TN Mark, I've been reading your post with interest. I've owned a 2014 California 1400 Touring for a few years now. I'm the third owner and I'm pretty sure the second owner never made any changes to the motor. Your comments about the engine mapping have me wondering if the stock map has been changed. How to determine if I have a remap? Can this be tested by Guzzi Diag?
In my case my Eldorado has an aftermarket PCV (Power Commander Five) with an AT-300 (Auto Tune). It’s currently running a ‘base’ map that was generated on an actual dyno by, as far as I know, the only professional dyno tuner on a Moto Guzzi in the country. It’s not a map you download from the internet for a donation in your garage with a laptop and cables. The ECU in the 1400 was intentionally designed not to allow or encourage that scenario. Plus I trust the actual before and after dyno run results on actual dyno with the same bike configuration I have. There’s only one option for the real thing regarding a 1400.
Today, the newer bikes can get an actual good fuel map from Piaggio because their team in CA knows what they’re doing.
The PCV and the AT have the fuel map that allows the engine to run in its optimum settings based on the air filter, the air box configuration and the exhaust system. Also in my case, the entire exhaust system has been replaced. The entire OEM exhaust system has been relocated to my attic.
The exhaust system, slip on mufflers, the crossover, the stepped head pipes, the Power Commander and the air filters are readily available from a different Moto Guzzi internet forum. A Technical Guzzi forum.
I test road a stock 2014 CA Tour about 5 years ago. I wanted to like the bike because I inherently like the Moto Guzzi brand. The bike ran so poorly I couldn’t return to the dealer fast enough. Hanging throttle plus every other poor running condition they were originally sold with.
I admit to being biased as every bike I own gets tuned properly by the aftermarket, with aftermarket parts. IMHO, my Eldorado runs better than the Guzzi R&D design and engineering teams ever thought it could. It also runs cooler than other 1400’s.
I’ve been chasing down and collecting a few other unobrainium 1400 accessories in the US and Italy. In the coming weeks I’ll be able to spend some time in the garage to install many of them. Knee replacement surgery next month will keep me off the road at work for a while. That equates to Guzzi Time.
I have no idea when the bags will show up. I also don’t currently know how to post a picture here because I don’t have an online photo storage site etc. Apparently iCloud doesn’t count. I’ll get that figured out as well.