p6x Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 When it comes to Moto Guzzi, or other Italian brands actual or from the past, they seem to have liked giving names to their motorcycles. Some are extremely obvious and translatable in all languages, such as the Ducati "Mostro", that quickly evolved into its English moniker: "Monster". Our Japanese manufacturers were less inclined into that practice; well, if you remember the early days of Kawasaki two strokes, we had the Samurai, Avenger that evolved into S1, S2, S3, S4 and Mach III, H1A, H2 and so forth. The English were also inspired by strong names, such as Bonneville, Commando and the like. Of course, Suzuki and its Hayabusa, but before that, Bandit, Inazuma... Honda was a bit stern with the CB's and CX, but did venture into Hornets. Yamaha started with Yas and RDs, XT, FJ, but never really moved far away from these; not even with the VMAX, the Ténéré, or the Virago. So, the Griso.... if I am well-informed, the Griso was Moto Guzzi's attempt to take a ride on Ducati Monster's success. I am certain that some of you heard it before; the Griso, was an imaginary personage from a novel written by author Alessandro Manzoni. The story takes place in the 17th century, 1628/30 following the 30 years war; the final edition of the book was published in 1840/42. In English: The Betrothed. Il Griso, or in English, the Griso, was the Brave's chief; he was exploited at will for anything risky, unique. Just picture a hit man for a Capo Mafioso. The Griso was completely dedicated to his master, Don Rodrigo, having earned his complete trust. Described in English as: Griso, one of Don Rodrigo's henchmen, a silent and treacherous man. If you want to get an idea, a good example of the Griso would be "Tommy DeVito in the movie Goodfellas. In the movie, DeVito is not exclusively devoted to Jimmy Conway the way the Griso is to Don Rodrigo, but he does do whatever Jimmy Conway wants. Somebody in Guzzi must have read the book, and liked the Griso enough to name a motorcycle after him. I found the Italian original version on the Internet, I am going to read it. If anybody else is interested: I Promessi Sposi So, the Griso... a motorcycle named after a dodgy character, but Ducati did do the Diavel after all... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiomick Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 20 hours ago, p6x said: ... Suzuki and its Hayabusa, but before that, Bandit, Inazuma... How could you possibly neglect to include "Katana" in that list? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p6x Posted June 21 Author Share Posted June 21 2 hours ago, audiomick said: How could you possibly neglect to include "Katana" in that list? True... the name is familiar. I looked it up, and saw that Suzuki brought it back too... To be honest, I don't really like the front of the new Katana... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 My Honda GB500 clearly says "Tourist Trophy " on the side covers, but no one calls them that. Instead, invoking the alphanumeric "GB500" (which is not depicted on the motorcycle anywhere). I am not one adept at naming my own machines, but this one rather earned her own (from the Honda marketing slogan of those days . . . > RIDE RED < 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 There is the matter of naming our rides, even when the manufacturer is clueless . . . 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daviscr5 Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 On 6/19/2024 at 10:57 PM, p6x said: When it comes to Moto Guzzi, or other Italian brands actual or from the past, they seem to have liked giving names to their motorcycles. Some are extremely obvious and translatable in all languages, such as the Ducati "Mostro", that quickly evolved into its English moniker: "Monster". Our Japanese manufacturers were less inclined into that practice; well, if you remember the early days of Kawasaki two strokes, we had the Samurai, Avenger that evolved into S1, S2, S3, S4 and Mach III, H1A, H2 and so forth. The English were also inspired by strong names, such as Bonneville, Commando and the like. Of course, Suzuki and its Hayabusa, but before that, Bandit, Inazuma... Honda was a bit stern with the CB's and CX, but did venture into Hornets. Yamaha started with Yas and RDs, XT, FJ, but never really moved far away from these; not even with the VMAX, the Ténéré, or the Virago. So, the Griso.... if I am well-informed, the Griso was Moto Guzzi's attempt to take a ride on Ducati Monster's success. I am certain that some of you heard it before; the Griso, was an imaginary personage from a novel written by author Alessandro Manzoni. The story takes place in the 17th century, 1628/30 following the 30 years war; the final edition of the book was published in 1840/42. In English: The Betrothed. Il Griso, or in English, the Griso, was the Brave's chief; he was exploited at will for anything risky, unique. Just picture a hit man for a Capo Mafioso. The Griso was completely dedicated to his master, Don Rodrigo, having earned his complete trust. Described in English as: Griso, one of Don Rodrigo's henchmen, a silent and treacherous man. If you want to get an idea, a good example of the Griso would be "Tommy DeVito in the movie Goodfellas. In the movie, DeVito is not exclusively devoted to Jimmy Conway the way the Griso is to Don Rodrigo, but he does do whatever Jimmy Conway wants. Somebody in Guzzi must have read the book, and liked the Griso enough to name a motorcycle after him. I found the Italian original version on the Internet, I am going to read it. If anybody else is interested: I Promessi Sposi So, the Griso... a motorcycle named after a dodgy character, but Ducati did do the Diavel after all... Love this story! And love my GRiSO. I vaguely recall reading something about the origin of the griso name years ago, but not with this level of rich history. The Tommy DeVito parallel is perfect for characterizing the bike. Equal parts humor, violence, character and style. A very assertive machine. Thanks for sharing! