CALIFORNIA TECH
The new California’s basic layout is as traditional as ever: an air-cooled, 90-degree transverse V-twin in a tubular steel frame, with shaft final drive and twin rear shocks. But that description hides the fact that both engine and chassis are new and far more advanced than anything before from Mandello.
Guzzi’s motto for the engine was ‘bigger is better’, resulting in the increased 104 mm bore and the 1,380 cc capacity that makes this the largest twin-cylinder engine from a European manufacturer. “Such a high capacity was deemed necessary to break into the large cruiser segment with our heads held high,” says Romano Albesiano, the Piaggio Group’s head of motorcycle development. “The engine is completely new and it took more than three years on the drawing boards to first determine the ideal capacity, then for development and reliability related decisions.”
The motor keeps its eight-valve, high-cam layout, but gains twin plugs per cylinder and twin lambda sensors for improved combustion efficiency. Intake is via a single Magneti Marelli throttle body, enlarged to 52 mm and fed by a Y-shaped manifold with long intake ducts, designed for optimum low-rev torque delivery. Peak power output of 97.33 PS at 6,500 revs is slightly down on the Norge’s maximum of 103.41 PS, but the California’s maximum torque figure of 120 Nm at 2,750 RPM compares favourably with the tourer’s 104 Nm at 5,500 RPM.
Guzzi’s position in the Piaggio Group allowed Albesiano and his team to adapt ride-by-wire and traction control technology developed for Aprilia in recent years. The California also gets Guzzi’s first cruise control system as well as Brembo’s ABS as standard fitment.
The engine’s extra capacity and torque output necessitated the new frame, whose elastokinematic system incorporates three connecting rods and two silent-block rubber mounts. “The 90-degree V-twin is characterised by strong vibrations, which cause the engine to oscillate and rotate simultaneously,” says Albesiano. “Just think of the possible implications that an engine oscillating within a frame can cause. One of these is that the engine no longer contributes as it did in recent Moto Guzzi bikes to the rigidity of the frame. In order to make up for this, the frame had to be closed with a double cradle and the structure had to be appropriately stiffened.”