Moto Guzzi California – 600 mile review
July 5, 2010Having found this great site, and John’s 1000 mile review of his Vintage: http://www.motoguzzicalifornia.com/2008/12/california-vintage/ I thought I would try and contribute a little about how Im finding my Cali Aquila Nera.
I have now put on just over 600 miles on the bike, and am starting to get used to it in the way it rides, the way it handles and the performance of the engine.
We went to Silverstone the other weekend and I took the Cali with me, along with some mates on a GSXR and a BMW K1200 respectively.
The bike was amazing on the Motorway, it sits quite happily at 85MPH at 4000RPM in top gear, it will keep pulling faster than that, but a lack of a screen means that it becomes a bit uncomfortable at higher speeds.
All vibrations disappear at anything over 3000 revs, so even for a big old lumpy twin it feels very relaxed.
Speaking of relaxed, the only reason that we had to stop was for fuel, the bike is very comfortable and you could easily simply ride it all day long with no problems
Now, although it doesn’t look it, the bike is actually a Vintage and as such anything from a Vintage will bolt directly onto it, so in the near future it will be getting a screen, and also the rear luggage rack, as there is little space to actually carry anything on the bike.
Getting to the handling, its actually surprisingly agile for a big heavy cruiser, it wont keep up with a sports bike but it can hold its own. I did find out that the cornering isnt limited by tyre grip but by the exhausts, as on the second day of ownership I did get the right hand tailpipe to touch down, but I now at least know where the limits are!
Build quality seems generally good, nothing has fallen off yet at least, although where somethings look like chrome they are actually chrome coloured plastic, which is a little disappointing, other than that though the bike look pretty good.
This was taken just after washing it (I got caught in the rain while in the UK) and it comes up really well. However the metal work comes up brill with Autoglym’s polish.
Along with a screen and what not I also want to ditch the Catalytic Convertor and replace with straightthrough link pipes, Id also like to get a Power Commander fitted, as the Euro3 fuelling does introduce some minor flat spots on the bike.
400 miles to go till her first service, and then we can really start racking on the miles.
Thanks for the kind words about the Moto Guzzi California motorcycles site. I think most folks are surprised how agile the California is and I’m glad you point that out and feel the same. I have to disagree about the big heavy cruiser description though, it is really lighter than most cruisers. Cycle World gave a good comparison in their “Battle of the Baggers” article a few years ago.
I suppose I was meaning in comparison to my other bike, a GSXR 600 – in that respect its a world apart.
Id like to see that article if it can be found.