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobleswood Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 I was having this conversation at ( a rare thing ) my local Guzzi dealer, because I was confused why MG would name a bike after a villain The book, ‘The Betrothed’ is by my reading chair, where to my shame I am halfway through it. It’s an interesting book but a heavy read & my attention driffted. So in the conversation we learned that, later in the book, Griso who has been sent off to do the bad guy’s dirty deeds turns on his master & saves the day. This is a book that I understand is part of the Italian school curriculum, so Griso is known as a hero in the culture. When I finish the book, I’ll add more details 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p6x Posted June 21 Author Share Posted June 21 10 hours ago, docc said: My Honda GB500 clearly says "Tourist Trophy " on the side covers, but no one calls them that. Instead, invoking the alphanumeric "GB500" (which is not depicted on the motorcycle anywhere). I am not one adept at naming my own machines, but this one rather earned her own (from the Honda marketing slogan of those days . . . > RIDE RED < If you allow me, I would classify the "Tourist Trophy" in the "Ténéré" names category. They sport sobriquets which are an identification with a known event. By the way, that GB500 is stun looking, and GB too..... Ha! I think the "Le Mans" fits that category too... afterall, the Le Mans is "only" a V11. I forgot to specify that Kawasaki has "Ninja" bikes among the H2R, Z1 and other GPZ. As for giving a name to my rides, I never felt the urge. That being said, I have named one of my guitars, engraved in the headstock in abalone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p6x Posted June 21 Author Share Posted June 21 1 hour ago, nobleswood said: I was having this conversation at ( a rare thing ) my local Guzzi dealer, because I was confused why MG would name a bike after a villain The book, ‘The Betrothed’ is by my reading chair, where to my shame I am halfway through it. It’s an interesting book but a heavy read & my attention driffted. So in the conversation we learned that, later in the book, Griso who has been sent off to do the bad guy’s dirty deeds turns on his master & saves the day. This is a book that I understand is part of the Italian school curriculum, so Griso is known as a hero in the culture. When I finish the book, I’ll add more details Authors in these days often used older ways of the language, making contemporary readers struggling to understand. I sometimes go back to my favorite authors, and I do have a hard time understanding old French too. Since kids no longer learn to write, no longer need to write, I can predict handwriting will become unreadable to the profane. I have the original of my birth certificate, written in perfect cursive letters. If I did not know what was written, I would not be able to decipher it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiomick Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 14 hours ago, p6x said: ... the new Katana... I don't even know what the new one looks like. But the real one, the original GSX 1100 S, was one of the most significant motorcycle designs ever. And it was a good bike into the bargain. Allmoto 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p6x Posted June 21 Author Share Posted June 21 1 minute ago, audiomick said: I don't even know what the new one looks like Well, it has that strange front, which I can't get my head around. Not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiomick Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 This thing, right? 三澤佳祐, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons No, doesn't do it for me either. It's just a modern bike. The original was a revolution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
po18guy Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 14 hours ago, audiomick said: I don't even know what the new one looks like. But the real one, the original GSX 1100 S, was one of the most significant motorcycle designs ever. And it was a good bike into the bargain. Allmoto The Katana 650 always looked "just right" to my eyes. Colors and shapes that flowed together. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_650_Katana 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
po18guy Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 On 6/20/2024 at 7:40 PM, docc said: My Honda GB500 clearly says "Tourist Trophy " on the side covers, but no one calls them that. Instead, invoking the alphanumeric "GB500" (which is not depicted on the motorcycle anywhere). I am not one adept at naming my own machines, but this one rather earned her own (from the Honda marketing slogan of those days . . . > RIDE RED < Docc, here's a 650 V-twin "Tourist Trophy" Go to about 2:50 in the vid to se the morph. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiomick Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 Ok, pretty, and I would indeed be interested in building a custom CX that would end up looking similar to that. By all accounts, the thing had a mediocre frame at best, but I saw a mate of mine in Melbourne riding his CX 500 on a dirt track like a motocross bike, so it can't be too bad. Regarding the one in the video: far too loud, I reckon, and the back-firing on the overrun would drive me nuts. And choosing the mufflers for the sound is just a wank. The important thing with an exhaust system is how it works. If it has to be loud to work, ok, but quiet is better, and there are quiet exhausts that work well. Otherwise, very pretty. The Pirelli Phantoms are nice. Always liked them. The video is quite well made, and was probably expensive. But then, I think it can be considered "advertising", so probably worth the expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now