I own and ride a Moto Guzzi California motorcycle.  Actually, it is a Moto Guzzi California Vintage.  A Cal-Vin, skunk, cop bike, whatever you want to call it.  I love it and the many variations within the Guzzi California series, including the Bassa, the V11, and so on, all the way back to the 850 California.

So, what makes a Moto Guzzi California motorcycle so good in my opinion?  Here’s my top 5 list of reasons why this is the right motorbike for me:

1.  It’s a motorcycle for motorcycle enthusiasts.  Time proven.  No fluff (well,  not too much anyway).   A work-on-it-yourself kind of bike, built for the long haul and years of riding enjoyment.

2.  It’s not a me-too motorcycle.  It’s Italian, but not a Ducati want-to-be.  It’s classic, but not a Harley want-to-be. Overall it has a classic and timeless design that makes it hard to tell how old one actually is. I’ve seen 1998 and older models that look just as good as a 2010 model of any motorcycle on the market.

3.  Practical features.  For example: shaft drive, linked brakes, forks that you can adjust while riding, adjustable rear shocks, adjustable steering damper, choke/fast idle lever for quick cold start, easy access valve train and heads.  Sure, other motorcycles have such features, but usually they are mid-to-high end sport bikes, not standards.

4.  Guzzi owners.  Of course, there are going to be jerks everywhere, but I believe that people that own a Moto Guzzi seem to be real people.  What does that mean?  Well, partly, they’re not trying to put on a “bad” image.  The entire bad biker thing is lame and old if you ask me, but to each their own.

5.  Class-less.  Wait, that sounds bad,  what I mean is, a Moto Guzzi California is pretty much in a class by itself.  It’s not a cruiser.  It’s not a sport.  It’s not entirely a standard either.  What is it?  It is a unique and darn good handling motorcycle that you can enjoy riding for years and years, and not get bored with. Oh, and all that plus a touch of style, Italian style.

This is just my feeling about Moto Guzzi California motorcycles.  I’d like this to grow into an all-time list of best reasons to own one, directly from the the world-wide community of Cali owners.  So, what are your top reasons that the Guzzi Cali is the right motorcycle for you?

Production of the 75th anniversary edition California was limited to just 750 units.  Let’s take a look back to re-examine this special Cali.

Motorcycle Cruiser magazine featured the bike in their October 1997 issue.  Obviously, MotoGuzziCalifornia.com is biased here, but two quotes from that article stood out.  One was “Guzzi obviously built the California for serious riders.”  The other was “After riding the California, it’s easy to understand the fierce loyalty of Moto Guzzi owners.”  Couldn’t agree more.

The Moto Guzzi California 75th Anniversary edition retailed for $11,390. USD, which was $400 more than the standard California that year.

For your extra $400, you got the special red and silver paint scheme.  The standard two-tone colors for the regular Guzzi California were navy blue with beige, red with black, red with red, and green with black.

Each 75th anniversary California was numbered, as limited editions of things often are.  The number was placed below the gauges on the large aluminum handle bar mounting clamp.  Just below “GUZZI” was labeled “Serie Anniversario xxx/750″, where “xxx” here represents the unique number of 001 thru 750.  On the side covers, the anniversary California also got a “75″ just below the California logo.

The Kelly Blue Book retail value for a 1997 California i is about $4000 USD.  The anniversary edition of course should go for more, but is not listed.  NADA lists an average retail of about $2900.  Quite a difference.   Who knows how much a Guzzi enthusiast be willing to pay for a 75th anniversary California today in excellent condition.

It’s just a guess, but I’ll say about $400 more than a regular one.   However, when is the last time you saw one in person, or had a chance to buy one?

The often debated retro style tail light from the Vintage now also comes on the Black Eagle edition.  I do get a variety of comments about the tail light on my California Vintage.  Some say it looks just like it came from an old motorcycle (as intended) and they like it, while  others think it looks like it came from a hardware store to fit on a tractor or maybe a boat trailer.  Personally, I believe it fits the retro style, but I do wish it had the chrome trim ring that the early Vintage model publicity photos showed.

Speaking of chrome, there is plenty of it on the Black Eagle edition California.  It creates a strong contrast against the Aquila Nera black paint.  While most matte black motorcycles tend to have several blacked-out or muted features, this one has polished aluminum and chrome all over.  Borrowing again from the Vintage, the all black seat is wide and comfortable for most, and has a tubular chrome grab bar that wraps around the rear of it.  It’s actually not very functional as a passenger grab bar, but is more for style as a tamed version of what came on the older Guzzis.

