Moto Guzzi Stelvio and Griso featued in Rider Magazine

Thanks to the folks at Moto Guzzi for getting some good publicity for our favorite brand of motorcycles, and of course for producing two awesome bikes, the Griso 8V and the Stelvio 4V.

The 2009 Stelvio has especially gained a lot of good reviews since it’s launch, but the muscle-bike Griso has also had good reviews too.

The August 2009 issue of Rider Magazine features the 2009 Moto Guzzi Stelvio 1200 4V in a 5 page article titled “Backroad Goose” written by Clement Salvadori.  Perhaps one of the most fitting comments about the Stelvio in this article is “The Stelvio is an excellent example of why we motorcyclists love motorcycles – because they are fun.”  There has been a lot written about the Stelvio, and it’s clear in each that this is a winner for Guzzi and for folks lucky enough to own one of these.

Several Guzzi Stelvio accessories are offered, and for the Rider Magazine test, this adventure bike was outfitted nicely. The Stelvio takes on a purpose-built enduro look with off-road accessories including with heavy duty bars to protect the engine, rock guard at the rear CARC hub, a heavy duty aluminum skid plate, and boxy panniers that have a rugged look.  The Stelvio fog lights and aluminum panniers add up to about $1500 extra cost, and with the skid plates and crash bars, the $14,990 list price brings the total price up to $17,365.

The 2009 Moto Guzzi Griso 8V is a very impressive motorcycle to see and hear, regardless of personal taste and style.  It’s got a very well established group of competitors to go up against, but once again, that’s what makes the Griso 8V and most any Guzzi extra cool.  You will definitely stand out, in a very good way, on this bike against the rest.

With the classic transverse 90 degree v-twin Guzzi engine all hopped up with 4 valves per head and 110 hp rating, this relatively naked 6-speed bike has some nice features such as a fancy analog tachometer paired with a digital screen that is a speedometer, trip computer – like the ones used on the Stelvio, Norge, and Bellagio.

The Griso 8V racing style dual front discs, over-sized exhaust header pipes, the wild futuristic looking exhaust tips, and the large exposed frame rails give plenty of clues to onlookers that this is a potent and special machine.  The exhaust sound is described as “pure ear candy” by Bill Heald, the author of the Rider Magazine article titled “Molto Musculare” about the 2009 Guzzi Griso.

The 2009 Griso 8V list price is $14,290 (USD).