New GRiSO Owner - Herndon, VA

Hello,

I lucked out and found a 2012 GRiSO that I had recognized from a YouTube Episode from SRK Cycles! It popped up on Cycle Trader and once I verified it was the same bike, I snatched it up and had it shipped to Me here in VA from WI. This forum came highly recommended for advice from a forum I joined on Reddit, so I joined up right away.

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Looking forward to reading and sharing experiences with you all.

Thanks,
Tony

As mentioned in my other reply as a 2012 do you know if it is rollerised or not?

Not yet, hope to find out soon!

What's the engine number? It's the number dot matixed in the shiny part just below the oil filler.

Note that if you're relying on a dealer he/she may simply check the Vin# in the Piaggio database and say that the bike is good because it has 'No outstanding recalls'. This sadly means nothing as there was never a recall for the flat tappet fiasco. The only way to know for sure is to lift a rocker cover and look. Many shops will also say that as long as it isn't making any unusual noises there is no problem. Unfortunately this is not the case. ALL flat tappet engines will fail. Some take longer than others but make no mistake they will, all fail. It is far, far better to fix it before it starts making a noise. By then further, worse, damage may be occurring to the bottom end of the motor.

You can easily check for yourself if it is a flat or roller top end by removing one of the tank 'Wings', the badge and HT lead cover and then levering up the plug cap from below with a long, thin screwdriver inserted through the cooling tunnel just above the exhaust manifold. DO NOT try and pull the plug caps off from above! You'll damage them. Once they are off removing the rocker cover is just removing the four cover bolts, (On your bike painted red.) and lifting off the cover. There are plenty of pics in various threads of this board showing the different tappet types but if you take a picture of the cam end of the rockers and the cambox underneath we can easily identify them for you.

Note that although the changeover point from flat to roller tappets by engine number is listed in my 'Definitive Guide to Rollerisation' post bikes with engine numbers later than the supposed point of change have been found with flat tappets, (This is extremely rare though so don't fret unduly.) so it is really worth eyeballing the tappets just to make absolutely sure.

Oh, and I checked on Gurgle maps and you're only an hour and a bit from Bill's place in Cross Junction. Not wanting to speak for him but I'm betting that if you got in contact he'd be more than happy to invite you over and show you how to pull a rocker cover and check yer tappets. Bill is one of nature's gentlemen, even though he does that odd thing with the goat.......

That sounds like a great time! I think I give the engine number...

Welcome to the Ghetto, Tony!

Pete (Street)

Thanks! Glad to be here!

I had sent a message to the guy from SRK Cycles that it would be less than ethical to sell that GRiSO without confirming and disclosing whether or not it had been upgraded to roller lifters.

He did not respond to me. Although he purports himself to be ever the upright, Christian fellow.

In the United States, there does not exist a rollerized Tenni GRiSO from the factory.

If you want to know if it has been upgraded, you'll have to pop the valve covers and have a squizz.

He probably had know idea about that... He moves a lot of bikes... Although his name was on the title, I got it from a dealer in Wisconsin. He must have sold it at an auction or something. I watch his show regularly, it's really good!

I think you're right. If this is the bloke who intersperses his videos with weird god-bothering stuff he seemed just to be a glorified bike flipper. Good news is that it won't of been molested by him or any of his cronies and it's probably well polished.

Don't worry about it. It's probably a good, relatively unmolested, low mileage GRiSO and as such it's about the best you are likely to be able to get for a bike that has been out of production for five years.

Make no mistake, you aren't alone in being slightly nonplussed that their new 'Low Mileage' Italian thoroughbred might have a dose of colic! Thing is though that if you really want to enjoy it you can solve all the little 'Issues' Piaggio thoughtfully built into them for not exorbitant cost, (A valve adjust on a top of the range Ducati will cost you more!) you can fix the problems and have a totally reliable 'Bike for the ages'!

Why else would I have two?

TonyL2027 wrote:

He probably had know idea about that... He moves a lot of bikes... Although his name was on the title, I got it from a dealer in Wisconsin. He must have sold it at an auction or something. I watch his show regularly, it's really good!

Re: Not knowing, see Steak's 6/13 post above.
He did get it at auction, it's covered in one of his Y/Tube videos and if you listen closely you can hear the auction price.

Anyway, carry on-- hoping for good outcome!

Welcome Tony, from another one!

I'm trying to find it now

It's here, he finds it right around 8:30.  There's a sale at 9:30 or so where he's sitting on it so I thought the price being discussed was for the GRiSO, but it could've been a different bike.   [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

1500?? Lol! I need a new job! That's funny, you can hear that noisy bracket when he starts it up.

Looking at the pics in the top of the thread it has a load of bling on it that is worth $$$.

The Corbin seat and Stucchi belly pan are both *desirable*. It has the best readily available pipe for GRiSO,(Although it will be better with a dB killer in.). The oil cooler cover has been established to be a bit of wank but it won't do any harm if you like it. The bar end mirrors are a matter of taste, (I dislike them but that's just me! Likewise the tiny indicators do nothing for me. The tail tidy looks workmanlike, just be prepared for the 'Skunk Stripe' up your back if you ride in the rain! I have something similar on the Yellow Peril. Looks good. Gives you 'The Stripe'. I try not to do much riding in the rain!

As I probably recited as my usual mantra, rollerise, remap and tune, something you can do yourself with the help of the Gheto, and do the swingarm and linkage grease and, at your leisure unless it starts rattling, do the sump spacer gasket and chances are you'll be set for 100,000 miles.

Spend any 'Toy' money on suspension and brakes.

Enjoy!

Bill tossed around the idea of having a roller party at his place possibly...I should get the kit tomorrow, so she'll be ready to get that big job out of the way...

It's not that big a job on your bike. Really. Take it slowly and be prepared to ask questions. If you do it at Bill's place he knows my number so I can be pestered at will if you get stuck!

TonyL2027 wrote:

Bill tossed around the idea of having a roller party at his place possibly...I should get the kit tomorrow, so she'll be ready to get that big job out of the way...

Yes, I tossed around the idea, but have had no bites from a couple of local folks who have actually done that job.

Will keep looking.  

And, still willing to provide site (and beer ), but not sure about finding anyone who's done the F2R job before.  If "we" and other volunteers try it, I better belay the beer.  

Bill

Maybe we can get it done with some help with Zoom!

Pete Roper wrote:

The tail tidy looks workmanlike, just be prepared for the 'Skunk Stripe' up your back if you ride in the rain! I have something similar on the Yellow Peril. Looks good. Gives you 'The Stripe'. I try not to do much riding in the rain!

Enjoy!

"Somebody" needs to come up with inner fender that can pivot back for rain...

Pete Roper wrote:

I try not to do much riding in the rain!

Sorry i did not get that....Was it a joke?

From this point of view in the West Country of England it reads like a joke....

If you try not to ride in the rain here you will need to plan to leave the bike when the rain starts and walk back