I mentioned this in a recent post about the MGS-01 Corsa, but I’m on the hunt for a Griso! If I was looking for a stock bike I’d have to have one in Tenni Green, but I’m going to be modifying this a bit so I would prefer one that’s not Tenni Green and has been been dropped or is cosmetically rough because I’m looking for something cheap.
Such a beautiful color, perfectly paired with the brown seat.
This all started because my buddy Jay B. recently made me aware of a dealership in Italy called Guareschi Moto. Years ago, they built a race kit called the “Varano” to transform a road bike with the 1200cc big block Guzzi motor into a fun track machine. The kit includes a frame, subframe, fuel tank, pegs, bars, bodywork, and more – you basically just need to supply the drivetrain, suspension, wheels, brakes, dash, and exhaust. Here’s what they provide for the standard cost of 7,000 euros:
Obviously they’ll sell you upgraded parts like Ohlins forks and lightweight wheels if you want, but here’s an example of a Varano built out of a Griso:
That gives off MGS-01-on-a-budget vibes, which is totally fine by me. I love the MGS-01, but Moto Guzzi never got around to making any street legal versions of them. The limited number of track bikes they made are 1. hard to find (final production numbers aren’t official but estimates suggest around 150) and 2. expensive (we just sold one on Iconic two weeks ago for $48,150).
Such a gorgeous (and unexpected) creation from Moto Guzzi
I have minimal interest in creating a track-only bike out of a Guzzi 1200 platform – I just want an interesting streetbike so going the Varano route with a Griso makes plenty of sense to me. Guareschi is now heavily focused on off-roading efforts with the Tuareg 660, but you if you scroll a bit you can still see some examples of the Varano kit on their Instagram profile. I mean, look at this thing!
Have a Guzzi (ideally with cosmetic damage) that you’d sell to me for cheap to start this project? Let me know!