Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126049
~ 00 ~ c:: ~ :;;;:::::;:::::::;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::{{:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::}}:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;::::::::::::::::::{:::~:~:~:~;~:~:::;;:::;::::::::::::::{:~:~:}~:::::;;:::;::::;::;:::::~:~;~:~:};:::::::::;;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: What's a Morini? By Lane Campbell What's a Morini, you ask? Or more to the point, why is a Morini? To begin to understand this seemingly innocent, overpriced and largely unappreciated push rod 350cc V-twin, you must first realize that it was more than ten years ago, on a 250cc Morini racing single, that 24 a certain' Giacomo Agostini rose to fame , and on the same machine Tarquinio Provini led the Honda Fo urs a merry ch ase before the Japanese go t their chassis sorted. So now this half-forgotten Italian firm has created a docile (?) tra ctable street bike and released limited numbers of them to this country . Until the East Coast importer [Herdan, In c.) appointed Lance Weil's Rickey Racer as their Western agent, the Moto Morini remained an unapproachable question mark. Then, on a Sunday ride with , Lance and a few good friends, it all came together with sparkling clarity. It's not enough that a bike can thrum along smoothly at freeway speeds in fifth gear without effort (sixth is useless below 75 mph), or that mileage ranges from 45 MPG to an easy 65-plus MPG. There are $900 bikes that Can do that. The "why" of the: Morini lies not in numbers, nor in nonnal consumer sensitivities. Nor does the answer lie in the super-quiet, vaguely Harley-ish cadence in its svelte exhaust note as it slips unobtrusively about town. No, it's when ten guys who enjoy riding fast peel off the freeway and into the mountains that the Morini earns its price tag . There's two Laverda 1000s, a Guzzi 850, an intensely tricked-out Yamaha TX500, a KZ900 and a Kaw 400 triple in the pack. Upgrade, on fast sweeping road, the Morini is laboring hard to stay with the bigger bikes (though pulling the Kaw 400 on torque alone); as the KZ and the 1000s vanish into 110 mph dots and then grow large again when road and traffic tighten up . Realize now, that this is a mere 350, pulling away from its peers and hanging in with Open class machinery in an engine-punishing uphill tractor pull punctuated by fast change-up curves. Above 3000 feet all the bikes begin to go a little off their feed, the road becomes all second and third gear work, and that Morini begins to universally kick ass. Mindless of size, horsepower, or rider ability, the Morini winds up in the lead trio or running away alone. Uphill in the serpentines, it 's boogie time, flicking effortlessly back and forth, casually varying line and attitude with tiny increments of low-side knee and throttle, but never out of shape unless a clumsy shift or a too-sudden grab at the four-shoe front br ake brings on a sudden twitch that just as quickly self-corrects. Then wait at the top, helmet off, wet the dry lips, hoping nobody fell off until all are accounted for. And off again. Downhill, earholing at 95 ·plus behind a rider who hopes to be the first American to do a ton-up lap at the Isle of Man an d thinking, "Gawd, I'm not supposed to go this fast !" And again waiting for the rest to straggle in. YCSt the mountains arc a great equalizer . That's "why a I\lorini is." But how? To begin with, this was a very