*California 1400 Merged Threadfest*

[sbaker]

Yes, boring riding there. It needs someone to push it a bit in the corners.

What I fear, a bike with a small fuel tank. They call it a 'touring' model, but the luggage is small and the range on a tank is barely going to be 100 miles I suspect. Hopefully there will be fixes in the future.

Wayne.. for the market this bike is after, 100 miles is all you can tolerate before you have to replenish your beer... It's perfect !

[Wayne Orwig]

Wayne.. for the market this bike is after, 100 miles is all you can tolerate before you have to replenish your beer... It's perfect !

OK.

But will a six pack fit in the luggage?


 :BEER:

[Moto]

What I fear, a bike with a small fuel tank. They call it a 'touring' model, but the luggage is small and the range on a tank is barely going to be 100 miles I suspect. Hopefully there will be fixes in the future.

Yes, good points. They do show two different topcase options available, 50 liters and 60 liters. That would help with the beer.

[youcanrunnaked]

How is the nuovo California's luggage capacity small?  The side bags are 35L; that's halfway between the Hepco-Becker juniors (40L and 30L).  That's 70 liters of storage.  Add the 60L top case, and that's 130 liters of storage.

The favored set-up for the prior California models is a pair of the 40L Juniors and the 45L top case.  That's 125 liters of storage.  So, the new model gives you an extra 5 liters of space.  You're welcome.   :P

IMO, 40 liter bags would look absurd on that bike, and if you travel by motorcycle with more than 130 liters of stuff, you're doing it wrong.

[rocker59]

How is the nuovo California's luggage capacity small?  The side bags are 35L; that's halfway between the Hepco-Becker juniors (40L and 30L).  That's 70 liters of storage.  Add the 60L top case, and that's 130 liters of storage.  IMO, 40 liter bags would look absurd on that bike, and if you travel by motorcycle with more than 130 liters of stuff, you're doing it wrong.

There is another way...

About 207 liters right here:

[Mark West]

Looks like a reasonable lean angle is attainable.

The 4.5 Gallon tank is a big mistake. On a bike that big surely they could find room for another gallon or so to allow for a safe 200 mile range.

Then again, I am not the target market for this bike so what I think probably shouldn't account for much.

[Guzzi-Guy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk7lf-IoqAQ

Sorry it's in French.


Dean

Translated loosely they loved the handling, the power, everything about the bike.  Only negative if you want to call it that is at near the end of the video the guy mentions that they heading back Cannes slowly as the low fuel light came on with only a little over 100km on the tank!  From the tone I am assuming the rapid fuel consumption was due to very spirited riding on the twisty roads along the Cote D'Azur :-)

[rtbickel]

Looks like a reasonable lean angle is attainable.

The 4.5 Gallon tank is a big mistake. On a bike that big surely they could find room for another gallon or so to allow for a safe 200 mile range.

Then again, I am not the target market for this bike so what I think probably shouldn't account for much.

First thing I am going to do is paint the exhaust end caps black

[youcanrunnaked]

Looks like a reasonable lean angle is attainable.

In the picture you posted, if you draw a line along the shadow under the bike, that corresponds to the angle of the pavement in the photograph.  Set another line perpendicular to that one, at the base of the rear tire.  Then draw a line through the middle of the rear tire.  That line corresponds to the lean angle, and is at just about 45'.

The 4.5 Gallon tank is a big mistake. On a bike that big surely they could find room for another gallon or so to allow for a safe 200 mile range.

The tank is 4.5 gal. to reserve, with a 1.0 gal reserve; total is 5.5 gal.  If the nuovo California follows Guzzi custom, the reserve light comes on way, way, way before you need to stop for fuel.  I'm interested to see what kind of gas mileage these bikes will get, once broken in.  Moto Guzzi is quoting around 45 mpg, but so far, it looks like the press bikes are not coming anywhere close to that kind of fuel consumption.  A bigger fuel tank might spoil the styling, but I wonder if there is room under the seat for an auxiliary gallon or so....

[Kev m]

That looks promising.

[Wayne Orwig]

The tank is 4.5 gal. to reserve, with a 1.0 gal reserve; total is 5.5 gal.  

If it truely is 5.5 gallons, that would be tolerable. I thought is was 4.5 TOTAL, which is FAR too small for a 1400cc land barge.

[wheaties]

If I follow the shadow as a reference point as someone suggested, it works out to about 33deg.  If the shadow is generated by light from behind, then the ground line should be moved toward the eye which would make for less lean.  If the road margin line and barrier wall are to be believed, then the angle is much steeper.

Just adding fuel to the fire....

Matt

[Arizona Wayne]

If not already posted here, go to www.cyclenews.com for a really good/thorough road test article.  ;)  Cali. 1400 on this week's front page CN issue !

[bad Chad]

Yet another poorly written review, why can't these guys get the facts right?

I did find the following interesting, assuming its correct.   The Cal has 5 degrees more lean on both sides than a Road King, and the author pulled 39 mpg for the day.

[Gary]

Well I think it is a great review. Makes me want to buy one. Facts not perfect, but glowing comments.

[Chicago Mark]

Is the 39mpg from an Imperial gallon? If so, that's a bit more volume than the American gallon. Sure was a nice article though. All except the alarm system anyway.

Thank you for the link,

Mark

[Kev m]

Wheaties, I think you're base line is off.

Look at the white line on the edge if the road and the stone/mortar wall for a better reference to vertical and horizontal.

Those points of reference suggest more lean.

Chad, I wonder where they got that figure? If true, that's not bad. But heck, that last pic suggests it could even be more.

