Cast your mind back to the 1920s and 30s during the age of the Great Depression in the USA. To be more specific I’m talking about the era of the infamous and notorious gangster or gangsters. Instantly names appear in your head, or should, of the evil Al Capone and the gruesome bank robber, John Dillinger, to name a couple. Both have received the Hollywood treatment in one form or another and therefore they’ve been immortalised in celluloid films for all to remember in the typical glitzy nature of the American film industry.
But I’m not using them to collaborate my story on this timeless, and new, Moto Guzzi Eldorado, it has more to do with the cars they drove during this flamboyant era. Big black cars with white wall tyres tore around the streets with henchmen hanging from the sides as they sprayed their Tommy gun bullets towards anyone who pissed them off. Exciting to watch on film, terrifying to be there I’d imagine. But what if they had to choose a motorcycle in a Hollywood film that suited this time zone? Well, instead of fabricating one, why not just ride around on this Moto Guzzi Eldorado; it fits in perfectly, right?
Mean, black and those stunning centerpiece 16-inch white wall tyres will surely suit any modern gangster, obviously in a non-violent way, unless you fancy a bit of mindless murdering and a life behind bars that is. But surely you’ll agree with me here, this is the perfect gangster ride enforced by the undiluted American influence with its design, even though it’s made in Italy, also home of the Mafia.
Obviously the Eldorado is a 2015 modern bike on all counts dominated by its massive 1380cc twin-spark transverse air-cooled V-twin engine. With a claimed 96hp and 120Nm of torque, which is delivered at only 2,750rpm, it’s certainly no slouch either. If you can hang on to those bullhorn ‘bars for long enough the bike will see around 190km/h displayed on the equally massive central clock. The Eldorado with its classic styling also enjoys quite a lot of today’s desirable electronics in the form of traction control, cruise control, Brembo ABS and three power modes. These are Tourismo (touring), Pioggia (think that’s rain) and Veloce (fast), which I just left it in for the entire test, wouldn’t you? All easily accessible using the starter button or the left hand switchgear button to cycle through the settings. There’s also a Piaggio Media Platform interface where you can adapt your smartphone to provide a GPS and other stuff, which is nice and considerate.
You’ve just read the name Piaggio, the Italian scooter giants who now own the Moto Guzzi brand, but this 317kg monster is definitely not built like any scooter. The quality of this bike has to be seen in the flesh, so to speak, to absorb it correctly. From those huge sweeping fenders to the abundance of show-winning chrome and, of course, those gorgeous spoke wheels with the accompanying gangster tyres, it turns more heads than a zebra on roller-skates would, sort of. I do believe, because of its styling presence, this bike will still look cool in a timeless fashion in 40 years time.
So the Eldorado, which has its name taken from the plushest version of their California model from the early 1970s, is an attractive motorcycle for sure, but does it ride as well as the visual side of things? Well yes…
The engine is slung low in the frame and mounted using Guzzi’s elastic-kinematic mounting system, er, OK. I think that means it’s rubber mounted of sorts but still keeps the classic Guzzi “engine rock” as you blip the throttle at idle. However, once on the move, the engine smoothes out considerably and at highway speeds there’s negligible vibration from anywhere. Whilst on the highway the laid back nature of the bike excels, just waft along in top gear (it has six) with a couple of thousand rpm showing on the huge rev-counter, with your feet comfortably planted on the footboards, then combine this with the wide and thickly padded seat only 740mm from the floor, and you soon realise this is one perfect cruiser, and then some. 
It handles well too, oh yes it does, so there! Even thought this 317kg behemoth is a strain to push around once it’s up and moving it can be thrown around with surprisingly little effort, more so than any big cruiser I care to remember. So instead of becoming a giant intimidating motorcycle it’s actually quite a lot of fun in that respect. And, tearing around in an “un-cruiser” like fashion could be very scary, if not a tad dangerous, if the brakes were from the 1930s. Well don’t worry about that either gangsters because that’s taken care of with huge Brembo callipers chewing on 320mm discs with ABS. Combine these with the strong rear brake and again you can ride the Eldorado in an exciting sporty manner. Then once you’ve had enough brisk fun go back into lazy cruiser mode, cool man!
So would I buy one and how much will it cost? Yes I would because I love the gangster image it portrays and at R199,000 I think it’s great value and adds a large dose of individuality in the process. I would certainly choose it over Harley’s Softail Deluxe for example, which is similar with its white wall tyres but retails at R265,000. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Harley but the Guzzi is more exclusive and, well, just different and I like that. Now where’s my plastic Tommy gun…
Go to www.cayenne.co.za SA Moto Guzzi importers, to book a test ride and find out purchase details.
