The Moto Guzzi California Vintage -- quintessential.
During the month of October 2008 I had the opportunity to spend 7 days with the Moto Guzzi California Vintage. I Had never spent time with a “big bagger” like the Cal Vintage Before, and I was shocked that I was such a great handling bike.
I found it to be an excellent value for it’s equipment level, arguably close to the 40% less in price than a comparably-equipped Harley Davidson Heritage Softail. Below are the links to all of the reviews in order:
- Moto Guzzi California Vintage Review – Day 1 – Can’t get off the bike! – First Impressions, an initial long ride, my introduction to floorboards.
- Moto Guzzi California Vintage – Commuting and First Impressions — Going on my 160 mile commute in the big bagger.
- Moto Guzzi California Vintage Day 3 — Cool vs. “Checkbook Cool” – What makes the Moto Guzzi California Vintage “Cool”.
- Moto Guzzi California Vintage – Day 4 – Vintage vs Harley Heritage Softail — A BARGAIN! – Comparing the Moto Guzzi California Vintage to a Harley Davidson Heritage Softail.
- Moto Guzzi California Vintage – Day 5 – The Mental Health Day. – Taking a day off from work and riding down the PCH until life sets in.
- Moto Guzzi California Vintage – Day 6 – Time to take ‘er home. – The last day. Heavy traffic commute and final thoughts.
Below you can find the pictures that I took of the bike. There were no bad angles. As an extra bonus, There’s a picture of the 2009 California Vintage in WHITE!
- Moto Guzzi California Vintage, Point Dume Beach, 11/22/08, 10am.
Unmistakeable California Vintage Seat
The 2008 Moto Guzzi California Vintage
California Vintage Instruments
17 inch Mac Laptop fits inside!
Moto Guzzi California Vintage under the Hollywood sign.
California Vintage in White
Nice work Dan. With your writings serving as a portion of my inspiration I purchased a new Cal Vintage. At 49 this is the first new vehicle I have purchased. I picked it up on Jan. 3 and thanks to Chicago weather haven’t put a single mile on it untill today. (3-14) Yes….that was the thought as I saw it for the first time and it was the last thought today as I was putting it away….simply yes. My first Guzzi was a 1972 Police Eldorado purchased in 1986, a great machine. A Vintage is the natural progression. When fired this morning it hesitated and spit, hmmmm…this isn’t good I thought. After several restarts I took the fuel cap off and a good deal of pressure that had built up released. After restarting ……silk. It’s quiet but has a little throat. The seat and I are gonna be good friends. The brakes are incredible. I’m 5′-10″ with a 32″ inseam, the floorboards and leg room suit me. I will be putting a few more miles on it prior to airing it out but there is more than adequate power to maintain your dignity in any group you wish to hang with. No knee dragging yet either but it inspires confidence and it’s as solid as a Fleetwood Brougham. You can scarcely do a proper restoration of an Eldorado for the price and if you take the same money to Harley…….can you say Sportster? It may be hard to tell, but I like it. The Eldorado will remain as royalty in my stable but I’m dreaming of urban nights and twisty Parkways on the Vintage. Mick Mayersky
Hey Danilo,
With all the talk about how light the bike is, maybe I sat on an odd one today. Mind you, it didn’t have the bags on it, and I had just gotten off of a Sportster. I’m 5′7″ with a 30″ inseam, and am worried more about whether or not the bike has a higher centre of gravity than, say, the Road King Custom I was thinking of buying. Do you know of a way in the adjustability of the suspension to lower the bike, or if anyone makes a lowering kit that doesn’t negatively affect the handling? I work at one of the top Harley-Davidson dealers in the country – I’d love to show up at work on the Guzzi!
I’d talk further to Jim at Rose Farm Classics (www.rosefarmclassics.com), as he sets bikes up for the factory and has as much knowledge as anyone I know. Craig Field is another guy, up in Seattle at Moto International.
First, I’ve never seen a Cal Vintage with the bags off of it, so you have my suspicions up a little there, so it might be an “odd” one. The Cal Vintage will have a higher seat height than a sporty for sure, but l have a 32″ inseam and easily flat-foot the bike. The suspension should be adjustable downward like you’re saying, but I can’t verify that for sure. One of the reasons it sits higher is that it gets the cornering clearance it needs for the twisties. Harley publishes their “lean angles” for different bikes, and I remember the Heritage was 29°. You can bring a Vintage a LOT farther down than that.
