*California 1400 Merged Threadfest*

[Joliet Jim]

Reminds me of this monster.

Dean

You should be ashamed smoking crack at your age

[cruzziguzzi]

Reminds me of this monster.

Dean

I remember seeing a flock of "pre-production" test mules of these when I lived in Cardiff, California. I went over to talk to a couple of the guys (I think it was at Kai's... Still there?) and asked them what movie they were made for just assuming they were "Judge Dread"-like Sci-Fi conceptual offenses. Oops, several of them were VERY proud Beemer types straight over from the land of Wurst (NPI) to show-off their latest offering.

Anyhoo...

I'm glad to see that this bike is not just a resin-wood-chewing gum mock up being pushed around shows to shore up company support and garner investment capital.

I like, I like a lot... Now - anyone over there listening? GIVE US A REASONABLE (NOT ACCEPTABLE) FUEL CAPACITY FOR U.S. DISTANCE TOURING PLEASE! We'll accessorize around any other shortcomings, thank you very much.

[Chicago Mark]

Piaggio has the Griso, the Norge, the Stelvio, the V7 line and now the soon to be coming California 1400 in their line up. Looks very well rounded to me.

Great job Piaggio/Moto Guzzi,

Mark

[Blitztour]

I think this is the latest incarnation

[Chicago Mark]

Not according to the latest pictures in this thread. But I suspect we haven't seen the final production version yet.

Mark

[jas67]

Yeah, Really, thats exactly what I wondered.....also that front end sure seems to have alot of rake in the side view. surely looks like they went for the "boulevard Cruiser" look. Though not the way I would do it, I still think its Cool , with lots of attitude.

I bet that torquey beast will pull your arms out of their sockets!

Rick.

The "Boulevard Cruiser" is popular in the US.   I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a best seller for MG.

[Jim Rich]

Put some bags and a fairing on it, take a long trip and report back to us.  I bet it will be a winner just like the old Cali. 

[HDGoose]

Put some bags and a fairing on it, take a long trip and report back to us.  I bet it will be a winner just like the old Cali. 

As long as the dash works? 8)

[HDGoose]

For the amount of money this new California will sell for I can buy and rebuild an Eldorado...complete with triple disk brakes.

[kevdog3019]

The sky is falling the sky is falling!!  Wake up!  What's with you folks thinking Guzzi is taking a whole new direction because of this one bike??  Did you think that with the V7 Racer?  What about the Griso?  Oh... and that dual purpose thingy?  To draw a conclusion like this is absurd.  I'm not a huge fan of these kind of cruiser bikes, but I think it's great and appropriate that they use their twin engine (now even bigger) to make a big cruiser.  Seems logical and don't have a problem with it.  I'll never buy one but who cares.  I wish them the best.  ;-T
-Kevin

[bad Chad]

For the amount of money this new California will sell for I can buy and rebuild an Eldorado...complete with triple disk brakes.
[/quote

Good god, wil this never end?

[racergary]

anybody here smart enough to figure out the rake of that front end,looks pretty well kicked out for a Guzzi.

By the way,this is not very appealing to me.

[HDGoose]

For the amount of money this new California will sell for I can buy and rebuild an Eldorado...complete with triple disk brakes.

Good god, will this never end?

8) 8)

[Kev m]

For the amount of money this new California will sell for I can buy and rebuild an Eldorado...complete with triple disk brakes.
[/quote

Good god, wil this never end?

 

 Yes, by God, when will people just learn how to learn simple html tags... :-* ;) :BEER:

[Bill Hagan]

For the amount of money this new California will sell for I can buy and rebuild an Eldorado...complete with triple disk brakes.

Probably.

But then you'd still have an Eldorado...complete with triple disk brakes.   :D

I do not find this model especially fetching.  In fact, I do not have any interest in it.

But it appears lots of others do who just might be willing to pay the price of admission ... and become Guzzisti. 

Not a bad thing.

Bill

[Gary]

Well I do find this bike intriguing. It would appear to be a good, laid back mount for long distance touring with the wife. But I would like to have another bike or two to complement it. Maybe a V7 or a Griso.

