Is the Griso 8V the ultimate Guzzi big block ?

[Chris Wilson]

I agree that liquid cooling is superior but the configuration bothers me.

Logically having to sit astride a heat exchange engine and then having its main cooling system in front of that is akin to having a front engine car with the driver sitting in the engine bay.

Great on a cool day, murder on a hot one.

Far better to place the radiator behind the rider.

For me liquid cooling reduces differential expansion by allowing the heat to more evenly distribute.

Less differential expansion allows closer tolerances and everything flows from there.

Interesting topic, thanks.

[Lucky Phil]

53 minutes ago, Chris Wilson said:

I agree that liquid cooling is superior but the configuration bothers me.

Logically having to sit astride a heat exchange engine and then having its main cooling system in front of that is akin to having a front engine car with the driver sitting in the engine bay.

Great on a cool day, murder on a hot one.

Far better to place the radiator behind the rider.

For me liquid cooling reduces differential expansion by allowing the heat to more evenly distribute.

Less differential expansion allows closer tolerances and everything flows from there.

Interesting topic, thanks.

Well a motorcycle is a packaging problem but at the end of the day I think the designers and engineers do an absolutely amazing job in that regard these days. Look at latest hyper sports bikes technical data, incredible engineering and packaging. BTW my latest bike is a Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor. Air cooled 270 deg crank, OHC 4 valve, fuel injected, balance shaft, efi and anti lock brake equipped bike for under $10,000aud on the road.

Should do me while all the "Must have the latest" crowd do the R&D on the new Guzzi over the next 2 years before I slide in like a shithouse rat and buy the refined and sorted version.

Ciao

Old V2 Panagale. A packaging masterpiece.

Interceptor 650, classic packaging.

[Chris Wilson]

Yeah I believe that heat emminating from. V2 Panagali is best described as 'insane.'

And not so much for the Enfield, any Enfield since the square 4 'Squaffer.' (Dad had one of those in 1963 with side car and it's incredible package roasted the rear cylinders.)

 

[FreyZI]

Returning from thread drift>>>

I posed a question about Grisos in another thread that garnered no attention.  Will try again here.

I seem to remember when Griso leftovers were around.  My search on cycletrader.com today had just 2 Grisos listed -- an '07 and a '17 (the prior with reasonable miles and great condition for under $4K).  Are these ending up in the hands of people who appreciate them?

Anyway, question is this:  would you buy an '07?  On paper, seems like the 8V is the way to go.

[Scud]

Personally, I'd opt for a later 4-V per cylinder model. Same motor as my 2017 Stelvio, and it is a fabulous motor. Prices on the newer ones are still reasonable - especially when you factor in 10 years difference in age. From what I can tell, Guzzis at the end of a production run are generally better in many small respects than the early ones. And all those small things add up to make an overall much better motorcycle and ownership experience. 

If you're serious, you might take a gander at WildGuzzi.com as well.

[docc]

16 minutes ago, Scud said:

Personally, I'd opt for a later 4-V per cylinder model. Same motor as my 2017 Stelvio, and it is a fabulous motor. Prices on the newer ones are still reasonable - especially when you factor in 10 years difference in age. From what I can tell, Guzzis at the end of a production run are generally better in many small respects than the early ones. And all those small things add up to make an overall much better motorcycle and ownership experience. 

If you're serious, you might take a gander at WildGuzzi.com as well.

Or go straight to the Griso Ghetto . . .

https://www.grisoghetto.com/

[nobleswood]

Grisoghetto.     Those guys are hoarders over there, some of them have 2 Grisos justifying it as ‘one for around town & one for out of town’. You’ll only get one of them to part with a Griso at the funeral !

Just saying.    😆

[Scud]

10 minutes ago, nobleswood said:

Grisoghetto.     Those guys are hoarders over there, some of them have 2 Grisos justifying it as ‘one for around town & one for out of town’. You’ll only get one of them to part with a Griso at the funeral !

Just saying.    😆

How is that different than here?

[PJPR01]

The Griso is a beast...and a lovely one at that.  I think of it as a modern day Centauro.  I'd concur on getting one of the newer ones just to enjoy a bit of the newer tech...but honestly both versions (4V and 8V) are enjoyable.  There have been a few of them up for sale recently on the Ghetto as well, but you have to jump and be ready to commit, as they definitely don't come up that often.  I certainly hope they become a collector's item (even if not financially).

It does feel good to have a 2002 V11, a 2008 Norge and a 2015 Griso, now if I could get my hands on a Green 2023 V100...that would complete the fleet and would last me forever!

[GuzziMoto]

19 hours ago, FreyZI said:

Returning from thread drift>>>

I posed a question about Grisos in another thread that garnered no attention.  Will try again here.

I seem to remember when Griso leftovers were around.  My search on cycletrader.com today had just 2 Grisos listed -- an '07 and a '17 (the prior with reasonable miles and great condition for under $4K).  Are these ending up in the hands of people who appreciate them?

Anyway, question is this:  would you buy an '07?  On paper, seems like the 8V is the way to go.

