Moto Guzzi have produced some truly iconic motorcycles over the years, but they’ve also made some serious design missteps. We reckon the Griso lurks somewhere in the middle.
It?s by no means ugly: in fact, it’s borderline elegant. And with 108 hp and 108 Nm from its 1,151 cc motor, it packs a wallop too. But take a step back, and it looks a little too lumpy to get the same attention as stable mates like the Le Mans or V7.

Still, those that own them clearly love them. Because when the long-time owner of this particular 2009-model Griso started thinking it was time to move on, he talked himself out of it, and brought the bike to Officine Rossopuro for a makeover instead.
Smart move. Officine Rossopuro frontman Filippo Barbacane has customized all sorts of Moto Guzzis in all sorts of styles. In other words, he’s the guy to go to in Italy.
Filippo can really go to town on a build?but here, he was reined in by a budget, and a mandate to keep the bones of the bike stock.
?The challenge was to create a bike that is very different from the Griso, but without making irreversible or radical changes to the frame,? he tells us. ?So the major study was to make a bodywork more streamlined, simple and close to the frame.?

That’s not to say it was a quick and easy job. Most of Filippo’s mods were around the Griso’s bodywork?but the more he changed, the more electrical components he exposed. So in the end, a lot of bits had to be relocated, and a...