Hello all,
I’ve hankered after a Griso 1200 for a while, and I just looked at 2010 model, clean, 16000 miles, sounded good, I can take it out for a test if I want. Hasn’t had the roller tappet conversion, but I could get that done elsewhere if I buy it. Seller will take £4000.
So a couple of questions: assuming the bike is ok, does this seem a good deal? And can anyone give an estimate how much the roller conversion should cost?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Hi the parts to do the conversion will be about £1000 and you should budget about another £1000 for fitting and consumables such as fresh oil and filters as they will probably want to take the oil pump off and inspect it for wear Moto Guzzi were providing the parts free provided the bike had a full service history but i have heard from a couple of owners where they are refusing to supply the parts due to the age of the bikes so you are looking at the best part of two thousand pounds . If the conversion has not been fitted the camshafts will fail its just a matter of when.I was one of the ones who did the club survey and got Moto guzzi to extent the warranty on the camshafts
Regards Keith
I had my 2011 Stelvio converted to roller cam followers by Twiggers last year, as I have a full dealer service history from new, Piaggio supplied the parts free of charge, Twiggers charged me £400 for labour and consumables.
At £4000 its a very good price but with an additional £1400 then £5400 suddenly doesnt seem such a bargain compared to other ones for sale. If it had full dealer service history and MG were supplying the parts for free then it would still be a bargain but would you want the hassle. There is currently a Griso on Ebay being sold by a dealer with updated tappets and a warranty for £5995 with similar mileage and its 2013
CHRIS P
What chris has missed in his calculation is that once the cams have been replaced then you will have to have a 500 mile service carried out in addition to the cost of have the cams fitted as the heads have to come off. Then the heads will require re torquing and the valve clearances checked and fresh oil That is what Haywards at that time a Moto Guzzi main dealer strongly recommended when i had my second set of replacement cams fitted in order to maintain a warranty
regards Keith
As I do low mileage these days, I am having the heads torqued down this annual service (next week), it equates to about 500 miles since the conversion and so is not in addition to the conversion cost.
I think the above information confirms that buying a non roller cam bike would not only be a gamble but could be an expensive one at that.
The sensible option would be to buy a bike that already has roller cams and then there is one less major worry dispensed with, of course there`s always the option of the bullet proof 2 valver 
CHRIS P
Thanks for all the advice. I’ve decided to be sensible and just wait for a late model Griso to become available and then see what I can afford. Rushing to buy one now, then doing the conversion just seems to be a road to lots of expense and possible pain. And I don’t actually NEED a Griso, cos I still love my Bella, 78K miles and counting 
Would that be a Zundapp Bella 
An experience not to be forgotten 
CHRIS P