[youcanrunnaked]

I thought it was a good article.  Most of the facts seem correct, to me.  I could quibble over the transmission history lesson, but, big deal.

Five degrees more lean than a Road King would be 38' each way.  (Not bad, but I had predicted 41.5'.  :P )  I still think it looks like more than 40' from some of the photographs.

The mpg figure (39) is at least reasonable in this article.  The author says the tank holds 5.4 gal, but I'm sure I've seen 5.55 gal reported.  Even at 5.4 gal and 39 mpg, though, range is 210.6 miles.  So, the effective range is around 200 miles, if you're brave.  I'd call that fair or barely adequate.  If the tank is actually 5.55 gals, range is 216.5 miles.  If after break-in the bike can get at least 42 mpg, that would be 233.1 miles from a 5.55 gal tank, at which point I would say the range is good, as I would feel comfortable planning fuel stops every 200 miles.

The heat comments are starting to worry me.  Riding in full gear, in Florida, in the summer, is bad enough.  A motorcycle that dumps heat on the rider is a problem for me.  My Norge was just bearable in the Florida summers  --  just.  (My EV runs significantly cooler than my Norge did.)

[Mark Dasher]

 ;-T

Cycle News/Alan Cathcart tested the new California.  Good favorable review.

He only got 39mpg in mixed riding.  I wonder if it'll improve after break in - sure hope so...

http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cyclenews/20121212#pg37

[wheaties]

Wheaties, I think you're base line is off.

Look at the white line on the edge if the road and the stone/mortar wall for a better reference to vertical and horizontal.

Those points of reference suggest more lean.

Chad, I wonder where they got that figure? If true, that's not bad. But heck, that last pic suggests it could even be more.

Kev,

I agree, and those lines definitely suggest more lean if the wall and road edge are actually perpendicular to the bike.  I don't see enough in the picture to confirm or deny whether that is true.  If the wall is significantly closer to the camera on the right hand side, that would account for the relative angle.  To be honest, there's very little to establish the plane of the road, but if you see something I don't, by all means, we can try that.

Measured from a base line parallel to the road stripe, I get 49 degrees,  measured from a line parallel to the top of the wall, I get 46.5 degrees.  To me that suggests that the wall and road are nearer to the right and farther to the left.   Either way, it's fun to try to establish that lean.

Matt

[Kev m]

Ooooo, good point.

And I remain more optimistic.

[LowRyter]

Looks like a reasonable lean angle is attainable.

The 4.5 Gallon tank is a big mistake. On a bike that big surely they could find room for another gallon or so to allow for a safe 200 mile range.

Then again, I am not the target market for this bike so what I think probably shouldn't account for much.

roadking can't do that.

[rocker59]

Most Roadking owners can't do that.

Fixt!

 ;)

[LowRyter]

the RKs simply don't have the lean angle.  You'd be sliding on the boards Big Mike.

[rocker59]

the RKs simply don't have the lean angle.  You'd be sliding on the boards Big Mike.

Yeah.  Just kidding around.  What I should've edited it to was:  "Roadking owners don't care", and there'd be a whole lotta truth to it...

[Adan]

Very good, in depth article.  The Cal1400 isn't on my radar, except as it relates to the future of the Moto Guzzi brand.  Lean angles, fuel range, whatever . . . it's hard to imagine anyone chipping away much at the empire HD has established here in the states.  The culture is too embedded.  I'd be happy to be wrong about that!  I think the best hope is that the basic R&D that Piaggio has invested in the Cal1400 manifests throughout it's range, ultimately raising MG's stock as a practical choice for the average road bike shopper.  It has that potential.

[Mark West]

Very good, in depth article.  The Cal1400 isn't on my radar, except as it relates to the future of the Moto Guzzi brand.  Lean angles, fuel range, whatever . . . it's hard to imagine anyone chipping away much at the empire HD has established here in the states.  The culture is too embedded.  I'd be happy to be wrong about that!  I think the best hope is that the basic R&D that Piaggio has invested in the Cal1400 manifests throughout it's range, ultimately raising MG's stock as a practical choice for the average road bike shopper.  It has that potential.

Keep in mind that Victory has built a pretty good business chipping away at the empire. When the empire is as big as it is and Guzzi is as small as it is, it's not a bad idea.

If they could get 1% of HD owners to buy one, what would that do to their sales volume overall? I suspect they would be pretty happy with that.

[rocker59]

Keep in mind that Victory has built a pretty good business chipping away at the empire. When the empire is as big as it is and Guzzi is as small as it is, it's not a bad idea.

If they could get 1% of HD owners to buy one, what would that do to their sales volume overall? I suspect they would be pretty happy with that.

Exactly.  1% of HD's production would be about 2500 machines.

2500 bikes is more than 25% of Guzzi's current production.

Keep in mind that Honda shares the street motorcycle market with Harley in the USA.  Together they own 50%.

If Guzzi can pull a few metric cruiser customers and a few aging sport-touring customers and a few HD customers, they'll have a (Guzzi-sized) home run!

[rocker59]

I don't get the smallish fuel tank.  They learned thier lesson with the Stelvio and came back with a correct-sized tank for the mission.

The Cal 14 is slated against motorcycles with 6-gallon tanks returning 45-50 mpg. 

5.5 or smaller tank from a bike getting high 30s really sucks, IMNSHO...

[Kev m]

I agree on the fuel tank, but are the competitors really returning 45-50 mpg, or more like 35-40?

Or is this another case of rating vs real life?


Also, IIRC last I saw Harley alone was 50%   of the US street bike market, Honda being next closest, but less than 25%.