California 1400 Touring versus Eldorado 1400

[jGuz]

Quick question: do the California touring and the Eldorado have the same handlebars and ergos?  I test-rode an Eldorado and loved the seating position, but now I am debating between getting a Cali-T or an Eldo.  I like the looks of the Eldo more, but I also like the fact that the Cali-T already has matching bags. 

Such a nice dilemma to have.

[JeffOlson]

I have pondered the same two bikes. However, if I were to get one of them, it would have to be the California 1400 Touring. The Eldorado simply does not have a passenger seat suitable for anyone other than an Italian supermodel, whereas the California does.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

[vstevens]

I have pondered the same two bikes. However, if I were to get one of them, it would have to be the California 1400 Touring. The Eldorado simply does not have a passenger seat suitable for anyone other than an Italian supermodel, whereas the California does.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

Does the Eldorado come with an Italian supermodel?  That might be a consideration 

[bobbyfromnc]

IMHO once you've had a bike with bags I would be hard pressed to buy a bike without them. Unless of course it was a second bike to play on :-)  my 2 cents BK

[Zoom Zoom]

A Touring seat can easily be fit to the Eldo. It does require removing the rear grab rail which takes only a few minutes. Only viable bag option right now are the Hepco Becker C Bow. That is what I put on mine. I opted for the biggest bags I could get. 35L leather lockable bags. The lock to the mount and they can be locked closed. Not hard bags, (my preference), but very well made as you might expect from H-B. 

Rear tire: 200 series on the Touring. Most get 8K out of it at best. 300 bucks and not a large selection. Eldo: 180 series rear. 200 bucks, 15K miles.

To me, that was an important consideration. To others, not so much. If the Touring had come with a 180 in the first place, I likely would have bit on one. Having said that, I am very happy with the Eldo in terms of comfort and ergos. No regrets here. I would do it again.

You get a lot with a Touring that I have had to ala carte on the Eldo. Pick your poison I guess. I'm not certain how the ergos stack up. I believe the bars are a little different and the seat puts you in a ever so slightly different spot. Negligible though. 

John Henry

[mtiberio]

eldo has different triple clamps for improved "handling"

[LowRyter]

A Touring seat can easily be fit to the Eldo. It does require removing the rear grab rail which takes only a few minutes. Only viable bag option right now are the Hepco Becker C Bow. That is what I put on mine. I opted for the biggest bags I could get. 35L leather lockable bags. The lock to the mount and they can be locked closed. Not hard bags, (my preference), but very well made as you might expect from H-B. 

Rear tire: 200 series on the Touring. Most get 8K out of it at best. 300 bucks and not a large selection. Eldo: 180 series rear. 200 bucks, 15K miles.

To me, that was an important consideration. To others, not so much. If the Touring had come with a 180 in the first place, I likely would have bit on one. Having said that, I am very happy with the Eldo in terms of comfort and ergos. No regrets here. I would do it again.

You get a lot with a Touring that I have had to ala carte on the Eldo. Pick your poison I guess. I'm not certain how the ergos stack up. I believe the bars are a little different and the seat puts you in a ever so slightly different spot. Negligible though. 

John Henry

why does the Eldo rear tire get twice the mileage vs Touring?

[Zoom Zoom]

Bigger variety to choose from. Many wear longer. My bike has the same tire sizes as my friends Road King. Whatever he has on his at the moment still has reasonable tread for close by running around and he has 15K or more on it at the moment. He does intend to replace it before Cedar Vale.

ZZ

[Zoom Zoom]

BTW, I don't know what to expect out of the original, but I'll let folks know when I do.

ZZ

[mtiberio]

I got 11000 miles out of my OEM 200 on the back of my 1400 touring. I found a bridgestone replacement for $150

[Lcarlson]

I only got 6000 miles on the OEM Dunlops, but now have Metzeler ME 880's on mine. They have a long history and good rep, so we'll see how they do.

[Kiwi Dave]

Only viable bag option right now are the Hepco Becker C Bow. That is what I put on mine. I opted for the biggest bags I could get. 35L leather lockable bags. The lock to the mount and they can be locked closed. Not hard bags, (my preference), but very well made as you might expect from H-B.

I was able to marry a pair of Givi E41 hard bags to my C-Bows, using an adaptor offered by Hepco & Becker.  Sorry, I don't seem to have a photo, I could take one if you're curious.

[mjptexas]

I only got 6000 miles on the OEM Dunlops, but now have Metzeler ME 880's on mine. They have a long history and good rep, so we'll see how they do.

I barely got 6,000 miles on each of two rear Dunlops.  Switched to Avons the last time.  So far so good.

[Zoom Zoom]

I was able to marry a pair of Givi E41 hard bags to my C-Bows, using an adaptor offered by Hepco & Becker.  Sorry, I don't seem to have a photo, I could take one if you're curious.

Thanks for the offer. Not really necessary for me though. I have seen the adapter brackets for the mounts and thought about that. Right now, I'm pretty happy with the bags I have.

John Henry

[Huzo]

Quick question: do the California touring and the Eldorado have the same handlebars and ergos?  I test-rode an Eldorado and loved the seating position, but now I am debating between getting a Cali-T or an Eldo.  I like the looks of the Eldo more, but I also like the fact that the Cali-T already has matching bags. 

Such a nice dilemma to have.

Yeah sure is mate. Take them both for a  L O N G  test ride and it'll decide itself.

[John in PA]

Moto International has fitted the Guzzi hard bags on an Eldo 1400, stating that it just required some spacers to adapt the bag mounts to the Eldo.  Dave Richardson also stated that the Eldorado handles best of the entire 1400 line.  I have this one on the way  here as of this writing.

 Note : The Hepco Becker backrest and rack aren't listed for the Eldo either,, but they bolt right on after the pillion and grab rail are removed, and that is the Guzzi Cal Touring Gel seat fitted to the bike after removing same.

[LowRyter]

That's looks like a good combination.  I'll bet the smaller tires make for quicker handling.  It looks nice too.  The black bags work with the black forks.  Although you could get the bags painted red match.  Do you plan to keep whitewalls when you change tires?

[JJ]

Does the Eldorado come with an Italian supermodel?  That might be a consideration 

Sometimes..."YES!" (lol)

[mmcwhitehead]

I bought a 1400 Touring before the Eldo became available. While I think the Eldo looks a little nicer, I love riding the Touring. I did replace the stock seat with the lowered gel seat (~$240) and it works great. The original seat was good... the lowered gel seat is great. I didn't like the 200 series tire on the rear and didn't get great mileage out of the OEM tire or a replacement Bridgestone, so I replaced it with a 180... no issues at all.

[JeffOlson]

If the Eldorado is kept naked, I like its looks better. But with a windscreen and hard saddle bags, I like the look of the California 1400 Touring better. It seems more integrated. But that's just me. Obviously, others like the look of the Eldorado with a windscreen and hard saddlebags. It's good to have options!

[jGuz]

I found a California Touring for a pretty good price, so I sprang on that.  It's in immaculate shape and came with the top case, too.  Pics to come.

[groundhog105]

I was able to marry a pair of Givi E41 hard bags to my C-Bows, using an adaptor offered by Hepco & Becker.  Sorry, I don't seem to have a photo, I could take one if you're curious.

I would be interested in seeing pictures from the side and the back.  I will pm my email address.