Leaderboard

We better watch out... Guzzi will be a mainstream brand

Leaving tomorrow morning for Assen, looking forward. Cheers Tom.

When you call my Griso orange I see red...

Hmmmm. IDK ? I am sure if it were pushed up into the wrong "place" it would cause discomfort / reproductive harm before cancer.

It sounds like the first one had 2 engines...something happened to the original engine, and then the replacement 1200S was also rebuilt...very odd. Sounds like buying a Frankenstein. Now the 1200 S (Breva Sport) was a very nice bike...think of it as a Naked Norge...but it was tuned differently than the Norge if I recall correctly, had some nice aesthetics as well (white gauges...unfortunately would leak or fog up)...but came in Red and Black...a stunning looking bike indeed...very fun to ride. I was in possession of one for a couple of weeks years ago having bought it for some folks who were visiting and then took possession. As an owner of a Red/Black 2015 Griso I can attest that it's a fabulous bike and honestly it's a work of art, and unique. The second option above being all stock I would (if the temptation exists) err on buying the newer unmolested one, then an older Frankenstein...no matter how well it was put together. Now...bear in mind...the Griso is not a bike that one immediately bonds with...it does take some time and configurations/modifications are needed to get it setup for your ergonomics. With a longer wheelbase, the suspension is also in need of attention (proper sag and rebound, possibly replace the soft stock spring), and likely bar risers or modified bars, lowered foot pegs and a good seat as the stock one is beautiful but uncomfortable. Once all of that is done, it's an all day touring beast...amazing power, 40 mpg regularly, and just never runs out of power up to triple digits. A good fairing or screen is needed, and these are rare so most folks put a Dart Marlin on...I was lucky to get a Givi A770 from Kindoy (same as Pete has on his red one) and it transforms the bike aerodynamically to absolutely perfectly smooth air at any speed. Grisos are wonderful beasts...and live up to their namesake!

So it begins. Let me say first, I'm not riding a Moto-Guzzi. A nice '04 BMW R1150GSA Adventure got thrown at me instead of a V85TT, thanks a lot guys. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, 28 June from El Paso. Should be an easy ride through Albuquerque to Chama. I intended to ride the Toltec Steam excursion but looks like weather doesn't want me to hang around there Sunday. I may post some pictures here, but mostly just put them in a Google Album with this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/RLJDCUNS6Pwux8gj7 We'll spend plenty of time out of cell service, and I'm not carrying anything with a keyboard. Oh, already had someone ask why I don't post a thread in the ADV forum. Well, because there are only 2 people I know on that forum, one is in this forum and the other is the old friend meeting me in Bozeman. Or Billings, or Sturgis, if I don't dawdle too much on the way up. Besides, the ADV forum is full of menies.

Got this delivered today and noticed the warning! Looked up the website but all the usual nonsense. Am I missing something here?

Well played. Funny story about red vs orange. Among friends we have the term "Scooter orange". Scooter is a friend, and he would paint his racebike what he called orange. It was red, but he insisted it was orange. So we would call reds like that "Scooter orange". His red / orange was something of a tomato red, funnier because he hated tomatoes. But there will always be a grey area between red and orange. Often times it can come down to the light at the time. But I do like your orange Griso.....

Bikes are fairly cheap to paint. I would buy the mechanically better option. If you need it to be a particular color that is easy enough to do. You could not pay me to have that red 2V Griso, especially given the weird back-story of it. It is a hodge-podge of parts off different Griso's it seems, down to the wheels. But then I like the orange and black 2013 you also pictured. I like that color scheme.

Finally managed to get around to removing the front mudguard to be clear coated. The original coat on the CF must be extremely thin. Side covers have already been completed. I did find that one side of the brake pads must be getting hotter due to pads dragging maybe? The pistons were all cleaned about 5000kms ago so not sure of the cause yet. Saturday is fuel tank replacement. Have a NOS tank sitting in the shed and its about time it was swapped out. While I have the bike in bits I may as well check the head bearings.

Actually you can use the rocker covers from any ‘Square Head’ 2-Valve model from 1983 to the end of 2-Valve production. The head castings are essentially identical for all of them so the mating surface joint is the same for head and rocker cover on all of them. From the MkIII LeMans and T5 all the way through to the very last Cali Vintages. All the same!

Now l have to do some organizing in my shelfs with the enormous amount of parts. Many new, Titanium ex, carbon fender, side covers, complete fuelpump asembly ++++. 10013km, all original. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

I contacted them, because I could not believe the price. But it was a typo. It is 8,800

The one above certainly looks clean but the pipe without a dB killer is a problem. I suppose if you think making a ‘Look at me’ racket rather than actually having the engine perform well is your thing then fine but the 8V does not respond well to an open, (Or short!) pipe. It will gut the bottom end and midrange. The other thing I see that rings alarm bells is the crash-bars. Grisos actually tend to crash well but those bars, in fact any of the bars I’ve seen, are liable to direct force to the engine case/timing chest cover area and of they get damaged it’s essentially bye-bye engine. I personally would prefer to take the hit on a rocker cover and the oil cooler cover. If there is any more substantial damage it’s going to get written off anyway.

