Absolutely nothing new here even by a long shot but as I’m over on Ultimate Motorcycling’s page this morning, reading the fawning article on the new Speed Twin, an admittedly gorgeous and likely very good motorcycle, I notice the perforrmance numbers are not mind blowing per se, 96 ponies, 82lbs of torque. I’m again struck by that old wishing feeling that MG would have used the 8V engine in a more standardish motorcycle. Of course, many of us loved the 8V Griso - I owned two of them previously - but I would not have called them a standard. I’m not saying they should have stuck the engine in a retro platform, but here is Guzzi having a character loaded air cooled 8V engine making 105-110 HP and 80lbs of torque. I often wish they could have developed a lighter bike than the Griso with more standard proportions similar to the new Speed Twin. Just trying anything this morning to get my brain away from the fact it’s Monday and it’s almost time for me to leave for work 
Maybe we have looked at the Griso too often and through sporty eyes, but I suspect that the Griso is as close to a Standard as you will get in these days.
Of course, I would think that an 8V in something like a 1990 Mille would be a definitive Standard, but I'm not sure where the Griso deviates that much from that model, maybe footpeg placement.
It's sort of like trying to decide what is Classic and what is a Cruiser, etc. Some people called the Centauro a "Cruiser", when it was in fact anything but ....
Lannis
