Making a "current" Griso a Griso Tenni?

[usedtobefast]

So the Griso Tenni has it's hooks in me!  I have looked at a couple, both 2012s, one with 10K miles, one with 15K miles, both not rollerized.  Both owners just had dealers take care of them and did not seem so up on flat vs roller tappets, they figured the dealer would do what was needed.  Ended up not buying either of those.

There are still a few brand new Griso's for sale, but obviously not a Tenni.

So I started thinking ... buy a new Griso and make it a Tenni.

But that green matte like finish on the real Griso Tenni ... can a decent painter do that?  Would that require a high end painter with some special knowledge/skill?  (which would result in a very high cost?)

I'm guessing the brown seat wouldn't be too hard, hopefully I could just buy the cover and have the new seat cover swapped out.

Anyway, am I crazy or is this a good idea?   

[Guzzi Gal]

Personally, I'd go for the NOS.  You love what you love and won't be happy with anything else for long.  Ask local dealers (any brand 'll do) who'd they recommend for paintwork.  I'm sure they've had plenty of people who've needed repair work over the years and can give a decent recommendation. 

[Dilliw]

The seat is or was $100.  you can check at AF1

[Yeahoo Whoyah]

Did you see this rollerized Tenni green Griso on CL in Los Angeles?
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/mcy/d/moto-guzzi-griso-tenni-green/6660571529.html

[Darren Williams]

The body work and tank on the new ones are covered with a wrap type covering, exact material type I'm not sure.

Don't know how easy it would be to paint them.

[bigbikerrick]

Any painter worth his salt, could replicate the Tenni finish. He would just have to do a computer color match of the green, and shoot a clear with a flattening agent in it to get the matte finish. I have done the Matte finish myself on my  Cali Aluminum, and it came out perfect, better than stock I think.
Matte finishes have become so popular, that you can buy clear with the matting agent already blended in, from eggshell to satin, to pure flat.
I personally use regular DuPont clear, and add the flattening agent so I can tweak the amount of flatness. I use DuPont 2360 S "Plas stick" as the flattening agent.

Italian paint is pretty "weak" IMHO. You would get a much better quality ,durable finish with decent American paint.
Rick.

[craigclu]

http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=97563.0;topicseen

Ta-Da

[pebra]

Since the topic is up: Doesn’t the Tenni have different wheels?

[pete roper]

I've got a complete set of Tenni bodywork minus the front mudguard if you or anyone is interested?

It's in Oz of course.

Pete

[usedtobefast]

Did you see this rollerized Tenni green Griso on CL in Los Angeles?
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/mcy/d/moto-guzzi-griso-tenni-green/6660571529.html

I did.  Not a fan of the exhaust and he had the suspension lowered and a $10K price tag.

[usedtobefast]

http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=97563.0;topicseen

Ta-Da

Ha, saw that one on CL.  Just happens to be about 3000 miles away from me.   

But this one looks excellent.

[usedtobefast]

bigbikerrick - needed the "Like" button for your post.       Thanks.   Any guess at what a painter would charge?  I'd take all the body work off, parts off tank, remove any badges, etc.  There are some stripes on the tank.  I'm guessing in the San Francisco Bay Area this will cost me a painful amount of money. 

I'm sure the most sensible thing to do is to wait until a really nice one shows up.   

[ohiorider]

I think Guzzi made a big mistake discontinuing the Tenni Green Griso.  I never failed to turn back to look at the bike when I parked it.  In my mind, the best looking bike I've ever owned ...... and she ran pretty damned good, too!

Bob

[twowheeladdict]

Ha, saw that one on CL.  Just happens to be about 3000 miles away from me.   

But this one looks excellent.

Road trip?  Ship it? 

Sounds like an epic fly and ride home adventure. 

I have met people on the road who purposely bought a bike across the country because they didn't have time to ride both ways. 

[JeffOlson]

Another bike that Moto Guzzi should still make...

[usedtobefast]

Road trip?  Ship it? 

Sounds like an epic fly and ride home adventure. 

I have met people on the road who purposely bought a bike across the country because they didn't have time to ride both ways.

Actually was thinking of a fly out, check it out, buy it, call up a shipper, ride it around on the east coast for about a week, then meet the shipper and have it shipped to CA, and I fly back.

[usedtobefast]

Found another real Tenni ... still flat tappets ... hummmm, I just keep thinking of that disintegrating coating going into the oil stream and running around inside the engine.    

Reached out to 2 painters to see what they might charge to do the paining of a non-Tenni.

Also going to call a couple of local-ish MG dealers on Tuesday to see what they think of the current state of MG covering the roller tappet kit.  They are 6 year old bikes, gotta figure at some point MG is going to stop covering the cost of the kit. 

Thanks for the thoughts/suggestions.

