• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bike India

Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

  • Home
  • News
    • Upcoming Launches
    • Latest News
    • New Bike Launches
  • Reviews
    • First Ride
    • Road Test
    • Comparison
  • Features
  • Our Bikes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • NG Auto
    • AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA
    • CAR INDIA
    • COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
  • Brands
  • AUTHORS

California Dreaming: Moto Guzzi California 1400 Custom

January 21, 2015 by Jim Gorde Leave a Comment

Moto Guzzi California 1400 Custom 1 web

After pinching myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream, I sized up the latest iteration of Moto Guzzi’s iconic cruiser, the California, which is available for sale in India. A spin on the highway and in the hills will help see what it’s made of.

Story: Jim Gorde
Photography: Sanjay Raikar

On a warm deserted highway, cool wind in my hair. Warm smell of some idlis was rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance I saw a pair of hills. The ride was steady and my eyes grew wide, would it take them in its stride?

This was not some hotel or popular resort. I’d left the luxury of Golfshire behind and was astride the Moto Guzzi California. The new one, the big 1400, and, boy, was it a piece of work!

It all started when our friendly, not really neighbourhood dealership said they had some bikes for us. We arrived in Bengaluru early on a weekday morning and were taken to the place where we would meet the machines. The distinct V-twin rumble we heard soon after our arrival created wide grins very quickly on our faces. One of them was this, the California 1400 Custom, a V-twin power cruiser with loads of bottom-end and generous proportions.

Moto Guzzi first introduced the California back in 1971. It was actually created by the company for the Los Angeles Police Department’s traffic division; yes, the LAPD. In fact, the original California had everything from a bullet-proof windscreen to a motor which had to allow a 16-second quarter-mile sprint. It isn’t a classic cruiser, not by a long shot. What it is, however, is a modern, more sculpted and detailed iteration of what the Italians think the cruiser should be. The California, in fact, has been designed by Miguel Galuzzi, the same brain responsible for the Ducati Monster from the early 1990s.

Moto Guzzi California 1400 Custom 2 web

More on page 2 >

Deputy Editor at Bike India and Car India. Food for the body. Fuel for the soul.

IG/t: @BikeIndia
f: /BikeIndia

Jim Gorde – who has written 320 posts on Bike India.


Email • Twitter

Related posts:

Honda X-ADV Crossover Launched

BMW R 1300 RT Unveiled

Ampere Magnus Neo Review - Definitive or Derivative?

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Filed Under: First Ride, News, Review Tagged With: 1400, bengaluru, bike, california, cruiser, custom, First, grand, guzzi, hills, India, latest, launch, Moto, nandi, new, Piaggio, Ride, road trip, superbike, tourer, touring, travel, V-Twin

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AlphaOmega Captcha Classica  –  Enter Security Code
 ⟲    ➴
 


* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

LATEST ISSUE

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

19TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

Triumph Street Triple 765 R and RS Review | The Best Street Triple Yet

Ducati Diavel V4 Review | Devil of the Mountain

Royal Enfield Hunter 350 first ride | Aspi Bhathena

SPECIAL Featured Story

Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid

Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid Launched

The Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid has been launched at Rs 1.45 lakh (ex-showroom). Yamaha claim that this is India’s first sub-150-cc hybrid motorcycle. 

More about this.

Recent Posts

  • Honda X-ADV Crossover Launched
  • Adrift Astride a Guerrilla: Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Drift Clinic
  • BMW R 1300 RT Unveiled
  • TVS YMRP 9.0 – A Taste of Racing

Car India

Car India Magazine - Get your Digital Subscription

Footer

Latest News

Honda X-ADV Crossover Launched

BMW R 1300 RT Unveiled

Honda CB650R and Honda CBR650R 2025 Launched

Tobias Ebster Joins Hero MotoSports Team Rally 

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

Bike India: India’s no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

BIKE India covers the two-wheeler industry in its entirety, both from the local and the international perspective. Also delivers the most definitive verdict on machinery and performance by explaining the hows, whys, and whats on every new bike in a lucid and user-friendly manner. BIKE India is the India’s most authoritative two-wheeler publication, a magazine for people with a passion for bikes and everything to do with their history and heritage.
SiteMap

Copyright © 2025 · BIKE INDIA INDIA’S NO. 1 TWO WHEELER MAGAZINE, BY FAR! ·