EVERYTHING’S GONE GREEN. Officine Rossopuro’s ‘Viridium’ Moto Guzzi Griso
The last of the Moto Guzzi Griso models are still yet to be sold from dealer floors before the bike is phased out, but one man is already missing them
Nostalgia can be a powerful thing and our desire to hold onto the past, even the very recent, can have us railing against any possible change. The last of the Moto Guzzi Griso models are still yet to be sold from dealer floors before the bike is phased out entirely, but one man is already missing them. It should surprise nobody that it’s Moto Guzzi Maestro himself Filippo Barbacane of Italy’s Officine Rossopuro and he’s on a mission to send head office a message they’ve made a big mistake! He calls it Viridium, Latin for evergreen and its the factory special Griso 8v he wants to prove Guzzi should still be producing.
“It was a very successful project, but unfortunately Guzzi‘s mother did not renew it after more than 10 years, something quite inexplicable, since it could have evolved more and more, improving and improving it over time,” pleads Filippo. But the Piaggio Group which owns the brand sees the troubles posed of getting the 1200cc engine through restrictive Euro 4/5 compliance a hurdle not worth taking and has folded their hand.
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I am curious, the last thing I heard about the future was back in 2016 that we should watch the Motor show announcements in Oct of 2017 and Oct of 2018. That was in response to questions about the future of the Stelvio and the Griso since Moto Guzzi had said they would not make the 8v motor compliant with the new Euro 4/5 emission standards. Of course last year we got news about the Moto Guzzi V85 replacing the Stelvio. So I have been hoping that the announcement this year will be about a replacement for the Griso. While I do like the V85, I am fearful that if the news this year is suppose to be about a replacement for the Griso I fear it may have the same 850cc 80hp motor the V85 has. That... underwhelming but I guess acceptable in a dual sport, although really I think they should have done much better than that. But in a bike that is suppose to replace the Griso, that would be a huge mistake.