First ride on a Griso

[pete roper]

OK, firstly this is just a simple ride impression and I'm not trying to give an objective evaluation. All of my observations will be very subjective and it should be remembered that I am an insufferable, oppinionated old bigot .

 

I was very taken with the Griso from the moment the first pics of the production version appeared. The pre-production mock up always worried me a bit simply because it was using the 4V motor. While I do like the 4V motor it is a far more labour intensive unit to service and maintain and it's advantages over the 2V, pushrod powerplant have always, IMHO not warranted the extra time, effort and cost involved for only a modest performance gain. This though will be relevant to my overall fellings on the Big G as I ramble on.

 

I'd previously dropped into the 'Local Shop' and spent a few minutes rubbing my groin all over the Griso but yesterday i decided"In for a penny? In for a pound!" and fronted up and asked for a test ride. Let it be said here that my relationship, if you can call it that, with my local dealer is what might best be described as *Strained* at the best of times but the sales pimply was OK about letting me take it out for a flogging so I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

 

The first thing you notice standing next to the bike is it's width. The second thing you can't miss is that huge can with the cat-con inside! The width thing is decieving. Once you're sitting on it it doesn't appear to have nearly such a gynocological examination type spreading effect as it at first appears. The pipe? Well? That's very much a matter of personal taste. I actually quite like it's appearance but there again I accept my tastes are rarely *mainstream*.

 

Hopping on it and the first thing I noticed was that the handlebar position and placement is, for me, pretty much ideal. I might preffer to have the bars ever so slightly more angled in towards me but other than that the position was exactly as I like a a riding position to be. The footpegs were another matter. For many months now I've been riding the 'Vert almost exclusively, (Customers' bikes aside.) and this has low slung footboards that are quite far forward. The Griso by comparison has the pegs highish and further back and initially when I started riding it gave my hips some gyp but within 5Km I'd adapted and all was well. The pegs have to be at least this high anyway if you're going to exploit the way the Griso allows you to chuck it about.

 

Turning on the ignition key the LCD speedo dash tells you that you're sitting on a Griso. Am I the only person who is enraged by such stupidity? I hate cars that talk to you and ring bells if the doors aren't shut or the lights aren't turned off when you stop and this sort of thing is another variant on the breed as far as I'm concerned. The tacho needle also sweeps stupidly and un-neccesarily around the dial too, Grrrrr! I hate gimicky stuff! Pressing the starter button gets everything running instantly and, atbleast on this machine, I didn't have to pull in the clutch to fire it up and neither did it have a sidestand cut-out. I didn't really check but this surprised me as I thought the nanny-staters had made this sort of sh!t compulsory nowadays?

 

Once the engine is running picking first is an easy, if clunky, affair. In fact I found the box on this particular machine much, much rougherthan the one on the Breva I rode in Sydney a few months ago. Having said that this machine still had well under 1,000Km on it so it may well improve as the miles rack up. Some personal observations though about the gearbox. Firstly, the ratios are well spaced although I thought first was a bit low, remember though that my *manual* bike is a helically cut, five speeded Tonti with an Eldo flywheel and an 8/33 bevelbox I'm used to a REALLY tall first gear! it did though crunch significantly on all gear changes. The change was always instantaneous and accurate, (In fact one of the biggest problems I had was with selecting neutral at a standstill! Simply because the lever required such a gentle tap that it was easy to push it through neutral into first and then back up into second if you weren't really gentle!) but at least on this machine all changes were of the 'Dropping a brick in a bucket' type noisy! I hope that this improves with time but my Tonti boxes are quieter! It also wasn't overly diminished by changing the shift points higher or lower although short-shifting made the problem worse as you'd expect. This leads to my first *concern*. The box uses a variant of the 'Stacked washer' shock absorber on the input shaft and unless there is a rubber coupling in the driveshaft itself this is the only driveline shock absorber. Given the crunching going on during changes there is obviously a fair bit of backlash between the selector dogs and I wonder if the actual damping is sufficient to prevent damage to the gear teeth? Only time will tell and I'm simply speculating here, it's just that my experience with earlier, non cush driven, Guzzi gearboxes with a lot of driveline backlash has made me suspicious.

