New Guzzi owner in Connecticut, USA

Hi All,
Thanks for being welcomed into this group. I'm a sucker for a good-looking bike, and when I saw the ad for this one, all I could say was, "Wow! That's beautiful!" I had it gone over by the only Connecticut Guzzi dealer, Hamlin Cycle, and had all the maintenance done for the past number of years. It needed a lot. But it has been awesome! It's a 2009 1200 8V with a bunch of farkles like fender eliminator, license plate mount, blacked out heads, Termignoni muffler, and a few other things you can spot. I've been out on it for several hundred miles this spring and enjoyed every minute of it.

Looking forward to the ghetto,
Pete
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And it has been rollerised I hope?

No, but it had the initial recall done in 2009 for hardened rockers (I guess?) According to Hamlin Cycle, it is not critical at this time, but probably next winter, I'll take care of it.

It's critical. Do it yesterday, if not sooner.

The recall was for a swap from chilled cast iron tappets that failed to forged steel tappets with a DLC facing that also fail. The only fix is rollerisation and every mile you travel with flats is damaging the motor.

Welcome Pete
the GRiSO is definitely a thrill to ride every time

definitely heed Pete's advice as a dead GRiSO brings no thrills!!

Thank you, I’ll attend to that.

Beautiful bike! Hamlin is a CARC fanatic, and has a reputation for tuning suspensions on Norge's and Stelvio's. I know a couple of guys that consider him a magician in this regard. I've met him and scrutinized a couple of his builds, including a 1400 shoehorned into a Breva, and they were stunning in the detail and finish. I also know he's keen on the power commander, and this feedback that 'it's not critical at this time' is surprising to me. So....do your homework and choose your lane, I suppose.

I like the looks of the license plate mounts, but my limited engineering sensibilities make me wonder...Hitting a bump hard, would that mass hanging 12" out from CARC casting put undo strain on things? Granted...hitting bumps (potholes in the US are ridiculous) is always avoided and very rare, but it would only take once.

Having said that, the bike is farkled really well. Enjoy it. Love the Brembo wheels on these bikes.

Thanks for the comments! As I’m new to Moto Guzzis, I defer to someone like Hamlin. He struck me as a straight-shooter, and I had a chance to talk with him at length. But I will take care of the rollerisation. BTW, they’re Marchesini wheels (owned by Brembo?)

They are owned by Brembo, and I thought I'd seen them branded as such, but I could be wrong. Happens quite a bit. I'm still a week or two out from ownership of my own set. So I outta just put a cork in it.

Hamlin's formed his own opinions. I agree he's an honest guy, from my knowledge. He's drawn different conclusions. Maybe seeing the inside of your motor will be the data point that tips him into a different mindset.

What's your mileage?

He did look inside to confirm what had been shown through recall records, and to adjust the valves. It’s at 27k miles

It takes 15 minutes to remove a cambox and examine the tappets. At 27K miles d be very, very surprised if there wasn't clearly visible damage. All depends on how it's been ridden but I'd be willing to put money on it being well on the way.

Thank you for your input. That’s what forums like this are for.

Peteypete wrote:

Hi All,
Thanks for being welcomed into this group. I'm a sucker for a good-looking bike, and when I saw the ad for this one, all I could say was, "Wow! That's beautiful!" I had it gone over by the only Connecticut Guzzi dealer, Hamlin Cycle, and had all the maintenance done for the past number of years. It needed a lot. But it has been awesome! It's a 2009 1200 8V with a bunch of farkles like fender eliminator, license plate mount, blacked out heads, Termignoni muffler, and a few other things you can spot. I've been out on it for several hundred miles this spring and enjoyed every minute of it.

Looking forward to the ghetto,
Pete

Nice looking bike. I see you're in Prospect CT. I'm in Oxford and I just picked up a 2007 GRiSO. I also took mine to Hamlin and had them go through it. I like those guys. They seemed very fair and very knowledgeable.

Maybe I'll see you out there on the roads....

Mike

Welcome to the Ghetto, Pete. Lots of Petes here already, but more are always welcome!

Pete (Street)