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/1527275
QUICKSPIN I 2025 Moto Morini Calibro 700 P116 The new Calibro, in base guise as tested here, will set you back $5999, putting it $800 cheaper than its nearest com- petitor in the Honda Rebel 500, $1900 cheaper than the Kawa- saki Vulcan S ABS and an im- pressive $2900 less pricey than the Yamaha Bolt R-Spec 942. Incidentally, the Moto Morini has more power than all of them. It also comes with a three- year unlimited-mile warranty (the others have one-year warranties), LED headlights, 18-inch front and 16-inch rear tires, a 28.3-inch seat height, and a maintenance- free belt final drive. So, on paper, things look pretty rosy for the new kid on the cruiser block. In the metal, it's a good- looking little thing. That massive LED headlight, the fork gaiters, nicely upholstered seat and de - cent quality paintwork all bode well for the Calibro. The ride quality is a mix of great engine but with suspen- sion that leaves a little to be desired. The motor is actually Kawasaki's previous generation Ninja 650, which is now free of niggling trademark issues, and in 693cc guise it offers excellent performance—especially given that you're spending less than $6K MSRP before taxes and dealer fees. There are no riding modes, no variable throttle maps, just a nicely metered response at the twist grip. There's a reason the Kawasaki twin has been so widely used by so many differ - ent manufacturers—it offers solid performance with even greater engineering solidity—so it's unlikely you'll ever have me- chanical issues with it. The ride quality from the suspension could certainly be better, but, again, you're dealing with a bike that costs less than $6K. It's the light road corruga - tions that the Calibro struggles to filter out, and I feel this is probably a combination of basic front suspension and the Tim- sun tires I have absolutely zero experience on. The front suspension offers 41mm forks with 4.7 inches of wheel travel with no possible adjustment, while the dual shocks will give you 4.0 inches of rear wheel travel and preload adjustment. If you start to push the Calibro fast, you can almost ride over these issues, but that's not the aim of a cruiser such as this. At cruiser pace, the Calibro could certainly be improved if Moto Morini were to give higher-grade equipment. But, as we all know, nothing comes for free, and any such move will jack up the Cali - bro's very competitive price. The single, twin-piston caliper, clamping a 320mm disc up front and a single-piston caliper biting a 255mm disc at the rear, is adequate for the task as long as you use both brakes simul - taneously. The front doesn't have a lot of bite to it but when combined with the rear, and the Bosch 10.0MB ABS system, the braking performance is decent enough. Again, for the price. The Calibro 700 is a com- petitive entry into the hotly contested middleweight cruiser class, but Moto Morini will have an uphill battle to convince buy- ers to take on a Chinese brand when the Japanese brands have a hard enough time as it is. However, the ride experience is a good one. Moto Morini will have a new bagger version com- ing in October for $6799, one that offers some decent lug- gage capacity as well as a bit of added attitude. By Rennie Scaysbrook