 

OK, so wjhat's it actually like to ride? Well, bear in mind that this bike has not been set up for me, or anyone else for that matter judging by the suspension, first impressions are that some delicacy will be required to get things working well. The Showa forks on the front are a generic product fitted to lots of machines and Showas are a good fork. If they have one major failing it's that the springs sag early in the piece so I expect I'll have to purchase some decent ones within the first few years of ownership. this will of course vary from person to person depending on how and where they ride, if they are a great fat bastard like me or a skinny little runt and the quality of the roads. In rural NSW most roads are barely more than a selection of pot-holes randomly connected by bits of saggy tar! I expect to replace suspension components sooner rather than later . In the interests of giving it a workout i took the bike to one of the worst bits of *road* in the immediate environs of Canberra, the Sutton Road, which is reknowned as a ball-joint breaker on cars so it's a good test! Well either the springs are way too firm, (see above.) or the compression damping was wound off the scale both front and rear as the whole plot was very harsh. Having said that it tracks straight and true and never gave me any handling problems, it just felt far too stiff all round. Once again it was a very new machine and had had no set up done, I wasn't about to start playing with anything on a 30 minute test ride. Certainly compared to my old Tontis it seemed very nimble. The Rennsport rubber was vey sticky and you can use all of it, road surfaces and suspension permitting. Brakes? Well, they're modern Brembos. What more can you say. They are more than up to the task of hauling the Pig down from speed and have good feel and bite when the need arises.

 

Probably the most disappointing aspect of the whole experience was the noise, or rather the lack of it. The exhaust is absolutely silent once you are above walking pace, you can't hear a thing, it really is an insipid disappointment. There is some induction noise and it is this that lets you know you're riding a Guzzi, not the exhaust. For all that I don't mind the looks of the pipe I'm sorry but it'll have to go. I'm not a believer in the Loud Pipes Are Good argument, but a certain degree of aural stimulation is an integral part of my motorcycling enjoyment and I'm sorry, but this just doesn't cut the mustard! Probably as a result of this I also found the performance disappointing. Once again with a new motor I wasn't going to take it much over 6,750rpm, and only there in short bursts, but the closely spaced gears meant that I seemed to be missing out on one of the Guzzi engines main attractions, it's stump pulling torque in the mid range. While I applauded the lowering of the internal primary ratio when I first read the Griso Specs I'm wondering if a set of the slightly higher Breva gears might not be a good idea as it would make it seem like you have to play gear swappsies less often. Not that I'm averse to rowing a bike through the gears at all, it just seemed to me that better use could be made of the spread of power with a slightly higher ratio. And yes, it'll loft the front wheel if asked to but it didn't seem to have the acceleration I was expecting from a macine with mid to high seventies rear wheel BHP. Again I think it's the pipe and maybe the ainduction system that are fouling things up? This engine has, ex-factory, most of the old hot-rod hot up tips. A moderately exciting cam, twin plug heads, a better rod/stroke ratio blah-blah-blah. It SHOULD go harder than this one did. So it seems that once again the customers will end up shelling out for a PCIII or a Tuneboy and a decent set of pipes and some airbox mods to get it to perform as it should. Shame really but I don't think that it's somewhat spineless character is down to the factory, it's down to the ridiculously draconian legislation affecting all vehicles nowadays and an old air cooled twin is really struggling in this environment.

 

Has this test ride put me off buying one? Not a bit! Sure I'd like to have had a bit *More* straight out of the crate but that isn't to be. I accept that any motorbike I buy is going to get fiddled with, modified and have a heap of dubious *improvements* done to it. If you are someone who really wants just a standard bike that goes like stink from the get-go I'd honestly suggest buying a Japanese twin or four. If though you like being different, if you are willing to put up with a few idiocyncrasies and most of all if you are willing to spend a bit of money on stuff to actually improve your bike rather than spending it on belt-buckles, T-shirts and jewlery I reckon that the Griso is a spectacularly good platform to start from. In the same way that the T3 used to be the base platform on which everybody built their Tonti specials I'll bet London to a Brick that within a year or so the Guzzi netherworld will be a-throb with modified Grisos, (Grisi?).

 

I hope this hasn't put people off, as I said, it hasn't put me off at all. The hype may well of got to some folks though and they may of expected a world beater. Well, in my opinion it's not a world beater in any way apart from style, but it's certainly a huge step in the right direction and, IMHO a vast improvement over the spineframes of which I've never been a great fan. This itteration of the venerable twin will probably be tha very last of the air cooled two valved twins that have kept Mandello afloat for forty years. OK, like an aging athlete that is way past it's prime you can tell that it'll have to go into steroid-overload to keep with the pack. But it has style to burn, dignity and class and for something that is almost as old as I am that's a pretty good testament to it's fundamental strengths.