I’d love for you to show up at work on your Guzzi. The community of Moto Guzzi Riders is a real riders’ repository of joy and camaraderie. We ride, then we ride some more, then we talk about our bikes, then we clean them. Not the other way around. Please let me know how it goes.
I think it’s time you rode the bike a little.
The bike that I saw was still being set up out of the crate. If none of the suspension settings had been dialled in, I imagine that could explain the seemingly high seat. I’ve often said (much to the chagrins of my work colleagues) that the Harley-Davidson is a motorcycle of average competence, let down by the pretentiousness of their owners. Perhaps it’s the seven years I spent living and riding in Europe, but I just “feel” something with the Guzzi that I don’t with the other bikes. Incidentally, when I got in to work today, the Road King that I was considering got sold on my day off, and the wife prefers the looks of the Cali anyhow. Is this a sign I wonder?
Indeed. My wife loves the Cal Vintage as well. I also think that the shocks and suspension will “settle” quickly. The bike that I rode had a couple of thousand miles on it, which probably explained quite a bit. You’re going to ride higher, more “cop-like” in the seat, and you might not have expected this. After about 500 miles you’ll wonder why you rode any other way. Plus, the linked brakes are a treat on it — exploring how they work just blew my mind.
Jim over at Rose Farm has taken a lot of Cal Vins back when the riders were chided by their choice. They all went off and spent the extra thousands of dollars to “get into the club”. I just don’t buy this personally. What you ride shouldn’t dictate who you ride with.
The Cal Vin is the sweetest bike. A bunch of us Guzzi riders hanging out a few weeks back pretty much agreed if they could only have ONE Guzzi, the Vintage is the go-to.
A little disappointed, it seems Guzzi dealers in my area of N. Virginia into Maryland are scarce of Guzzi bikes, they seem not to be able to get them in. Found one dealer up near Baltimore that had one California Vintage new and a Brevia sport, the Cal was a new left over 2007 model year, he may only special order them now since Guzzi is erratic on supply, Its now almost in the 2010 model year and I wonder if it would be worth it to get the 2007 or wait. Seems if they equip the Vintage with the new 4valve motor and new shaft drive system they would hit a home run with this bike. Do you think that maybe in the works and should I wait? My other Guzzi dealer is way over in Winchester Virginia and he only has one Guzzi and it too is a left over 2007 model, a pre 4valve Griso. I want to go Guzzi but the fear of Guzzi disppearing in the night and leaving me with a new bike without support is a real concern to me.
Dan, great review of the Cal Vintage. I’ve only test ridden the bike but enjoyed it immensely. Struck me, in fact, as a two-wheeled equivalent of a 55 Chevy.
I’d have only one quibble: your comparison of the Vintage and the HD Heritage Softtail. Though it’s an understandable comparison, I’d have to say that a more appropriate one is with the Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe, another little appreciated great touring bagger.
Doesn’t have that elusive “character” of the Guzzi, but its 1294 cc V4 is a marvel of smoothness and power for its size. Easily removable windshield and sissy bar, very good luggage, and automotive quality cruise control.
Personally, I can’t bring myself to give up either my Valkyrie or my 1100 Breva for either the RSTD or the Cal Vintage, but if I were looking for a great handling touring cruiser I’d be hard pressed to decide between the two.
Excellent comment. I think I chose the Harley for the comparison because of it’s ‘character’. The Guzzi thrives on ‘character’ in the same vein, although probably pointed at a slightly different audience. The point I was trying to make is that the Guzzi is “better” than the Harley “on paper” and should be considered as an alternate to it. The Japanese Cruisers are a much harder comparison in my opinion, because they are so well-built. One note is that they came along later than Guzzi into the “cruiser” business — Guzzi was deep into the cruiser by the end of the 60’s.
The Japanese Cruisers are going to be “perfect” with most of their attributes, but at a cost. They seem to be aimed directly at Harley. Guzzi seems to have it’s own idea about what a cruiser should be and they aren’t trying to clone Harley.
