July 10, 2000
By Dave Abrahams


During its half-century of production Moto Guzzi’s transverse V-twin motor has powered everything from water pumps to armoured personnel carriers but it is best known as the motivator for the long-legged Le Mans sport bikes and the less famous but equally successful California cruisers.

The original "Cali" was introduced in 1976 as little more than a T3 tourer with high bars and a buddy seat. Not surprisingly, it out-handled all other custom-style bikes. Later versions gained some real style and a serious dose of attitude but retained the basic Guzzi attributes – a rugged, noisy drivetrain and rock-like stability on the road. That’s the secret of the Guzzi charm: under the jazzy styling there’s always been a real motorcycle that actually goes round corners.

The transverse V-motor has changed little since the glory days of the V7 and the Eldorado of the 1960s. The latest 1064cc version looks the same and is built on the same heroic scale; everything in and on it is huge by motorcycle standards. Coffee-can sized 92mm pistons run on an 80mm stroke below firmly traditional hemispherical combustion chambers while breathing chores are handled by just two giant valves per cylinder that look like soup plates on sticks. They’re fed by gaping 40mm Weber Marelli throttle bodies; yes, Cyril, the most traditional mill in Europe now boasts fuel injection and it’s all the better for it too.

Notably quiet, other than its trademark tappet clatter, the motor will pull, juddering and shaking, from about 1600rpm in any gear. Over two it smoothes out and runs remarkably evenly throughout the rev range. In typically Italian style, there’s a marked step in power delivery at just under 4000rpm when all the grunt comes in and keeps on coming all the way to the power peak at 6400rpm. There’s nothing to be gained by pushing the motor to the limit at eight because the meat of the power curve lies between four and six. If that sounds like a narrow power band then bear in mind that 3800rpm in fifth equates to a legal 120km/h while 6000 gives you a thoroughly naughty 190.

Apart from the low-end judder, the only noticeable vibration on the bike was a firm low-frequency shake through the foot-pegs. The mirrors and handlebars remained gratifyingly still, particularly satisfying as the only things mounted on rubber on the whole machine are the indicator stalks! 90-degree Vees are famous for their perfect primary balance, while the secondary vibration on a transverse motor runs across the frame and tends to get lost in the tyres.

The Weber Marelli fuel-injection deserves mention, if only because it is so well-behaved in traffic. Most spritzer systems are inordinately sensitive at small throttle openings, making them very difficult to control at traffic speeds, and injected bikes typically proceed in a series of indelicate leaps and jerky stops at very low revs.

The California suffers a little from the directness of the shaft drive but the intake system is well damped and smoothly progressive above idle. Out of the traffic, it’s responsive and very accurately calibrated. Instant power is always available and the motor never stumbles.

The clutch is light and very sweet, it’s strongly positive, as most dry clutches are, becoming more so as it gets hot. To be honest, in heavy traffic it becomes downright grabby but soon returns to its normal self after a few minutes at highway speeds. The five-speed gearbox is also vintage Guzzi stuff, unashamedly vocal but slick and positive in operation. The lever throw is long but easy; only once during the test did I miss a shift and that was my fault. Neutral was, however, a little elusive on a hot motor and once the green light came up while the bike was in second – the box pilot behind me let his hooter do the talking while I unstalled the Guzzi.

The final drive, of course, displayed a genuine Mandello del Lario "clonk" every time the clutch took up. It was loudly audible in first when pulling away from a standstill but could be heard over the engine noise after every upshift as well. As disconcerting as the noise is, it doesn’t seem to hurt the diff; in most cases the final drive will outlast the rest of the bike.

The frame of the new California is substantially that of the late-1970s Le Mans endurance racer, kicked out a little at both ends for the laid-back look. It’s made of chrome-moly steel tubing and all the frame members except the engine downtubes are perfectly straight and fully triangulated for rigidity. It’s been beefed up with an extra tube beneath the motor and revised gearbox mountings and as a brace across the longer swingarm, but the two lower frame rails still drop out so that you can literally take the bike off the motor and Guzzisti will feel right at home.

What’s new, however, is the front end: at long last Guzzi has given up making its own front suspension. The notoriously quirky air suspension controlled by a neoprene bladder which would split as soon as you looked at it too hard and was almost impossible to pressurise without a specialist shock pump, was never a success. Guzzi has now specified 45mm conventional Marzocchi forks, separately adjustable for compression and rebound damping. The median setting on the bike was a little softer than the rear and the bike could be made to dive sharply under braking but its composure was undisturbed by the worst I could do to it so I left well enough alone.

The twin rear shocks are by Dutch industry leader WP and are tuneable for preload, compression and rebound. Needless to say, the rear suspension has much less travel than the forks; that’s inherent in the genre and it’s built into the cruiser geometry. The rear spring rates are thus much harder than the front and the ride is harsher, even choppy, despite the long 1560mm wheelbase. Within the limits imposed by the styling, they work superbly well and never bottomed. The wheels are also new and special – Guzzi has fitted patented spoked alloy rims that allow the use of tubeless tyres while still giving that classic look unique to wire wheels.