The 1064cc fuel injected, pushrod v-twin with a 5 speed gearbox are retained from the previous California models.  This is a good thing, especially for proven reliability and durability.  It’s quite nice not to have to wonder about how the engine or transmission will hold up over time.

The fenders are not from the Vintage, which some folks might be happy about, and are painted in the same Aquila Nero matte finish to match the tank and side covers.  There are some painted components that a have the traditional gloss black finish.  This including the frame, the fork brace, fork clamps, and swingarm.

The Black Eagle edition Moto Guzzi California looks ripe for a range of accessories.  We’d like to see some optional side bags, a removable windshield, and a passenger backrest to be made available.  Adding on a set of chrome or matching black crash bars might also help finish off the look of this new member of the Cali family.

I was lucky in a way because it apparently had just started only moments before.  What could be causing oil to drop like this?  Oil was dripping down fin by fin, and eventually landing on the left foot board and toe part of the heal-toe shift mechanism.

It seemed to happen almost as soon as I parked it on it’s side stand, but it kept on slowly dripping for several minutes after.  In retrospect, it was not really that much oil at all, but when you don’t expect it and you always keep your engine as clean like I do, at that moment it seemed like an oil waterfall!

I immediately put the bike on the center stand and carefully checked the valve cover screws. The oil was still dripping a little, but all the valve cover screws were tight.  I got a little scared thinking of all the horrible possibilities that could have caused such a leak. After searching for clues and answers, on the motorcycle, on the internet, and after speaking with my Moto Guzzi dealer about it, I began to realize that it was just the valve cover gasket that was leaking.  This would be a very simple fix.  I could have claimed it under warranty, but I’m a bit of a gearhead, so I decided to do it myself.

Replacing a valve cover gasket on a Moto Guzzi California is a lot like replacing a valve cover gasket on an older car, but easier because of the size.  I say like an older car because there are no hoses and other stuff in the way, it’s beautiful.  The California Vintage has 1064cc push rod engine with 2 valves per cylinder.  This engine pretty much the same as the Moto Guzzi California V11 engine.  It is simple and beautiful.

There are two other things fastened together with the valve cover, and those are the engine guard and the knee guard.  There is nothing to removing those because thee same screws that hold the valve cover to the head also are holding these guards.

First, I unplugged the outer spark plug wire.  If you didn’t know, this Guzzi engine has two spark plugs per cyclinder. I then began to loosen the 8 valve cover screws, just a small angle of rotation each, going around the cover in a star pattern to try to unload it as evenly as possible.  It may seem crazy, but I didn’t want to risk warping the mounting flange of the die cast valve cover.

The knee guard is a sheet metal weldment with a ribbed black rubber cover on it.  It is located near the intake manifold and is held in place by 2 of the valve cover screws.  The lower screw also holds the end of the die cast aluminum engine guard, but that guard goes over the top of the knee guard sheet metal, sandwiching it in between the cover and the engine guard.

The rest of the engine guard sits directly on the valve cover, but that one end has the sheet metal thickness of the knee guard between it and the valve cover flange.  It seems the engine guard would be unevenly clamped due to the knee guard, but that is the way it came from the factory.

Also, I noticed there are no washers on any of the valve cover screws, which I thought was a bit unusual.  With the knee guard and engine guard removed, all that is left to do is to remove the valve cover.  I lifted very slowly and very carefully because I wanted to see what condition the gasket was in.  I immediately noticed that the two lowest screw holes were torn out, and that the gasket had leaked from those areas, and the area in between those screws.

The original gasket was a relatively thick, dark gray material.  The new gaskets from dealer were green and noticeably thinner.  I carefully cleaned away any bits of gasket that were stuck to the valve cover and the cylinder head.

Finally, I positioned the new gasket onto the head and the placed the valve cover on.  I was super careful to make sure the gasket holes were aligned perfectly with the screws as I tightened them down in a star pattern, applying a gradual and equal amount of torque to each.

Before I started up the Guzzi, I made sure that every little hint of oil stain was cleaned up and that it looked good as new, especially between the fins.  If you don’t do this, how would you know if an oil stain was new or old?

After about one mile, I stopped and checked for leak.  All was good.  I rode about 5 more miles and then pulled over and checked again.  Finally, I rode a little while longer, checked again and began to realize that the problem was solved.

