I have been admiring the Griso from a far for some time now. I'm a huge Guzzi fan from way back but as much as I liked my last 2000 V11 Sport (99 Jackal all apart for Cafe racer treatment) it stii left me a bit underwhelmed with it vibration, OK but not great handling, lacking egronomics and too much weight.
The Griso as it was being unvailed looked promising and I complement Guzzi for having the guts to build this bike. The looks are what the Centauro should have been (great motor but pretty ugly). Alos knowing how good a two valved Guzzi motor can be, the last renditions were again disapointing. So I have been mostly riding and owning Aprilia RSVR's, Triumph's and some Ducati's over the last decade. The V11 was even scarry on the track, which I have been doing much more of.
As my current naked I bought a 06 S2R1000 great bike and best Monster I have riden, but not exciting visually as it looks like most monster as from 1993.
BUt I had a chance to borrow a new Griso demo fro a few rides.
On my certified scales 524lbs with a full tank but with a lighter aftermarket silencer (so minus 15-20 real lbs., the stocker is HUGE). That's lighter then my 99 Jackal or my 2000 V11 Sport.
The Griso hides its weight very well, it feels like it a good 50lbs lighter just pushing the bike and sitting on it. Starts up nice and clean and is smoother then the past Guzzi I have owned or ridden that were over 850cc. My lightened and balanced 992cc Lemans/V7S was about the smoothest and this is pretty close.
Goes into gear pretty smoothly, nothing like the D675 but this is a different playing field.
Clutch pull is very light but take up in at the last 99.5% of full out and almost caught me off guard, thinking that it was still in neutral. Luckily riding at 2 stroke as of late has kept me on my toes.
The motor revs up very nice and the FI is very clean and glitch free. In fact the Griso motor tolerates lugging and handles very low RPM's much better then my 06 S2R1000 Ducati. The Ducati is probably still the better in town machine as it's smaller and lighter, hence the power is a bit livelier.
But motoring up Hwy 1 then over to Boone Doon Road, there is nothing like the sound of a well running Guzzi. Guzzi really did there homeowork on this frame and chasis. The bike looks like a V-Rod or V-Max and has a long wheelbase, so should handle like a train but the bike feels smaller and lighter then my 420lbs wet Monster. Its amazing how the Griso feels like its a bike half its size but still is stable on the freeway and very planted in corners but can change lines any time and is very nimble.
Up banked Boone Doon Road to tight and bumpy Martin Road then down tight, smooth and flowing Empire Felton. The Griso felt great. A quick gas stop, reverse and repeat. Empire Felton is the best up hill and on the throttle. then a left onto more open, faster Empire Grade then back to the Wrigley Building (the old gum factory). I was able to open the motor up more on the last leg and its again amazing that the forty year old aircooled two valved Guzzi motor can feel so refined and make pretty good power. This Guzzi is miles better then anything that has come before it!
Having a huge soft spot for Guzzis, I'm really thinking of selling the S2R1000 and picking up a Griso. With a bunch of weight trimming a bit of fine tuning and an under gearbox exhaust, Quat-D style, this bike would be pure raw motorcycle fun. I would even bring it to a trackday or two.
I bet the new 1200S will be a fun ride. Or a Griso with a 1200 motor!
Cheers,
William
Santa Cruz, Ca
06 Daytona 675
06 S2R1000
99 MG Jackal
78 Lemans I
06 Husky WR250
Others....
