New To Me 2016 Eldorado 1400

[Skysailor64]

Hi Mark,  I certainly agree with you regarding the horn.  I had the same issue with my old BMW R1200CLC and changed it to a more appropriate sounding one.  Let us know and hear what you come up with! 

[blu guzz]

Another agreement on the horn, what a joke. But, years ago in Europe, some cars had a 2 setting horn with city and country.  It may be that in the urban areas in Europe, the db are limited.

[TN Mark]

These are due in on Thursday from Amazon. 125db should get the job done. I didn’t want to go too large, so I’ll see how these fit. $30

FARBIN Car Horns 12v Loud High Tone/Low Tone Metal Twin Horns Kit with Relay Harness,Universal Horn for Truck Car Motorcycle (Black horn with wire harness)

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71nC+gi1WcL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

[TN Mark]

It looks like I found a Unicorn part, 2S000538.
These are the Eldorado 1400 leather saddlebag mounts. They should deliver on Friday so I’ll confirm then.

[TN Mark]

I stopped at Cadre Cycle this morning on my way up north and ordered the corresponding Eldorado specific leather saddlebags. Whohoo.

[Mike Crenshaw]

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? 

[blu guzz]

I wanted the Gucci Guzzi bags too, but was too cheap to part with the money.  Yours will be a real stunner when you have finished with it. 
Keep going, I look forward to seeing how far you can take it.

[TN Mark]

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, and they use a dyno.

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 on my bike. 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 (6) 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 Garage 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. But I’ll get that figured out as well.

[TN Mark]

Next week my work travel throttles way back so I’ll have some garage time with Bella.

In the meantime time, I’ve been busy gathering a lot of ‘unobtanium’ accessories. An eBay seller in Italy has been particularly helpful and so easy to deal with.. My fourth shipment from them was delivered yesterday. No muss, no fuss, fantastic deliveries with DHL combined with excellent pricing.

On Monday I confirmed I found a real unicorn part and ordered it. The OEM Eldorado specific leather saddlebag brackets (unicorn) are scheduled to deliver tomorrow. The OEM Eldorado leather saddlebags are on order with my somewhat ‘local’ dealer (Cadre Cycle) but I don’t have an ETA yet. The bags are in stock in Italy.
Pro Tip: this is a great time of year to ask about ‘Black Friday’ pricing on expensive items. ;)

I’m into the Eldorado for the long haul, therefore I’ve also been building up a supply of regular maintenance items (spark plug wires, plugs, seals etc) as well as some unique 1400 items (1400 dash, lock set, spare keys) that once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.

I also bought the Becker Technic work stand for cleaning and regular maintenance. After changing the oil with a scissors jack under the engine it was clear the jack was more in the way than it was helpful. I contacted Simon Becker through email because their website doesn’t allow shipping into the US, or Canada. Simon was also a breeze to work with, he gave me the non VAT price and his ‘lift’ is on its way to me.