I have been told by several Moto Guzzi owners that the valve cover gaskets are normally re-usable for a few times; however, I think it’s a safer bet to go ahead and change them if you have the cover off for any reason.  I suspect the first service valve adjustments may have caused the tears. These gaskets cost about $17 US for the pair from a Moto Guzzi dealer that had them in stock.

I hope you found this article to be helpful, and I hope you will come back to visit MotoGuzziCalifornia again soon.

The first time I ever visited a Moto Guzzi shop several years ago and studied actual Moto Guzzi motorcycles in person, I remember that I really loved the engines and the gas tanks.  I also remember that the Jackal was just being introduced and I had read the reviews.  They offered a special low-priced version in the US market that made it very tempting for me back then.  I didn’t have much money, but I remember it was a stripped-down model that I felt I might regret getting, and worried that I would end up spending even more than the top model to upgrade it over time so that it would have all the proper accessories and features that it should have.  So, I did nothing and continued to dream about someday owning a Moto Guzzi.  I visited that shop at least a few times a year ever since then, just to peek at used bikes and to see what the new ones looked like.

Fast-forwarding to 2008, I started to get very serious about finally getting a motorcycle.  What got me going was the California Vintage.  I took the family out with me to visit some other shops, but nothing clicked as usual.  When we walked into the Moto Guzzi shop and saw that California Vintage, we knew that was it.  In fact, my wife said “this is the bike” the instant we walked in the door, but she had no idea it was the one I went there to see.  That was amazing.

I now have 1000 miles on it and felt I had enough experience to share my thoughts about the California Vintage.  It has a few little quirks, as people seem to enjoy saying about Italian motorcycles or Italian vehicles in general.  I actually don’t really mind most of these quirks and I think that most Moto Guzzi owners also don’t mind them, well, at least most of them.

Having never owned a motorcycle that had a rocker type, or heel and toe shift lever, it took me some time to become totally comfortable with that.  I have never had to adjust the shift lever, it just has been a mental thing.  For a while, I wore small boots that are actually car racing shoes so that I could feel the foot levers better.  This helped me get used to how the shift lever and foot brake lever mechanically felt.  My feeling is that to ride a motorcycle properly, you need to become part of the machine, so I did in that regard.  When I tried wearing motorcycle style boots in the beginning, I could not feel the shift lever or the brake lever well enough to really control them how I wanted to, but now it’s no problem at all even with heavier boots.

The brake system is a linked design, meaning the rear brakes and front brakes are actuated at the same time via a proportioning valve like in a car when you use the foot brake.  Don’t be scared of this idea!  It works great and has for many years on Moto Guzzi and on other brands of motorcycles more recently.  I feel safer having linked brakes and braking is actually easier and smoother in my opinion.  The foot brake lever has been an interesting thing to learn.  It’s completely natural to me now, but at first, it was not so simple.

I’ve never had a motorcycle that had foot boards, and never gave any thought to how you have to lift your foot onto the rear brake lever when you have foot boards instead of pegs.  As it turns out, with a Moto Guzzi California Vintage, you do have a foot peg, but it’s only for your right heel.  Sounds weird, right?  To help you operate the foot brake lever, there is a short little foot peg (heel peg) about where your right ankle is.  As you begin to prepare for braking, you raise your right heel slightly and rest it onto that little peg while your right toes are still on the foot board.  To push the brake lever from that position, you simply raise your toes onto the lever while your heel remains on the short peg.  This actually is very easy to do, and it becomes second nature, but it takes a little getting used to.  Of course, you can easily just push the brake lever without doing this, but it is more comfortable and easier to have fine control of the downward pressure on the lever when you use the heel peg.  Earlier on, I had a little trouble feeling if I had my heel on the peg and not the brake linkage.  It’s totally natural now, but was strange at first.

Another thing that is a little different on the Moto Guzzi California is that it has a short little choke lever on the handle bar next to the clutch lever.  I knew that Moto Guzzi has had electronic fuel injection for many years, so I was a little puzzled when I first saw the choke lever.  It acts like a fast idle device that helps you start and keep it idling when it’s cold, a choke.  It works great, but now it tends to vibrate itself to the off position right away unless I hold it.  It probably can be tightened, but I don’t have to use it very often, so I never remember to check to see if I can snug it up like when it was brand new.  Not a big deal.