 

Better to be honest about what I think than lull people into too high exectations and a sence of disappointment when it isn't what they expected

 

Pete

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

I hope this hasn't put people off, as I said, it hasn't put me off at all.

81550[/snapback]

 

Bloody hell Peter. A thourough wringing out like that only whets my appetite as it only points out the niggly bits that we all change on most every bike. I think your report is one of the best I've read (Todd Eagens is a dead heat) and I wish you could be paid for such an honest and forthright report on a bike that I and many others are wanting to know about!

 

Well done!!

 

Cheers

Jim

[Steve G.]

Good read Pete.

So, do you mean to say that when you turn the key on, the little info screen actually tells you that you are on a Griso? Giosh, a bike that introduces itself, what manners

Like you, I'm not turned off by the size of the muffler, just the crude casting on the end, for all the world to see.

Ciao, Steve G.

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

Good read Pete.

So, do you mean to say that when you turn the key on, the little info screen actually tells you that you are on a Griso? Giosh, a bike that introduces itself, what manners

81571[/snapback]

My MGS say "Yer on the bloody MGS ya idiot so wind on it ya wanker"!!

[Van]

Hi all,

Pete, great revue on the Grisso, thanks, l'm looking forward to meeting one!

My brother is on the verge of jumping from his SV650 to a bike with more character and has narowed it down to :

MV Augusta Brutale 910

Duc Monster S4 ( the one with the twin upsweep pipes on one side)

Grisso

Suzy Hayabusa

Suzy gixxer 750

 

Any comments as to which way to go and why??

l, of course am telling to go the Guzzi route because, well, it's a Guzzi damn it!!

Cheers

Van

[g.forrest]

a good honest report on the griso and your self..well done.

[pete roper]

My MGS say "Yer on the bloody MGS ya idiot so wind on it ya wanker"!!

81573[/snapback]

 

I can't work out what it's really trying to say. I think probably "Oh f@ck, free up my breathing and re-map me and fit a pipe that will work with the crossover point from closed to open loop!"

 

It's got so much going for it but if this is a typical example i think that a lot of people will be thinking twice. When I first got to the shop it was out with another bloke on a test ride. He has a Multistrada and some hideous BMW behemoth and was thinking of swapping to the Griso, principally because of the styling. He did say thoughthat he was having second thoughts as it didn't have the punch he was expecting and he didn't want to end up with two 'Armchairs' to use his word. He reckoned that because the Pig doesn't have clip-ons it's a *touring* bike

 

Anyway one of the MOST important things for me is that I must be able to tour on it. Otherwise why buy one? My SP and 'Vert do that magnificently. I DO demand though that it can be made to handle pretty much as well as a *modern* bike AND, because I'm a bloody demanding sod, I do expect it to be able to handle some serious envelope-pushing in the twisties. The sit-up riding position isn't for me a problem. I ride like Gumby, I'm no racer. This is one of the many reasons I DON'T ride the race bike! My ability to concentrate to racetrack type level is very limited. I can go as fast as the next bloke for about three minutes and then I start making mistakes and get dangerous. On the track that's dangerous to other people. On the road it's more likely to be dangerous to me! I know my limitations and want to stay within them but I also want to be able to explore the limits of the machine. Something it's well nigh impossible for a mere mortal to do onan R6, never mind a Big Gixxer! I also like to be part of the refinement and improvement process, something that is prohibitively expensive with most other offerings! Sure you can buy 'Factory' race parts anbd bolt them in to make your *whatever* go even more like billy-oh but really whats the point when it already has more than you're ever likely to need? Good God? Even back in the days of big old CB1100 hondas we used to get them in running rough and the reason was that the silly buggers who'd bought them never rode them around off the pilot circuit and slide cuttaway on the carbs! On the rare occasions that they actually 'Gave it the Berries' the poor old atomisers were so full of crap that they couldn't carburete! We use to just hold 'em at full throttle till the pipes were almost white hot and then they ran like a charm again In a world where 600 supersports make the sort of power that a CB1100 could only dream of and weigh half as much, even with FI do you really think much has changed????