[leafman60]

The "Boulevard Cruiser" is popular in the US.   I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a best seller for MG.

anybody here smart enough to figure out the rake of that front end,looks pretty well kicked out for a Guzzi.

By the way,this is not very appealing to me.

I commented on the rake way back in the beginning of the thread.  Guzzi is obviously making this one stretched-out locomotive.  It should be extremely stable on the road.  Lots of rake/trail on that front end.

Yes, these type bikes sell in the US.  The new Guzzi could be popular in the market.  It's long and low and gives great design prominence to that V Twin motor.  The tank cut-outs really emphasize this.  In a day of increasing examples of water-jacketed, non-descript engines, this thing cries out "big ass, real motor."  

Whatever happened to the naysayers who bemoaned the transfer of Guzzi to these big companies, lol ?  Remember all the panic-button hullabaloo about first Aprilia and then Piaggio closing the historic Guzzi factory and simply reverting to using the Guzzi label on other in-house models?  

Piaggio and Aprilia really spurred the Guzzi brand along.  They have developed and marketed some of the best bikes ever in the history of the brand, all the while retaining and playing off the classic, air-cooled Twin engine.

[JohninVT`]

I'm not going to judge a bike by some blurry shots of a pre-production mule in testing.  All I know is that I've been eye-ing Road King's all summer.  A relaxed riding position, two up comfort and the ability to put multiple 600 mile days back to back are items high on my priority list for my next machine.  The new Cali appears to tick those boxes but again, I'll reserve judgement(and my $) until it actually arrives here for sale. 

[kevdog3019]

Whatever happened to the naysayers who bemoaned the transfer of Guzzi to these big companies, lol ?  Remember all the panic-button hullabaloo about first Aprilia and then Piaggio closing the historic Guzzi factory and simply reverting to using the Guzzi label on other in-house models?  

Yep, we've had a lot of folks say its time Guzzi did away with this mill. That it's long in the tooth and just going nowhere for Guzzi. Some high profile guys even lost their jobs over it bemoaning Guzzi. They've done pretty darned well the past few years and I suspect they will continue their climb. This bike is an example of willingness to take Guzzi to the next level.
Kevin

[bad Chad]

 

 Yes, by God, when will people just learn how to learn simple html tags... :-* ;) :BEER:

When I started this thread, I did suggest that those who wanted to see the latest pic's of the 1400 go to Guzzitech.com to do so.   I thought that since Todd has his own forum, and he was the one who found the pics and put them there, that the gentlemanly thing I could do was try and send some folks there.  But it seems not everyone was of the same line of thinking, Kev. :( ;)

[HDGoose]

When I started this thread, I did suggest that those who wanted to see the latest pic's of the 1400 go to Guzzitech.com to do so.   I thought that since Todd has his own forum, and he was the one who found the pics and put them there, that the gentlemanly thing I could do was try and send some folks there.  But it seems not everyone was of the same line of thinking, Kev. :( ;)

Not the HTML tags he was referring to.

[JohninVT`]

When I started this thread, I did suggest that those who wanted to see the latest pic's of the 1400 go to Guzzitech.com to do so.   I thought that since Todd has his own forum, and he was the one who found the pics and put them there, that the gentlemanly thing I could do was try and send some folks there.  But it seems not everyone was of the same line of thinking, Kev. :( ;)

The words, "gentleman" and "Todd" don't belong in the same sentence. 

[HDGoose]

The words, "gentleman" and "Todd" don't belong in the same sentence. 

Which Todd are you referring to? Or all Todds known to this forum?

[guzziks]

I had hopes for a modern comfortable EV, maybe this bike is both.  But even my wife took one look and said "that's ugly"

[rboe]

When I retire I'll be looking for an easy chair bike that handles fairly well for road eating miles. Something along the ilks of a Road King or Wide Glide. These new beast from Guzzi may be just the ticket for that job.

