The just-completed Piaggio dealer meeting resulted in the publication of photos on the web of two new models, including an Aprilia Caponord 1200 (which is an adventure tourer based on the Dorsoduro 1200) and the Moto Guzzi California 1400 cruiser (pictured above), featuring a new air-cooled motor.
The California 1400 was shown to dealers as a prototype last year and should be nearing production. The Caponord 1200 could go into production immediately, as it appears to share not only the engine but the chassis of the Dorsoduro.
This bike looks great. It has everything,power,aircooled,great suspension…etc. Looks unfaked muscled.
The engine is the first thing the eye catches not hided behind a big radiotor. If this thing rides like it looks i am gone get me one.
That looks absolutely hideous to me which means that the design probably looks good to cruiser fans. Looks like they have some quality suspension bits on it which is good news for cruiser riders should those carry over to production. I like Guzzis a lot, but I am hoping for bikes that compete with Monsters and S3’s in the future.
Wow, the word “chunky” comes to mind.
Upon taking a closer look at the Guzzi ‘Goliath’, maybe a larger and longer seat would add some appeal? There also appears to be plenty of room on that long chassis not only for the driver’s floor boards but 2 sets of foot pegs. Guzzi could claim marketing fame by producing the first 2 passenger capable bike (sans sidecar)!
Oh I get it now. Guzzi wants to start a new trend with The back wheel 36″ behind the engine as opossed to Harley and Honda having a cruiser with the front wheel 36″ from the engine. I like
Guzzis and this thing is fugly
Man I love Guzzis but thing is fugly. But I do get it. Guzzi is trying to start a new trend by having the rear wheel 36 inches behind
the engine instead of US and Japan bikes (read Fury) having the front wheel 36 inches ahead of the engine.
I am confused about one thing: Is the fuel tank under the seat or up top?
Having owned a 1986 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans – the bike above looks like its getting ready to give birth. I can’t believe that a real live human being, from Italy no less, actually got that monstrosity past the higher-ups to market. Wow.
I just don’t get it. But again, I ride a Bug-eyed Speed Triple…
Good luck.
I have a Yammie Road Star that I thought was awful porky looking but this thing is just , well fat. I took care of mine with a Sawzall and grinder and it’s pretty svelt now but this thing you would have to torch in two I think.
I’ll wait till they are sitting in the dealers showroom collecting dust and get it for 1/2 the price, like the rest of their lineup.
Well it sure is on the large side but it is still a Guzzi with there wonderful sound. I would take this bike any day over the over priced and out dated Harley. Harley should hire a design staff instead of using there parts bin idea with stupid names. The only thing new on a Harley is the paint color.
Sort of looks like Guzzy’s idea of the Honda Rune. And we all know how well that turned out.
Sad to say, like many Americans, getting fatter, too big and not any prettier. Absolutely gross looking mammoth of a 2 wheeled boat. Some of the recent classic styled Guzzis sure look a lot better and lighter!
I don’t know why I have such a visceral, negative reaction to Guzzi’s new big bike all pimped out with LOTS OF PLASTIC AND CHROME AND “floorboards” (footboards, really), but it kinda reminds me of the bulk girth heft and sheer excess of a Honda Valkyrie /Rune/, it looks so biiiiiiiiig.
One example of today’s motorcycle design zeitgeist shining through in this model to a ridiculous degree — I can’t understand outboarding the rear shock reservoir in such an awkward position, when they could just hide it behind some of that overthetop plastic and give it its own trap door to conceal it. But Lord no, you got to show that reservoir to let everyone know . . . that your shocks have reservoirs . . .or that this bike is purposebuilt for crisp handling? or a soft ride? or? Beyond me, sorry.
Its not my sort of thing, but pretty much all Guzzis DO have good handling. It might look a lot less bulky when you are sitting on it.
I prefer the totally unique Griso 1200 and the V7 Classic. But I’m a Guzzi guy – 8 years on a 750 and never want to sell it.
Well, it’s not a bike I would choose, and visually its ok to me,however I don’t think floorboards go with the other styling cues of the bike.
Whatever happened to the 750 dual sport Aprilla showed drawings of in the fall of ’10?
Tuareg 750
Grow it to 800, and it would compete directly with the Tiger 800xc and the BMW 800, and give us fans of smaller “giant” dual-sports a V twin option!
I really like this big sexy Italian! My current bike is a Road King and I love it, but I’d be happy to ride this Guzzi cruiser.
