lots of bikes with longitudinal cranks-your BMW Rs, your Honda STs. Unlike those bikes-though it may be fuel-injected and equipped with CAN electrics and all the rest of that-the Guzzi somehow remains an analog machine in a digital world. To me, that’s a good thing.

It could be the pushrods. They’re not long ones, but any pushrods at all add just enough uncertainty to build interest and character, and enough light tapping to remind us we’re not just spinning here, we’re reciprocating, dammit. If you’re one of those people who takes your bike in to have the oil changed, the Guzzi might not be for you. Personally, I love to adjust valves, especially ones that are super easy to get at and don’t even need shims; these are screw-and-locknut. I popped the right valve cover off one evening on my front walkway whilst

sipping a nice cheap red just to see what was in there (one longitudinal chain-driven cam per cylinder, activating a pair of rocker arms through short pushrods). And if I don’t miss my guess, I bet when you change the oil, adjust the valves and synch the carbs (okay, throttle bodies) on a Saturday morning, you’ll feel like a new man afterward-a retro, beercommercial feeling you really can’t replicate by picking your bike up at the dealer.

While I was rooting around in the Guzzi, I took off the seat to look for the documents I’d need for the inevitable traffic stop, and found a restrictive-looking rubber schnorkel leading into the airbox. Oops! It fell off! Immediately, the Guzzi’s intake went from whistly/whirry inaudibility to throaty/rumbly. Of course I put it right back on so as to be in compliance with whatever needs complying with. But while it was out, the Griso seemed to run a tad lean/surge-y at lower rpm and stronger everywhere else. With the snorkel in place, the fueling’s nicely linear and smooth all the time.

Did I say the Griso doesn’t feel heavy? It really doesn’t. M But it is. The CW scales read 528 pounds dry. Seems like a g lot, but then the mission statement does not so much involve ripping up racetracks, slithering into apexes with both tires I smoldering or being first to the top of the mountain, so a few extra pounds really only add road-hugging weight. And if you need to take yourself and the person you love 30 miles up the freeway on a pleasant evening for dinner and the big CW International Motorcycle Show, the Griso’s all over it. Slip it into top cog and, like I said, 4500 rpm gets you a nice 80-mph cruise.

But 5000 rpm is even better because then you’re poised at the bottom edge of the thing’s newfound top-end power cache, and you become your own high-speed rail line, booming along with just the right amount of V-Twin bass response atop an eminently stable platform with suspension that does a nice job rounding off the sharp edges (though one of those cool hydraulic preload adjusters on the Sachs shock would be nice on a bike this expensive). It’s all so comfy and smooth and stable that you feel like adjourning to the observation platform for brandy and cigars. And right about that pleasant time is when the flashing lights usually appear in the mirrors to ruin the moment and remind you you’re in the Land of the Free.

Riders with big torsos or flappy jackets or both will complain about the lack of wind protection at higher speeds; as for me, in a snug jacket, full-face helmet, silk ascot and cheap foam earplugs, the wind presents no problem up to well beyond legally permissible velocity, since the Guzzi’s bar has my 5-foot-8 self leaned slightly forward. If you want to sample the Griso’s measured 141-mph top end, you’ll be needing some sort of flyscreen to complement

your Rollie Free swim trunks. In fact, there is a nice 4mm plexiglass screen in the accessories section at motoguzzius.com. And the handlebar the Griso comes with is one of those fat-in-the-middle jobs, which means all sorts of cool ProTapers and things should bolt right up for a custom fit.

Sure, you can flog the Griso like a sportbike, and a good rider could no doubt ride it around the outside of an average rider on the latest thing, but it’s when you start diving at apexes and getting all jiggy, of course, that the Griso’s weight and wheelbase rear their big, balding heads. The wide dirt-bikey handlebar does wonders for rider control on tight backroads, but all the sophisticated adjustable suspension and thick fork tubes are about as effective in the end as attempting to cover the big caboose with the old sweatshirttied-around-the-waist trick. The truth will out. The thing does have awesome brakes, but diving deep into corners is just not the Griso’s thing, you axe me, because aggressive deceleration begets aggressive acceleration in a vicious, self-feeding circle that could find you in a ditch.

It feels strange to be able to upshift a Moto Guzzi without the clutch, and you can actually do that on this bike. But when you do, the Griso’s big, spinning flywheel actually shoots the bike forward as the next gear engages and gives the handlebar a big flap in the lower gears. Whoa! Where’d that come from? Shifts are accomplished best and smoothest with a nice, light two-finger partial pull on the hydraulic clutch lever.

Then there’s the 62.1-inch wheelbase. The new Ducati Monster 1100 is 57.1 inches between contact patches. My calculator tells me that’s 5 inches difference, and it tells you all you need to know in comparing how these two compare. As you are no doubt aware, a longer bike has to lean farther to negotiate any given corner; throw in the 528-pound weight of the Griso, and well. ..it prefers about a 90-percent backroad pace. Scuff your pucks on something more squidly and less expensive, will you? The Guzzi is a naked sporttourer, really, slower to respond, super-stable and much nicer for carrying a passenger. Even with all its newfound power, the Guzzi is still the old bull who prefers to walk down the hill and engage all the cows. (It also has storage for a couple sandwiches under the saddle and nice little underseat bobbins for securing a tailpack. I am bummed that my magnetic tank bag will not stick to its plastic gas tank.)

So. Into which box does the Griso 8 V fit? Guzzi’s PR people claim it breaks down all sorts of barriers, and I’m with them: streetfighter, standard, sportbike, techno something or other. I’d say it’s a dang fine allround motorcycle, a highly rideable machine particularly around town and out into the countryside on warm summer days. And though it has its limitations as a pure sportbike, you could certainly look at it from an entirely different, Transatlantic perspective and point out with deadly accuracy that the Griso will beat the fringed chaps off any feet-forward cruiser-style V-Twin on the market in any performance contest, and to my eyes, out-style most of them in the process. In the final analysis, that leaves this new Griso 8V in the same middle ground Moto Guzzi has always occupied-somewhere between sport and cruiser, an excellent answer to a seldom-pondered question.

Say, these chi-chi Italian loafers are actually quite sensible and even comfortable. The older you get, the more you can appreciate that.

SPECIFICATIONS