You can usually lose some seat height with some smaller shocks
and some seat surgery. Call Curtis at Harper Moto Guzzi for the right answer. Also the dealer in Westmoreland, Pa has lowered Grisos and Brevas. Maybe he has some advice.
Thanks for the review. I have been coveting a Cal Vintage for a couple years now and am about a year away from getting one. I hear such good things about it and the ones I’ve looked at nearly bring me to my knees, they are so beautiful…choirs sing…heavenly lights… I’ve read some pretty horrible reviews howevever, including being in the shop three times in the first eight months, running lousy, bad behaviour in cold weather, not good in tight turns, unreliable and slow to accellerate. These are clearly not the majority opinion but claims like this are one of the major reasons I won’t buy a HD. My bike is my sole transporation and is subject to long trips. I ride a Honda now…the pinnacle of reliability. Am I making a mistake in considering the Cal Vintage?
Buy from a reputable dealer and you’ll never have a problem. Dealer prep on Guzzis is VERY important. Guzzi builds as many bikes in a year as Honda builds on a good day, so the dealer is the last leg in the Quality Assurance chain. This should solve any running issues.
As far as not good in tight turns, I’m amazed that anyone would say that. For a cruiser especially, it is amazing in turns. You can literally lock the handlebars and swing it around. It weighs as much as a sportster and has oodles of “leanability”. For acceleration, it is highly competent. Will it out-drag a 2600cc Triumph? Well, no. I weigh in at about 250, and the bike gets up and moves for me.
Reliability compared to a Honda is interesting. I have a 37 year old Guzzi that I can ride every day. I don’t know how many Hondas, Harleys or whatever that can match that. Guzzis are just great bikes. I don’t know where you’re located, but by your IP stating Jacksonville, there are some good dealers in Florida. I’d get on the wildguzzi forum and look for recommendations.
I was real close to getting a Cal but something put the brakes on big time, I found out for some odd ball reason Guzzi put the oil filter in the pan. If Im doing a cross country trip and want to change the oil and filter enroute the last thing I want to do is take a bunch of oil pan bolts out, drop the pan and change a filter. Not only would that be a major pain to do on the road it seems to me the more times you drop a pan the more of a chance in the future of developing a persitant oil leak. I think the new 1200 engine has the filter as an external spin on but I could be mistaken. So for now Im holding off on the Cal. vintage until I can think it over more or if Guzzi decides to put the new engine and shaft system in it. Its a beautiful bike and part of me says buy, but the filter thing is hanging me up.
I spoke with my favorite dealer about this issue. 6000 miles between oil changes is a loooong trip. If you factor in most bikes that require moving exhausts, oil coolers and equipment, you’re in for a penny, in for a pound. It’s a few bolts and new gasket.
He also said that he has no issues surrounding persistent oil leaks with oil pan removal. He actually said that having the pan off, cleaning the gook out, etc is kind of nice. If the bike has everything else that you want, it seems to be a small compromise.
Yes, it seems to have everything I want, its a work of rolling art. I used to own two Honda CX500 customs, a guzzi type cloan. I put about 100k in the saddle between the both of them, Ive always been attracted to the Guzzis One other complaint someone who owns one on another board made was the alternator system seems a little weak since he said when he runs the auxilary lights with the main light for an extended period it tends to run the battery down, also I was going to mount a GPS and run maybe a heated vest, etc off it since I ride year round no matter the temp. I found a manual online and perhaps you can clear up something, if I read the manual right it said not to use the built in power port while running the bike, that would rule out using a GPS etc on the go. That didnt make sense to me so maybe it was a bad translation on the manual. I can get a great deal on a left over 2007 and 2008. Or on a Triumph 2007 Rocket 3 classic new. Im torn between them.
If you run the aux lights on all the time with the motor idling, you might have issues, but not running at speed. Don’t use the power cord while running? That seems just plain silly.
GPS just doesn’t draw enough power to even think about this. We’re talking cell-phone power. Not a blip on the radar, I mean like 9 volts at 1 amp if that? Check the manual for the draw, it’s nothin. That motor supports heated handgrips, and they draw power like the Las Vegas Strip in comparison.