I like it. Basic clean lines. Big motor. I would like it instead of Hardley Davidson, especially after Harley mucked up the XR1200 tank so that it swells with ethanol in it. So I am right there with companies who are competing with the “American brand”, which in reality is just a bunch of selfish stockholders and chinese parts and downsizing layoffs in crease the profit margin. Look at those giant shocks on the Guzzi. They care about the rider! Cool and powerful. A real cruiser.
Neil,
Harley “mucked up” the XR tank by making it too small (3.5 gallons). Even getting 49 to 50 MPG highway I’d like another 0.5 to one gallon of fuel.
The tank expanding thing has not effected most XRs, mine has given me no problems is 2 years and 15K miles. Worst case the tank lengthens a small part of an inch which makes it difficult/ impossible to put the cover on the tank. This is not like the Ducati plastic tank problems with huge swellings/ bumps on the tank. I know one guy who has warrantied 4 or 5 tanks, yet most of use have had no problems. Clearly he is doing something the rest of the owners are not. If you want an XR don’t let this issue stop you.
Your rationalization for not buying an American bike is pretty weak. Yes, Harleys have plenty of foreign made parts, every thing but a Harley or a Victory is 100% foreign parts. If you think ANY bike sold today doesn’t have Chinese made parts you need to do some research. Many “British” Triumphs, “Japanese” Hondas and Kawasakis and “German” BMWs are 100% made in China or Southeast Asia. Yes, Harley has forced the unions to make concessions, welcome to the reality of the new century. It beats the hell out of moving production to another country.
Foreign bikes are conceived, designed and built with zero American labor. So your choice is mostly American content and mostly American labor or zero American content and zero American labor. The only way the foreign bikes benefit the US is the jobs at the distributer and the jobs at the local shop, the rest of the money goes straight out of our economy. No foreign company is building motorcycles in the US today.
I’m with you on the greedy shareholders but that doesn’t stop my support for the American men and woman in the design studios, engineering departments, parts distribution and manufacturing. They use their salaries to buy things in the US and pay US taxes.
I’m not trying tell you what to buy, I’m just pointing out your rationalization doesn’t hold water. It is still, more or less, a free country. Buy what you want, just remember your decisions have a wide effect.
Goose
The only “choice” American manufacturers give is cruisers, or,…………….cruisers. I want a sport touring mount at a reasonable price and Harley and Victory do not make those type of products. The only hope that I ever had for a reasonably priced sport touring bike died when Erik Buell was dissed by the Harvard MBA and Madison Avenue types at The Motor Company. Real motorcycle innovation (available to the masses) does not exist in this country. It’s our 1957 Chevy mentality. Good enough for grandpa, good enough for me. That attitude is killing us.
Break out your checkbook
The bike you have described is right here…
http://motusmotorcycles.com/
J$,
I fear that the Motus will be more expensive by far than a Yamaha FJR, Kawasaki Concours or even a BMW K1600GT. My pocketbook will support the Yamaha or the Kawasaki, but even a BMW is too much. I hope that I am wrong. Actually, I think that I read here (Motorcycle Daily) about that particular bike maybe a year ago. I wish them well.
I rode the 883 Sportster and the Honda Shadow 750RS. The Honda shifted, handled and braked better and was much more enjoyable to ride. I also rode the Moto Guzzi V7 classic. Again nicer to ride than the Sportster. I agree with the American jobs thing. The trouble is when I walk into the two dealerships, the Italian brand and the American brand, the Italian brand offers a better experience including test rides, that day. At Harley dealers I get someone selling an attitude. $25,000 Road Glides. At Seacoast Ducati/Guzzi/Aprilia in NH I get people passionate about everyday riding, traffic, potholes, railroad crossings, rain riding and reinvesting profits back into the next year’s model and not just making stock prices look good. For those who have tank issues on the XR, it is a HUGE flaw and the worst part is, they IGNORE me, countless times. I was treated so much better by an XR race team at Daytona than by the company itself. But your points are well taken. I like the Guzzi 14 all the same. Bettencourts Honda in Bridgewater MA let me test ride a few bikes. The new VFR blows a Fat Boy into the weeds for the same money. Rode em both. Slammed Sportsters are an insult to anyone North of Mason-Dixon line. The Aprilia Shiver is also a MUCH better bike for the money than a Sportster. Rode it too!
Neil,
You have to buy what you like, I understand that. I just like to remind people buying products made in the US is a good idea, when possible/ practical. Maybe it has something to do with working for a company that is still building products in the USA and exporting all over the world.