I have an '07 Griso 1100. It has basically an evolution of the V11 motor. It is stone axe simple and stone axe reliable.

The newer Griso 1200 is more powerful. But it does have one potential reliability flaw. Up to around 2012 they had issues with tappet failure. The solution, it seems, was to replace the simple flat tappet set up with a roller tappet setup. It seems flat tappets stopped working.....

As long as it is a later year Griso 1200, or it is an earlier year Griso 1200 that has been converted to roller tappets you should be fine. Or you can just go with a Griso 1100 (which seems to be fine with flat tappets). I personally don't mind the lower power of the 1100, but I would not turn down the extra power of the 1200 as long as it was a roller tappet example. More power is generally a good thing to me. I at first wished I had waited and got a 1200 Griso. And then they started failing. Now I don't feel as bad about getting the 1100. But I am really disappointed in the whole flat tappet fiasco. It was an engineering CF that should not have happened. 

[80CX100]

I picked up a well farkled 2007 Griso with around 40K? kms for a decent price.

I like the idea of all my guzzis being the same familiar, reliable 2V design. fwiw jmo

I love the look of the Griso 4V in the Tenni green and the later red SE, but I really don't need the extra power or the headaches of worrying about the flat tappets possibly being an issue.

If you consider a 4V bike, make sure it's rollerized; I know personally of one dealer who fudged the registration date for a couple of leftover Grisos; at some point someone will be getting a nasty surprise.

The roller kits are becoming scarcer as time goes on and depending on the bike there are apparently 3? different kits to remedy the problem.

The Griso Ghetto is a wealth of knowledge, worthy for any prospective owner.

fwiw

[p6x]

16 hours ago, PJPR01 said:

It does feel good to have a 2002 V11, a 2008 Norge and a 2015 Griso, now if I could get my hands on a Green 2023 V100...that would complete the fleet and would last me forever!

I don't want to be the naysayer, but I would not keep my hopes too high on getting anything tagged V100 anytime soon; and I say this hoping I am completely wrong.

The complete lack of information about such a novelty which has managed to inspire so many Guzzisti, or aspiring ones does not bode well with our expectations, or should I say: impatience?

I am starting to look at my future in a different way than previously. Before, I could not care when, I knew I could wait. Nowadays, I am taking one day at a time.

As I said in a different thread, I am going to make the most of my V11, because it is the present and the legitimate cue to my next ride.

[footgoose]

21 hours ago, FreyZI said:

would you buy an '07? 

No. But that's just me. I'll piggyback on what Scud says as to why and add.. I want the wire spoke wheels.. They look the part. To avoid the tappet issue I would only look at 2014 and up, and only bargain prices.

[footgoose]

14 minutes ago, p6x said:

I am starting to look at my future in a different way than previously. Before, I could not care when, I knew I could wait. Nowadays, I am taking one day at a time.

aren't we all, mate.

[pete roper]

On 2/28/2022 at 9:03 AM, FreyZI said:

Returning from thread drift>>>

I posed a question about Grisos in another thread that garnered no attention.  Will try again here.

I seem to remember when Griso leftovers were around.  My search on cycletrader.com today had just 2 Grisos listed -- an '07 and a '17 (the prior with reasonable miles and great condition for under $4K).  Are these ending up in the hands of people who appreciate them?

Anyway, question is this:  would you buy an '07?  On paper, seems like the 8V is the way to go.

The change over point from flat to roller tappets was early to mid 2012 but any plated 13 bike should be a safe bet WRT the tappet issue.

The other big bugbear that CARC bikes suffer from is lack of grease in the swingarm and shock linkage bearings and this is exacerbated by the rather odd and poor swingarm bearing design.

ANY CARC bike, unless it has previously been documented as done, should have its swingarm pulled and it's linkage bearings and swingarm bearings inspected as a matter of course and there is a very good chance on any bike,(Seeing that they are all at least five years old now.) that both the bearings and the linkages will need replacing.

Once done and the bearings thoroughly packed with marine grade grease they can be forgotten about for several years before needing further attention. If the linkage bearings are shot it is generally cheaper to simply buy a new linkage than buy the parts needed to refurbish the buggered one.

As for the flat tappet issue I have written a 'Definitive guide to rollerisation' which is published on Griso ghetto. We've performed well over 200 rollerisations now and make no mistake, all the flat tappet top ends will fail. Once rollerised further failures of other componentry is rare but not unknown so if seeking an 8V a post 2012 model is the best bet. It wouldn't put me off an earlier model, providing it wasn't high mileage, but fixing 'em up doesn't worry me as I could rollerise an 8V blindfold and with one hand tied behind my back!

For the record my first 8V trashed its first motor after rollerisation but it was by then high mileage, (80+ K km.) and had its powerplant replaced with one from a 2012 'Roller' wreck. My second one is a low mileage 2010 flattie rollerised by someone else who didn't really know what they were doing but it seems to work OK. Yeah, I'm the saddo mentioned above who has two 8V's, one is my 'Spare' in case something happens to my 2008.

Oh, and rollerisation kits are still readily available.