Hello from Vienna, Austria

Hi there, I am Matthias, 55, and been riding bikes for ages. This August I bought myself a black GRiSO 1100 V2, after a really spirited ride with my heavily modded Triumph Daytona 955i - cause I realized that the relatively perfect 147 HP bike can not be felt unless you ride in "knocking on heaven´s door"-mode, which in the long term is neither healthy for the rider nor his driving license. Before I had the opportunity to ride a friends V7 II, which was pleasant, but weak. The Bellagios are rare and crazily overpriced. So I decided for the GRiSO. And I deliberately wanted the low-tech pushrod engine.

Despite being 16 years and 42.000 km (27,5000 mls) old the GRiSO came with all the original paperwork and is in a relatively good state. Ok, the hydraulic clutch offered only engage/disengage at her 0.4 inches of travel with nothing in between and the low-speed riding was kind of a PIA. Short research saw me bleeding the clutch and pressing a new bushing for 29,30 Euro from a Stelvio into the CARCs connecting rod. And one of the former owners must have turned the rear rebound setting near to fully closed. But as the bike has fully adjustable suspension this is no problem.

The GRiSO quickly grew on me. If you can´t get off your bike without a wide grin it obviously was a good purchase. In fact, considering the Agostini stainless exhaust, the Hepco&Becker C-Bow mounts with bags, a service stand and plenty of oil and filters for the next service, for 4.600 Euro the bike was a steal.

A steal with the oldest possible mapping (2229GRS02), as I found out yesterday. Yes, I plan to buy the beetlemap anyway, but would the last iteration of Guzzi, 2230GRS08, be available somehow? I would love to notice the improvements step by step, so if anyone has that original mapping stored I would be thankful to receive it.

From my rides so far I suspect that the Guzzi - with all of her character and torque and her unique lines - will be a keeper. I´d be pleased to get in contact with other riders from my neck of the woods.

I have all the GRiSO maps. PM'd you a download link for 2230GS08.

Swingarm bearings and shock linkage bearings will need attention. I'd advise doing it sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the hint, Pete! Seems to be a good way to make use of the service stand. Somehow grease must be surprisingly expensive - Suzuki and Triumph are also known for using too little ...

Can't do the swingarm bearings and shock linkage using the service stand as it requires removal of thr footrest hanger plates. There are several solutions, do a search of the site.

Hi Matthias,
reading your story is a partial Deja-vu - i'm 54 and bought myself 1 year ago guess what - a black GRiSO 1100.... and yes with 55tkm on the clock i also plan to spend some time during off-season on the bearings and maybe the mapping too.
Cheers from the middle of Germany
Andreas

Hello Andreas, nice to read from you. Seems that most riders need to become more mature to worship what the GRiSO has to offer apart from HP and top speed numbers.
I will have to service the bearings in the future - at the moment my recent offroad crash and a barely usable left hand keeps me from wrenching (and from pulling any motorcycle clutch in the near future).

But I can tell you that renewing the CARC reaction rod bearing already vastly improved the ride, taking away lots of the bumpiness in low-speed-traffic and from on/off throttle reactions. What perfected the ride was the beetlemap for the 1100 though. But you need both to get as close to perfection as possible. At 30 EUR for the silent block, 100 for the mapping and 40 for the connection cables this is the cheapest tuning by far and worth every cent.

Hi Matthias, yes i think i will never understand riding a bike with up to 200HP but tons of electronic stuff which keeps you away from falling down because it throttles the bike down to 50HP? The 1100 makes 88 "only" but these horses comes with a lot of emotions  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Thnx for the hint regarding the reaction rod bearing. To avoid any misunderstoods, you talk about part # GU05638130, correct? I will check this for sure....
Get well soon!

Hello Andi, no, it is Part No 883045, the bushing at the frame end of the reaction rod. The CARC end has another bushing, that you don´t have to exchange so urgently.

In your neck of the woods it is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You can put a small spanner wrench into the slot of the reaction rod to prevent it being pushed together and choose the suiting nuts and a rag to prevent scratching. It can easily be done in a vise without heating. Just be sure to push the inner damper and the steel sleeve as a single unit - both the old one out and the new one in.

Ok understood, thnx a lot again!  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]