The difference between a Rocket III and a Guzzi in my opinion is this. The Rocket III is a battleship. Friggin gigantic. Sure it’s got the 2600 motor and it’s a great bike, but I want to see someone backing it uphill on a steep parking lot. It’s Gold Wing big, bragging rights big. It’s a battleship — big guns, but it’s not going to move out of a straight line nearly as fast.
Guzzi motors are less than half that size, because you’re running a LOT less weight. Different bikes. Not a lot of inertia to move around in comparison. It’s a destroyer — fast, armed well enough and highly maneuverable.
You’re going to notice this in the twisties and the fun stuff. If you’re just going to get on I-10 and go to LA, it doesn’t matter. If you are going to be cruising with your friends and want to walk away from them on every highway on-ramp, the Guzzi’s your bike. The frame on it is nearly identical to the early hot-rod Le Mans and a very worthy bike. The fact that it’s a cruiser just makes it cool.
You’re going to notice a different riding position on both. The Guzzi isn’t the typical arm-chair cruiser. You don’t sit “down in” the bike. You sit in a more standard position — much more “cop-like”. I find it very relaxing over long distances since you’re very neutral with your weight on the bike.
It also “looks” like every person’s idea of a cop bike. Don’t discount this. Splitting lanes in LA, I found them to part like the Red Sea for Moses when I was on the CalVin.
I too think they are a bargain. You won’t get the equipment combination at a base price on any other brand like the Guzzi, and that is amazing. Once you dial in the Marzocchis and enjoy the stability of those amazing brakes, you’re going to be sold. Plus those hard bags can pack a lot of gear and look great.
If you look at the Motorcyclist Magazine from last year, I don’t remember which issue, they compared cruisers. The Guzzi was second place, beating out everyone but the Rocket I believe, and that was only because they were worried about the dealer network.
I for one have absolutely no desire to be the “biggest kid on the block”. I like being different, maybe crave it. I won’t sacrifice quality for it though, and the CalVin spoke to me from that standpoint. I guess it needs to fit your bill. Like I’ve said, I don’t tell everyone to buy a Guzzi, just make sure it’s in the mix when you’re considering a bike. They will challenge your decision in a very good way.
Here’s a copy and paste from the Vintage manual that gave me concern about using the outlet while running. The Warning one is the silly statement in the manual. If Im on the highway I have to have my garmin plugged in because its battery goes dead in 3 to 4 hours. Also it looks that if I run the garmin off the outlet I cant also run the fog lights. Thats silly also. I do a lot of real early morning riding and I need all the light I can get to keep an eye out for the deer in my area. It sounds if I choose to use the fog lights then the power outlet is not powered. Id gladly pay more for a heavy duty alternator that would function in the real world. The Norge can do the extra power so I dont understand why the Vintage cant also, they are both about the same MSRP. I did think about the Norge also. Ive heard good things about that bike, though the riding position is not as laid back as the Vintage.
12V power outlet («A» in fig. 14)
It is at the centre, on the left-hand side, it is useful for
small 12 Volt electric items with max. power of 180W.
WARNING!
Use the power outlet when bike is stopped
only.
CAUTION
Do not leave any electric item connected
and ON for too long or the battery will run flat.
Using key «1» fig. 3 in « » position and
additional fog lights on, 12V power outlet
«A» is not powered.
Heh! I figured it out. The LAWYERS wrote that!
First, 180W of power is a lot of stuff. Second, the warning to use the outlet when the bike is stopped is to protect goofy people from plugging stuff in and using it while the bike is running (what do you mean I can’t use my hair dryer while I ride?). Do not leave the item connected and ON refers to the above scenario — bike stopped, Power on.
If you’re just worried about the Garmin and the outlet, Just do this. Walk into your quality Moto Guzzi Dealer of choice and say “I’ll buy a bike from you today if you’ll hard wire up a Garmin outlet for me.” I also don’t know where position “1″ is. Is that the accessory position? Makes sense then that the fogs would cancel the power socket in that case.
You think anyone’s going to turn you down? The fogs take a lot of juice, but not when you’re running. They suck power when you’re sitting at stop lights. I think you have some valid questions — talk to your dealer about them. The Norge is a fantastic bike, but it seems like you like the cruiser models and I can’t say that I blame you. They sure as heck aren’t the same, and they are both fantastic for different reasons.