 

One thing that has remained constant over the time of my involvement with Guzzi is that they have always built great 'Platforms' for individuals to use as their own canvases. I see the Griso as a further example of this. It may well be that a year or so down the track they may jump us with a Nuovo LeMans using the basic engine architecture used in the Breva and Griso but up-speced and fitted with real rear-sets and clip-ons and genuinely *sporty* styling but I do feel that as in the past the *real* Guzzi owners will probably pick the Griso as the starting point rather than the 'LeMans'. It's such a brilliant 'Blank Page' and that means, for me at least, that there's life in the old dog yet

 

Pete

[not_scooter_Scura!]

Hi all,

Pete, great revue   on the Grisso, thanks, l'm looking forward to meeting one!

My brother is on the verge of jumping from his SV650 to a bike with more character and has narowed it down to :

MV Augusta Brutale 910

Duc Monster S4 ( the one with the twin upsweep pipes on one side)

Grisso

Suzy Hayabusa

Suzy gixxer 750

 

Any comments as to which way to go and why??

l, of course am telling to go the Guzzi route because, well, it's a Guzzi damn it!!

Cheers

Van

81576[/snapback]

 

 

I do rate the MV, THST engine...go to raptorsandrockets.com for the onbaord video (oh that engine!)

 

but the Griso.....ahh.....the Griso...........

[Guest george in vancouver]

I'd previously dropped into the 'Local Shop' and spent a few minutes rubbing my groin all over the Griso but yesterday ..........................

 

Pete

81550[/snapback]

 

This response to particular 2-wheeled stimuli is more common than science had previously assumed:

 

[felix42o]

Hi all,

Pete, great revue   on the Grisso, thanks, l'm looking forward to meeting one!

My brother is on the verge of jumping from his SV650 to a bike with more character and has narowed it down to :

MV Augusta Brutale 910

Duc Monster S4 ( the one with the twin upsweep pipes on one side)

Grisso

Suzy Hayabusa

Suzy gixxer 750

 

Any comments as to which way to go and why??

l, of course am telling to go the Guzzi route because, well, it's a Guzzi damn it!!

Cheers

Van

81576[/snapback]

 

My second pick following the Guzzi would be the Monster, although I like the air cooled 2 valves better than the S4-the S4 has a lot of crap going on with the water cooling, and the one I rode was a lot less street friendly than the older air-cooled version (can't argue with the horspower numbers, though-the S4 hauls ass!) Kind of a pain in the ass, really, where the 2 valve motors are pretty easy to deal with daily. Sounds better, too!

[badmotogoozer]

First pick - the MV. Second pick - the MV. Third pick - the Ducati. I wouldn't even consider the others.

 

Is your friend in Canada?? He'll find it mighty difficult to get an MV into Canada... tho' it can be done.

 

Rj

[Van]

First pick - the MV.  Second pick - the MV.  Third pick - the Ducati.  I wouldn't even consider the others.

 

Is your friend in Canada??  He'll find it mighty difficult to get an MV into Canada... tho' it can be done.

 

Rj

81628[/snapback]

 

Naw, the poor kid lives in Dallas!!!

Cheers

Van

[belfastguzzi]

 

(memo to self – don't change avatar pic. again in the next few days)

[DeBenGuzzi]

I like the MV a lot but my 6'3" 230 physique makes me look like a fat guy on a little bike. I need something meatier MEATIER I say like the 1200gs. or just learn to brush off the banter from my friends that don't even ride bikes.

[Steve G.]

Hi all,

Pete, great revue   on the Grisso, thanks, l'm looking forward to meeting one!

My brother is on the verge of jumping from his SV650 to a bike with more character and has narowed it down to :

MV Augusta Brutale 910

Duc Monster S4 ( the one with the twin upsweep pipes on one side)

Grisso

Suzy Hayabusa

Suzy gixxer 750

 

Any comments as to which way to go and why??

l, of course am telling to go the Guzzi route because, well, it's a Guzzi damn it!!

Cheers

Van

81576[/snapback]

If your brother is looking for 'character', there's only one choice among the bikes listed above, and it's the Ducati.

If he's looking for something that can be 'used', there's only one choice, the Big-Bus. There is an argument for a bike that will paint a black line out of every corner having character. The big Suzuki will take your breath away if you have a loose and easy right wrist. Simply "Hand of God" power. It will have him grunting in his helmet trying to hold on.

Ciao, Steve G.