Issue:
July/August 2003

Text:
Troy Hendrick

Photography:
Christian Neuhauser

Geographic Region:
USA

Pages:
78 - 83

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Concept & Transformation
Cruisers are my favorite. What can I say? I'm American, and as a kid looking glassy-eyed from the windows of my mother's Buick, I saw fearless-looking men rumble by in formation on shiny machines, bandanas fluttering madly out of the backs of their helmets. That's when I first fell in love. Thenceforth a beautiful cruiser could always steal my heart.

So to look upon these two machines, much less be allowed to test them, was to chance heartbreak when returning them after our pavement prom to absent chaperones, the fine fellas at Moto Guzzi. And they do look good. In a classic mode, the air of cruising down Route 66 provided the inspiration and attitude that developed the California series over 30 years ago, and the lines on both bikes evoke this image perfectly – even though the first models were created only for (and might I hazard, somewhat wasted on) the California Highway Patrol in the early seventies.

We found the difference between our test bikes to be subtle in design, but in overall style that understatement revealed a hearty divergence. The major variances, mostly cosmetic, transform the California into two distinct models – one a classic touring cruiser (EV), the other a sportier-version cruiser (Aluminum)....