Another Guzzi Club meeting this evening My silver V11 & a V7 next to a Harley Amazing sky this evening

Vodo boxes I think. Had a BMW K1200S, one of the first models, IT was terrible, MUCH worse than the usual 3k trouble on a V11. Entering a round about, clutch in was needed. Spoke to a technician at a BMW dealer, who had a test bench. He said yes we can put her on the bench, do some magic, BUT it will not last, WHAT ? Sold the bloody thing. K1300S was much better. Cheers Tom.

Bon voyage! jealous. maybe keep an eye on fire activity as you head north, as there are a couple of them catching on up north, which could create some crappy air quality, but so far not too bad.

Of course I'm a cheap Guzzi Guy (tm) but for that kind of money, I'd learn to love the sound of the stock exhaust until Guzzidiag cracks the code. (shrug)

@GuzziMoto I learn the hard way that heavily modified motorcycles are difficult to sell. Documenting the changes as they are implemented helps, but generally speaking, you usually look for a stock motorcycle, possibly make your own changes. Normally, potential buyers are wary of bikes modified to improve performances, or like in this case, the engine had a complete overhaul. While the overhaul may have been part of reliability centered maintenance, it is still not inspiring confidence. Pity, as I really liked that red color without any black appointments. Besides, $4,300 is reasonable. The actual bike looks good and I would have been fine with only two valves per cylinder. That being said, I do recognize that having a 1200 8V would be nice. The Griso definitively fits well in the desired purchase, but I can't help but like better the all red one.

Yeah, the modern 2V heads can all use the same valve covers. I swapped the valve covers on my 2V Griso for an aftermarket set made for V11 Sports and the like. It never occurred to me to swap a set of Griso valve covers on to a V11 Sport, I never really liked the look of the valve covers on the 2V Griso. But to each their own I reckon.... @p6x, Yeah, what you are posting as what they said doesn't make sense. There may be something lost in translation. A 2013 Griso could only have an 8V motor from the factory. In fact, there was never a point when you could get a Griso from Moto Guzzi with a choice of 2V motor or 8V motor. They made the 2V Griso for the first couple years of production and then switched to the 8V Griso. The standard solid red Griso pictured above clearly has a 2V motor in it. Is it a motor from a 1200 Sport? I don't know, could be. But it is clearly not a motor from a 2013 Griso, that would have been an 8V motor, the valve covers would look like the orange and black Griso also pictured above. As Pete said, you could swap a 2V motor into a Griso that originally came with an 8V motor, or vice versa. But it would require a fair amount of work with lots of other little bits also needing to be swapped out as part of the swap. Often with swaps like that it is the details that get you. I am a big fan of the Griso, on my 2V Griso all I needed was a different set of handlebars as the stock bars had a weird bend to them. Once that was resolved I found the bike super comfortable and remarkably fast. For me it is a couch of a bike that handles great and goes fast. A true GT bike. It almost seems wrong for a couch to go that fast. I would happily buy a newer 8V Griso, as long as it is a roller motor. And 2013 and newer are roller motors, but it is easy enough to confirm. The 8V motor has more power, and that is a good thing. The 2V motor is no slouch, but the chassis can clearly handle more.

"Hand me your hammer" is what she's saying. Phil

This is true.

I agree it was the best rationale. I was interested to understand what was the root cause of the problem.

I found the root cause of my problem; The shield between the planetary and the armature was making contact with the armature and arcing. At this point, I think I am going to play it safe, and purchase a new starter motor. I am not certain I understand how could the armature could come in contact with the shield. I will continue investigating as I did not manage to remove the brush assy. holder at the back of the motor housing. With the shield removed, you can clearly see it seats on the top of the magnets. I am guessing the armature moved forward. By the way, the magnets were glued and not clipped. Now I have a decision to make: should I replace it with a Valeo, or with a no brand equivalent.... The no brand is a drop in replacement, correct?

Both the older 2-VPC models, both 850 and 1100, were made in the flat red. There were also a couple of runs of 1200-8V models with the flat red. The Griso was never produced with the 1200-2VPC motor, not in any colour. Apart from the swap to a roller top end in the middle of 2012 all the 1200-8V Grisos are essentially identical apart from the 2015 on models using the Cali 1400 sump. Both Bill Hagan and I had flat red Griso 1200’s. Here’s one of a much younger me and my Griso Pinko in LA!

Rumor has it Aprilia signed Marco Bezzecchi for next year to replace Mav. Should be good. Looking forward to Assen this coming weekend.

Last nights Guzzi club meet. Other makes welcome There are actually several other Guzzi’s in the line, but my photographic skills aren’t great

That route Looks like I’ll be jealous… nice. not to get too route-geeky, but if you really have the time and want to grab some more tasty, I’d suggest adding a day on the west end of Lolo pass, with a side trip shooting south from about Kooskia to the snake river canyon, cross over at Oxbow, then ride up North Pine Road to Joseph (usually deserted and some excellent riding). Joseph has a neat place to stay, and is a nice area, or press on to Walla walla. The route to walla walla from Joseph can go a couple of ways, both nice, one the longer option heading north up the west side of the snake river with very different views then what you had on the east side, and then FS dirt roads on a great, remote but easy (if u have a good map/gps on the bike) dirt road route over to walla walla. Or just take the tarmac to walla walla, which is also quite nice. Walla walla is a great little town to get a room, a great dinner, and of course some excellent wine. But that all adds a day. If you’re interested, that route is not complicated but would merit sending a .gpx route as it involves a number of very small roads, and i can shoot you something if u like.