The California is a long bike but steers amazingly quickly for something so porky. This makes it manoeuvrable enough to hold its own in daily commute, while out on the twisties it has more ground clearance than its looks would suggest and the stability to use it. There’s the suspicion of wallow on long fast sweeps, another cruiser quirk, and at 185km/h it begins to shake it head lazily. In deference to the less than 1000km on the clock I didn’t push it further.

The Guzzi is he first bike I’ve ridden with brakes that are too good. The famous Guzzi integral brakes operate the right front disc off the handlebar lever, while the left front and the rear disc work off the brake pedal. In this case the front discs are 320mm stainless-steel platters clamped by big Gold Series Brembo four-pot callipers, complemented by a 282mm disc and twin-pot floating calliper on the rear wheel. The handbrake works fine, even on just one disc it will haul in the bike with authority though, thanks to a hefty fork brace, without pulling to one side.

An injudicious prod with the right hoof will have the California exhibiting an intimidating degree of Brick Wall Effect. In traffic it’s quite easy to lock both wheels with just the foot brake and even at 120 on the open road the bike can get out of shape as the big Metzeler tyres howl in protest. They are the sharpest brakes I’ve experienced in three decades of riding and, if treated with the appropriate respect, are capable of stopping 251kg of motorcycle in eye-popping short distances. Just be careful until you get used to them, OK?

The rest of the bike is vintage cruiser in metallic blue and cream, with lots of chrome, including the instrument pod with its two beautiful white-faced dials, scripted lettering and slim red needles. The switchgear is standard Italian CEV stuff as used on a lot of Hondas, solid and chunky, and the round mirrors give a clear view over the rider’s shoulders – one of the advantages of cruiser styling. The deeply valanced mudguards are trimmed with 1950s-style chrome strips, repeating the gentle curves of the 19-litre fuel tank and rounded side covers.

The handlebars are low and wide, perfectly angled for comfort. The seat is low at 785mm, wide and flat though rather thinly padded, while the footpegs are correctly placed under the rider’s knees. The pillion pad is better than most and the pillion pegs are usefully positioned at the same level as those of the pilot. The EV is unusual in that respect; Californias have traditionally been fitted with footboards and this causes the bike’s only ergonomic failing.

Quite a lot of the Guzzi’s detail work has been styled rather than designed – instead of cleaning up the engineering and making it look good, they’ve hidden it with flimsy chromed sheet metal covers. Two of these tacky bits of tinplate run along the lower frame rails over the brake linkage and, on the left, the side-stand pivot. I found they simply didn’t leave enough room for my size tens and, worse still, when I tried to change up the toe of my boot caught under edge of the sheet metal. I soon learned to change up by pushing down with my heel on the rear arm of the rocker lever, just like a Honda delivery bike, but I couldn’t get comfortable. If the bike were mine the covers would be discarded immediately and I would pretty up the bracketry instead.

The California has probably the best side stand in the world. It’s long and very firm and locks into place when the bike’s weight is on it. The main stand, however, is for workshop use only and I couldn’t get the bike up on it.



Like every Guzzi, the California is an odd and apparently haphazard mixture of the traditional and the very modern, as in spoked wheels and fuel injection. In cruiser mode it all hangs together a lot better than with other models from this maker and it’s based on a solid chassis and very capable mechanicals with a well-earned reputation for indestructibility. It’s in many ways the best cruiser I’ve ridden, a worthwhile alternative to the American offerings.

The test bike is privately owned; a big thank-you to Charlie Thomson of Plumstead, Cape Town, for lending me his new toy before it was even run in. A California like his costs R79000 from the Guzzi Connection in Johannesburg.

SPECIFICATIONS

Motor: Air-cooled 90-degree transverse V-twin four-stroke.
Capacity: 1064cc.
Bore x Stroke: 92 x 80mm.
Valvegear: Pushrod with two valves per cylinder.
Compression ratio: 9.5:1
Power: 54kW @ 6400rpm.
Torque: 94Nm @ 6000rpm
Induction: Two 40mm Weber Marelli electronic fuel-injection.
Ignition: Magneti Marelli digital electronic.
Clutch: Cable-operated twin-plate dry clutch.
Transmission: Five-speed gearbox with shaft final drive.
Suspension: Front: 45mm Marzocchi conventional forks, adjustable for compression and rebound damping. Rear: Twin White Power shock-absorbers, adjustable for preload.
Brakes: Front: Twin 320mm floating discs with Brembo four-pot opposed piston callipers. Rear: Single 282mm disc with Brembo twin-piston floating calliper.
Tyres: Front: 110/90 - VB18 tubeless. Rear: 140/80 - VB17 tubeless.
Wheelbase: 1560mm.
Seat height: 785mm.
Dry weight: 251kg.
Fuel capacity: 19 litres