Style with substance

We can, and will, tell you what this motorcycle is like to ride, but it's Marabese Design's stunning work that brought this show bike into production, and it's the styling that will make it sell.

The second bike in the "clean sheet" program funded by Guzzi's previous owner, Aprilia, the Griso features the engine introduced in the Breva last year, but a different frame and running gear. In fact, the Griso probably carries more Aprilia bits than leftovers from around Guzzi's Mandelo del Lario factory.

The engine remains the firm's trademark 90-degree air-cooled V-twin, but the castings are all new and of much better quality.

The transmission is a six speeder and the final drive is a single-sided shaftdrive set-up with progressive linkage. Called CARC, for Cardano Reattivo (after a famous Guzzi engineer) or Compact Reactive Shaft Drive (on the spec sheet), the set-up reportedly cost Moto Guzzi a small fortune in development and legal costs to get around the patents for BMW's similar Paralever system.

Unlike the German set-up, the CARC driveshaft and universal joints, incorporating torsional dampers, float in the housing with a torsion bar to prevent the bike's rear end "squatting" under braking and rising under acceleration.

Controlling this engineering masterpiece is a linkage-equipped, fully adjustable Sachs shock with piggyback reservoir, and the front carries 43mm upside-down Showa forks that also are fully adjustable. What looks like a fork brace is just a paint and plastic job on the front mudguard. Brembo supplies the floating disc brakes at each end.

The distinctive, silver twin-tube frame is the centrepiece of the bike's styling. Wrapped over this is a polycarbonate fuel tank, and vented sidepanels cover the fuel-injection plumbing, wiring and twin horns.

The detail is impressive: a minimalistic instrument panel, giant fuel filler, dark-tinted indicator lenses and beefy triple clamps.

What really sets this bike apart is the "bazooka" muffler that comes complete with holes underneath and drainpipe exhaust headers.

The set-up is slightly less aggressive than the show bike in that the collector ducks under the engine rather than dumping straight into the muffler, but the rest is a faithful reproduction of Marabese's design.

ON THE ROAD

That giant exhaust and aggressive styling reminiscent of Yamaha's MT01 suggest the Griso is one mean mother. It's not, despite Moto Guzzi calling it a "power cruiser". That must have more to do with the styling than its 64.8kW output. They're definitely on the money with the "cruiser" bit because the Griso is perfect for a weekend run.

Despite the bike's fairly long wheelbase of 1554mm, the Griso is a competent corner carver. The steering is relatively quick, helped by the ultra-wide handlebars.

There is plenty of cornering clearance, helped by the absence of a centrestand, and the anti-squat CARC set-up keeps the bike sitting flat in corners even if you back off.

Brembo's finest do an admirable job of pulling up the beast which, at 227kg dry, is no lightweight.

As fitted, the suspension feels as if it has been set up for a 90kg Italian — too stiff for lighter riders on choppy Victorian surfaces.

The gearbox is a vast improvement over our previous Guzzi test bike, a California. Neutral is easy to find and changes are accompanied by a click rather than a clunk. Sixth is a serious overdrive ratio.

Traditional fans can relax as well. This Guzzi hasn't become the Italian equivalent of a Japanese sewing machine. The engine does still produce moderate vibes.

There's no balance shaft, so it feints to the left when you blip the throttle when stationary.

One minor niggle is the left-hand switchblock, on which the horn button is easier to reach than the indicator switch (this is an Italian machine), and the trip computer control button, below the highbeam flasher, looks like an afterthought.

The low-fuel light also comes on annoyingly early for a bike which, despite its limited 17-litre fuel capacity, has a range up to 300km.

For extended touring you'd be better off on the Breva (see right), or the fully faired Norge 1200 due here in May, but neither of them looks as good as the Griso.