The California Vintage seat is very comfortable for me.  I am 6 feet tall and find the seat height perfect.  I think this motorcycle’s seat could easily comfort a much heavier and larger person without any problem.  It is relatively wide, pretty firm and actually very comfortable.  My only complaint about the California Vintage seat is that you are really asking for trouble if you take it off.  To remove it, you use the key to turn the lock located near the 12V power outlet on the left side of the bike.  The key lock gave me the impression that the mechanism for the seat would be a good one and perhaps easy to use.  I was very wrong.  The key unlocks the seat, but you have to lift the rear to pop it loose.  There is no hinge, so you have to remove the entire seat from the bike.  I’m disappointed with that.  For the cost of this motorcycle, and the caliber of motorcycle it is, it should have had a hinged seat for convenience.

Under the seat is a small storage tray to hold the special Moto Guzzi tool kit that comes with the Guzzi California.  I actually don’t keep it there because I know how difficult it is to get the seat back on.  There is a steel ball on a post that sticks up into a socket in the underside of the seat, and there is a tongue under the front of the seat that fits into a slot under the gas tank.  So to re-install the seat, you tilt the seat down in the front to get the tongue under the gas tank and you try to feel that the ball on the little post is aligned with the socket towards the rear underside of the seat.  But, you really can not feel that.  Then you push down as hard as you can, using your fists or whatever, to try to pop the seat into position.  You are actually pushing down onto the seat to try to engage the lock claw (like in a car door) and that ball into the socket.  It is very hard and very frustrating to do.  At the dealer, it took 3 guys to do this when they were first showing me the bike.  The owner of the dealership had the right touch and he got it back on pretty quickly after the other two couldn’t get it at all.  I have done it once in six months. I’m going to install remote connections for the battery so I can connect it to a battery maintainer during the off-season in hopes that I won’t have to mess with that seat mechanism again.

Some of the things I like best about the California Vintage are the windscreen, the auxiliary lights, the handle bars, the fuel tank, the foot boards, the center stand, and the exhaust system.  The windscreen is not too large and works very well.  It has nice stainless brackets and fasteners and has not given me any problems.  The auxiliary lights are very bright and have classic style chrome housings.  They will start to drain the battery if kept on very long, so I’ve learned to use them sparingly and only while running at sufficient engine speeds.  It seems the alternator is still undersized even though it was increased for the California Vintage.

The handle bars appear to be the same as on other Guzzi California models. They are a substantial diameter and are at a very comfortable position and angle for me.   The fuel tank is one of the things I love about Moto Guzzi California motorcycles.  The raised shape is absolutely beautiful, the size is right and the locking filler cap is very easy to use with one hand and works well.  The low-fuel light is easy to see and comes on when there is plenty left to make it to a station.  There is no fuel shut-off valve, which worries me slightly, but that’s just because every motorcycle I ever rode before has had one.

The foot boards seem to be perfectly damped to get rid of vibration and I’m always amazed by how they don’t vibrate.  They are not insanely over-sized like on some other brands.  Some people have written that they think they are mounted a little to high, but I think they are good where they are.  On my Vintage, the front edge of the left foot board rubs just slightly against fairing that is mounted on the crash bar and causes a little vibration noise at idle.  I could probably resolve that by adding a small washer to space the fairing forward just a little, but I have not been annoyed enough to do that yet. ( Update:  Since writing this, I added the washers and the problem is solved.  It was an incredibly easy fix).

Even though the California Vintage comes with a long shiny chrome police-style kick stand, I like to use the center stand most often.  How many baggers come with a center stand?  It is incredibly easy to put this Cali up on the center stand in one smooth, easy motion.  The kick stand tends to slide on the pavement, and while I know it can only slide so far, I just done’ feel confident using it.  I do like the way it looks though, especially when I see older California models with their poorly painted and rusty looking kick stands.  I’m not sure if the Vintage’s chrome kick stand would fit older Guzzi Californias, but it would make for a nice upgrade for them.  One thing about the center stand, you need to watch out for your pants on your left cuff so that they don’t get caught on it while riding.  There is a foot lever that sticks up behind your left heel, and I have had my pants hang onto it before.  That’s a scary feeling when your getting ready to put your left foot down at a stop.  As with all motorcycle riding, we need to make sure we wear the proper clothing so these sort of things won’t happen.  The Italian-made Lafranconi exhaust note is just perfect for my tastes.  It is not loud, but is deep and mellow. The sound of power really comes to life at about 4000 rpm. I can’t imagine it sounding any better.

