The Discovery Channel ranked the Moto Guzzi Otto as one of the ten greatest motorbikes of all time.

[citation needed] The engine and the bike were without precedent: a water-cooled, 500 cc (31 cu in) V-8 motorcycle — with dual overhead cams and a separate carburetor for each of the eight cylinders.

Only Fergus Anderson, Stanley Woods, Dickie Dale, Ken Kavanagh, Keith Campbell, Giuseppe Colnago, Bill Lomas and Alano Montanari were ever able to even ride the V8 motorcycle.

Several of the riders experienced spectacular falls—Bill Lomas suffering a head injury at the 1956 Senigallia Grand Prix.

[3] The Otto Cilindri also proved complex and expensive to build, in addition to the danger the bike posed to the racers themselves.