It will be very interesting to see this effort in person and on the road. After all; I was not all that impressed with the Griso when it came out and now I own one.  ;D

Sidebar: The Griso did not really appeal to me until the SE in green came out. I suspect the right paint colour and seat treatment on the new bike could open the flood gates of desire for the new model. I don't think they are quite there yet in that department.

[Vasco DG]

Yep, we've had a lot of folks say its time Guzzi did away with this mill. That it's long in the tooth and just going nowhere for Guzzi. Some high profile guys even lost their jobs over it bemoaning Guzzi. They've done pretty darned well the past few years and I suspect they will continue their climb. This bike is an example of willingness to take Guzzi to the next level.
Kevin

Thing is Kevin they have done away with the 'Old Mill'. Apart from its outward similarity the 8V motor has nothing, zero, zilch, relationship to the old 'Pushrod' engine.

As far as I can make out the 1400 Cali motor is simply a bored out version of the current 8V mill. It is neither water cooled or principally 'Air Cooled' in the traditional sense. It is oil cooled with air assist. The high rocker covers aren't. They are simply cosmetic shrouds to cover the twin HT leads and possibly plug-top coils on the new twin plugged heads. Cutaways of the prototype motors also had roller tappets and these are now listed in the parts pages for all earlier 8V's but are currently listed as 'Abolished'. I have no idea what this means????

VDG

[kevdog3019]

Thing is Kevin they have done away with the 'Old Mill'. Apart from its outward similarity the 8V motor has nothing, zero, zilch, relationship to the old 'Pushrod' engine.

As far as I can make out the 1400 Cali motor is simply a bored out version of the current 8V mill. It is neither water cooled or principally 'Air Cooled' in the traditional sense. It is oil cooled with air assist. The high rocker covers aren't. They are simply cosmetic shrouds to cover the twin HT leads and possibly plug-top coils on the new twin plugged heads. Cutaways of the prototype motors also had roller tappets and these are now listed in the parts pages for all earlier 8V's but are currently listed as 'Abolished'. I have no idea what this means????

VDG

Yep... that's what I said... modernize and upgrade the current engine (and throw in a little marketing so folks know who Moto Guzzi is)!  The folks I'm talking about wanted water-cooled BIG hp engines (basically 4 bangers).  This discussion took place a few years back when only the Stelvio had the new mill and not many folks had one.  I stated that since nobody knew who Moto Guzzi was, even their current old mill would be new to them.  Following my logic this would be true, yes??  I bet it's 1 in 10 around here who have heard of Guzzi.  I will not tell who the biggest bad-mouther of the mill configuration we've had since 1966 was, but boy did he want it to be gone!  "Death be to Guzzi" was his slander.  I'm glad he was wrong. 
-Kevin     

[rboe]

Thing is Kevin they have done away with the 'Old Mill'. Apart from its outward similarity the 8V motor has nothing, zero, zilch, relationship to the old 'Pushrod' engine.

As far as I can make out the 1400 Cali motor is simply a bored out version of the current 8V mill. It is neither water cooled or principally 'Air Cooled' in the traditional sense. It is oil cooled with air assist. The high rocker covers aren't. They are simply cosmetic shrouds to cover the twin HT leads and possibly plug-top coils on the new twin plugged heads. Cutaways of the prototype motors also had roller tappets and these are now listed in the parts pages for all earlier 8V's but are currently listed as 'Abolished'. I have no idea what this means????

VDG

Hotrodders will ponder if they could bolt on the 1400 parts to their 8V griso motors to make Super Griso's out of them.  ~;

[bad Chad]

Kevdog, I didn't know you where in the loop with Piaggio management, thats fascinating.   Tell us how you came to be so, and if you already did, I apologize, but I missed it.

[kevdog3019]

Kevdog, I didn't know you where in the loop with Piaggio management, thats fascinating.   Tell us how you came to be so, and if you already did, I apologize, but I missed it.

You missed the other discussion Chad?  No need to explain then.  If you think I had an influence then you're mistaken.  You obviously seem to think my thoughts had weight.  Just my thoughts, but you can think what you want.  ;) The other chap seemed to have some link to Piaggio or Guzzi though at some point.
-K