The California Vintage handles really well for me.  The tires are not big according to today’s standards, but neither is the entire motorcycle.  At 1064cc, it has a smaller engine than most bagger motorcycles and weighs significantly less than most others in it’s class.  The stock Lafranconi exhaust is tucked in nicely and won’t drag or scrape anything.  There seems to be sufficient spacing between the bottom of the panniers and the pipes and there is no sign of heat damage or discoloration under there.  Another nice thing about the exhaust is that you don’t have to do anything special to avoid hot pipes because they are well shielded were needed and are out of the way.

I have not messed with the steering damper, but it’s there if I need it and I like that.  Really, how many other baggers do you know of that come with a an adjustable steering damper?  Speaking of adjustable, the adjustment knobs on the top of the fork tubes are great and easy to adjust while riding.  I like a mildly firm front compression adjustment, but when I have to cross really bumpy railroad tracks, I lower it back down and float right over them, then I simply turn it back up.  I really like having that adjustment within such comfortable reach.  I love that Moto Guzzi keeps some of the sport-bike features like that on their California motorcycles.  The rear suspension is adjustable for damping and compression, but I never have felt a need to adjust it.   I have heard people talk about Moto Guzzi motorcycles and their shaft drive system causing some jacking motion.  I think they are talking about something from decades ago, but they seem to still talk about it like some urban legend.  Moto Guzzi does not put the CARC system on their California models, and I don’t see why it would be needed on this motorcycle anyway.  Maybe an expert rider or racer would feel differently, but I don’t run this motorcycle full throttle and am not interested in modifying the engine for additional power, so I’m fine with the stock shaft drive and rear suspension combination as Moto Guzzi designed it in Italy.

The gauges are clean, simple and I like their style.  In bright sunlight, the neutral light can be hard to see if the sun is hitting it just right, but aside from that, I really like the gauges and am glad Moto Guzzi stayed with the classic look they have.

Let’s talk about the side bags or panniers as some like to call them.  I think they are elegant and nicely made; however, I am disappointed with Moto Guzzi’s choice of hinge for the lid.  Why on such a fine motorcycle they chose plastic hinges for the pannier lids, I really don’t know.  I can only think it is because they wanted to keep the cost low.  They blend in nicely, but act flimsy.  The lids open from the rear of the motorcycle and tilt upward towards the front.  They don’t stay open on their own due to gravity, so you have to use one hand to hold it open or else it will fall towards the front of the motorcycle and bounce several times against the nice chrome bar in front of it.  When this first happened to me, I instantly thought I ruined the lid.  Fortunately, I caused no damage or scratches.  It needs a linkage, a cable, or something to limit how far it can open just past top center so it will stay open without having to hold it.  The black plastic hinges are probably durable enough, but they make the pannier lid wobbly open.  There are obviously better standard hinges on the market that Moto Guzzi could have specified to join together such beautifully sculpted pannier pieces.  Anyway, the Southco brand locking latches on the rear of the panniers are a better grade and are plated metal, but they are not adjustable.  One latch clamps a little better than the other, but since they are non-adjustable, there’s not a lot I can do about that.  The looser fitting one actually has popped open a few times while riding.  Both times, I didn’t notice it until later.  I now make it a habit to lock them with the key before I ride.  At least the panniers lock with a key and they do look good on the California Vintage.

Starting the California Vintage’s beautiful v-twin engine has always sounded a little like the battery does not have enough juice.  It always starts, but it sounds to me like it is cranking a little slower than it should.  Someday I hope to compare that to another Guzzi California, but there’s not a lot of them around.  The Moto Guzzi Norge, on the other hand, fires up instantly without even hearing it crank.  It actually amazed me to witness that. My Vintage cranks with a lumpety-lumpety-lumpety sound before it fires.  The sound does seem to match the bike, but still it always sounds like it might not start.  It probably is just a weak battery since my motorcycle, while purchased brand new in 2008, is a 2007 model.  They are all the same, but I imagine the battery was probably more than 1 year old before I put into service, but I have not tested it because of the seat mechanism as I explained earlier.

To summarize the California Vintage so far, it’s like a best friend.  I somehow feel as if I have always had this motorcycle even though I have only had it a short time, but it’s always exciting to think about and to ride.  It is smooth, comfortable, and easy.  Not everyone has one and it is not the same as any other motorcycle.  It is not burdened with heavy oversize features to make it look bigger, but it rides two very comfortably.  It’s light enough to easily push or walk it in and out of tight parking spaces without any problem.  Oh, I forgot to mention that I wish it had a helmet lock, and perhaps an alarm, but with a respectable, classic police-style motorcycle like the Moto Guzzi California Vintage, I don’t think many people will mess with it.