[Roebling3]

Adding the cost of that travel venture total might be enough cash to talk MG into making one more. just sayin.  R3~

[twowheeladdict]

Adding the cost of that travel venture total might be enough cash to talk MG into making one more. just sayin.  R3~

But then he wouldn't have that travel adventure.  I have done some fly and buys, but always on a new bike.  An owner would have to really instill confidence in me about the transaction and the bike before I would to do it with a used bike.

For the adventure is much more important that the actual motorcycle.

[ITSec]

Did you see this rollerized Tenni green Griso on CL in Los Angeles?
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/mcy/d/moto-guzzi-griso-tenni-green/6660571529.html

I hope he gets something close to his price - it would substantially increase the value of my Tenni! 

[usedtobefast]

So my painter estimate is $1500.  That is with me pulling off all the parts of a Griso and taking them to the painter (and then me putting all those back on the bike).  And me providing all the Tenni stickers/stripes from MG.

The brown seat is listed at $230.  So with tax, shipping, stickers, etc. say that is around $1800 total.

On the "fix a Tenni" side of things ... prices I got were the kit is ~$1500 but MG will cover that, so 0 cost there, and I'd have to pay $800 in labor for all  the work. 

So ~$800 to rollerize a Tenni and ~$1800 to turn a non-Tenni Griso into a Tenni Griso. 

[usedtobefast]

One other interesting bit of info ...

Called nearby Guzzi dealer, spoke with service person, they had never heard of the flatt tappet to roller tappet process!  Said they had been there 20 years and they had never done one!  Wow.
Called another Guzzi dealer, this one sells tons of non MG bikes, and 4x4s, and water craft, etc ... they also had no clue what I was talking about.  Didn't know what a roller tappet was.  Wow.

Called Pro Italia, guy that answered the phone knew the situation and prices off the top of his head.  So I would go there even thou it is 6 hours away from me. 

[Darren Williams]

One other interesting bit of info ...

Called nearby Guzzi dealer, spoke with service person, they had never heard of the flatt tappet to roller tappet process!  Said they had been there 20 years and they had never done one!  Wow.
Called another Guzzi dealer, this one sells tons of non MG bikes, and 4x4s, and water craft, etc ... they also had no clue what I was talking about.  Didn't know what a roller tappet was.  Wow.

Called Pro Italia, guy that answered the phone knew the situation and prices off the top of his head.  So I would go there even thou it is 6 hours away from me.

Good call on which one to choose! Of course that is probably a no-brainer, but I'm impressed.   

[swooshdave]

Did you see if you could get a wrap that color?

[pete roper]

One other interesting bit of info ...

Called nearby Guzzi dealer, spoke with service person, they had never heard of the flatt tappet to roller tappet process!  Said they had been there 20 years and they had never done one!  Wow.
Called another Guzzi dealer, this one sells tons of non MG bikes, and 4x4s, and water craft, etc ... they also had no clue what I was talking about.  Didn't know what a roller tappet was.  Wow.

Called Pro Italia, guy that answered the phone knew the situation and prices off the top of his head.  So I would go there even thou it is 6 hours away from me.

(Sigh!) They've been there twenty years and have never done one. Well the 8V is only ten years old so it's highly unlikely they would of done one in their first ten years innit? Run far and fast!

Pete

[twowheeladdict]

One other interesting bit of info ...

Called nearby Guzzi dealer, spoke with service person, they had never heard of the flatt tappet to roller tappet process!  Said they had been there 20 years and they had never done one!  Wow.
Called another Guzzi dealer, this one sells tons of non MG bikes, and 4x4s, and water craft, etc ... they also had no clue what I was talking about.  Didn't know what a roller tappet was.  Wow.

Called Pro Italia, guy that answered the phone knew the situation and prices off the top of his head.  So I would go there even thou it is 6 hours away from me.

Did the service writer put you on hold and consult with the master tech? Or did they just blow you off?

[5154guzzi]

 This 1100 2v was given some Tenni treatment by a local in San Diego.  The frame and bodywork were ` wrapped `  not painted.

[usedtobefast]

Did the service writer put you on hold and consult with the master tech? Or did they just blow you off?

The first place has a Service Manager and ~2 mechanics.  That's the one that said they had been there 20 years and they had never done one of these. 

The second place is a huge shop, probably make more money off ATV/4 wheeler/side-by-side things than anything else.  Spoke with the Service Manager there, he was the one that didn't know what roller tappets were.  Not sure they have what we might consider a Moto Guzzi master tech. 

[usedtobefast]

This 1100 2v was given some Tenni treatment by a local in San Diego.  The frame and bodywork were ` wrapped `  not painted.

Nice!  A bit ignorance on wrapping, but is it a lot cheaper than painting? 

Do you have any info on who did the wrapping?  Thanks!

[Cam3512]

Buy the one in LA for $10K, it’s also got some nice aftermarket stuff.  Then ride it home to San Fran.

It’ll save you a lot of headaches.