Sorry to hear about the local HD dealership. I have one like that about 25 miles north of my house. I’m lucky in that I also have a really good HD dealership about 40 miles in the opposite direction. Guess where I bought my bike and buy my parts? I still get some of the crap from my fellow HD riders (On seeing my XR “That looks like a crotch rocket” OK, maybe if you are blind and now nothing of Harley’s history) but the shop is cool.
Goose
Wow – I really like that new Guzzi. It seems to be a bit of a departure for them, as the previous California models reminded me of something a kid would ride – they were only missing the day-glow plastic tassels at the ends of the handlebars. The new California is definitely a step in the right direction. As for the Caponord – I don’t know… I sat on the Dorsoduro 1200 for about 30 minutes to see what would become uncomfortable. To me, the 1200 was actually tighter than the 750, and both were designed to fit a smaller rider (Manufacturers – please take note – not everyone has a 30 inch inseam 🙂
Purist hate the Cali. My Guzzi buddies are cringing. Since I like Guzzis but have never owned one I find nothing to dislike about it. When I old Guzzis 5 yrs ago I found them pleasingly comfortable but completely uninspiring to ride. Not unlike HD, they have a loyalty that will hate the fact that water-cooled is the future of the company and will alter forever the image of the brand. In Guzzis case, they needed a horsepower boost to keep pace with the competion. In the air-cooled world the only way to achieve that is with displacement. I hope that this opens up HD riders and Asian metric riders to the Italian brand. Any bike that comes with a 2yr factory warranty and Italian flair is better than what’s available to the masses of cruiser riders currently.
missed the s in sold- sorry
I think most current Guzzi owners are looking right at that motor. The rest of it is subjective. Traditionalists will scoff while others may see it as Guzzi reaching out into larger, more modern cruiser territory. Few have ever claimed that they were spot on in their marketing direction all the time. But I think Piaggio sees Moto Guzzi as their cruiser/tourer/sport touring/adventure bike arm and Aprilia as the keener sport bike brand.
That Guzzi looks like something out of Washington, DC All PORK!!
Extra weight + extra luxury + extra cost = less motorcycle. Who are these creatures for?
I like Moto Guzzi, but that thing looks hopped up on steroids big time. Too much. Maybe the production version will be toned down a bit.
I agree. There is something “Rune” like going on here in my eyes. Maybe not in styling, but in heft. I love Guzzi’s, but this thing is just too damn big looking.
Once again, Aprilia releases a new motorcycle before I have had a chance to look at its newest model. Take the adventure tourer based on the Dorsoduro 1200. It just arrived in the showrooms in North America and now Aprilia is releasing another version of the bike. You would think that they would give the dealers a chance to sell this years models before releasing a new model. Really, I just looked at a 2008 Shiver and a 2009 Dorsoduro 750, still sitting in a showroom. Now I really like the idea of a 1200 adventure touring bike based on the Dorsoduro, but really, shouldn’t they let the dealers sell this years bikes before introducing a new bike? Aprilia, please drop me a note. ian
Why? When many motorcycle makers are moving toward lighter weight bikes, why this bike? I looks heavy and not very nimble.
As an aside, when MG has a actual dealer within an hour of where I live, I’ll think about the possibility of buying one of their bikes. The local used-car dealer who pretends to be an MG dealer still has new 2009 inventory and sells maybe three cycles per year.
OK, I’m curious. Why is it called the California? As a lifelong Californian, I’m kind of insulted.
Its ancestor was intended as a patrol bike for the California Highway Patrol. If you look at the other bikes they have used theres no need to be insulted by the Guzzi.
Weren’t Aprilia’s big adventure type bikes called Caponord not Caponard ? Don’t see many Aprilias or Guzzis at all in my area . Although there was an Aprilia 750 Shiver in the movie Abduction that I saw on dvd recently .
Are these people still in business in the U.S. I thought all they sold here was stuff they unloaded non-current crap.
I thought the new 1400 was going to be water-cooled.
From the early photos that’s what was thought.
Thank goodness we dodged that bullet for at least another year. I thought emissions were gonna kick in and kill air cooled bikes in 2013. I’d like to see a little sense applied to emissions. I really don’t want a radiator unless the heat is killing the motor. Never had an overheating problem with any bikes that synthetic oil wouldn’t help.
The 1400 Cali. is air/oil cooled.
pics here
http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news-new-bikes/moto-guzzi-california-1400-revealed/20019.html
Pictures !!!!!!!!
I’m not that enthused about seeing pictures of these porkers. Kinda like anticipating the Girls of Krispy Kreme calender.
I just googled that, Damn! There’s a whole lot to love there!