The Moto Guzzi Griso 8V in the March, 2009, issue of Cycle World, when everybody here who rode the new Guzzi was pretty well smitten. In fact, the Griso wasn’t new even then, but the 8-valve engine was, complete with 563 new parts (according to Guzzi) that turned the 1064cc four-valver into the current 1151cc 8V. Those parts transformed what Kevin Cameron would call a “chuffer” into a genuine free-revving 90-degree V-Twin that performs a strikingly respectable imitation of a Ducati as the tach needle passes through 5000 rpm on its way to 98.7 measured rear-wheel horsepower at 8300 rpm (and 75 foot-pounds of torque at 6500).
