MOTO MORINI CORSARO 1200 ZZ
FULL TEST
P102
small-scale production, from the
DBX Supermoto to the BMW S
1000 RR-powered BB3. This is a
man who knows how to develop
small-volume models cost-
effectively without sacrificing the
quality coupled with individual-
ity that's a small manufacturer's
USP. He also knows how to
ride hard and fast, as I found
for myself during a 190-mile day
aboard the company's Corsaro
1200 ZZ development bike,
chasing him through the network
of roads running into the hills lin-
ing the massive River Po running
close to Morini's new factory.
As regular readers will know,
I'm a morinista by conviction, as
the satisfied owner of a Corsaro
1200 that's still just as exhilarat-
ing and plain good fun to ride as
it was the week I rode it back to
Britain from Bologna in the sum-
mer of 2007. You can tell how
much I like it by the fact that,
when the most recent Morini
shutdown was announced in
2010, I hastily bought another in
the form of my Spanish importer
mate's Corsaro demonstrator,
so as to be sure I wouldn't run
short of spare parts for a bike
which raises a smile on my face
every time I ride it. Apart from an
electronic dash replaced under
warranty after it stopped working
the first time it was exposed to
British rain, I've had no prob-
lems with either bike in around
22,000 miles of accumulated
mileage, although the older one
did have a mapping upgrade at
its second service. This made
the pickup from a closed throttle
a little less abrupt, without
sacrificing the 1187cc 87º V-twin
CorsaCorta motor's muscular
zest which is the key benefit of
Morini ownership, and has had
pretty much everyone I've ever
lent either of my bikes to come
back smiling, asking how come
they never knew how good a
ride this was.
So I was particularly inter-
ested in evaluating the 1200
ZZ—named after the best-selling
Corsarino ZZ 50cc boy racer
moped that Morini introduced in
1965—and especially to discover
how much engine performance
had been sacrificed in obtaining
Euro 4 compliance, as on every
other such bike I've tested from
various manufacturers. Well,
there's an easy answer to that,
which is—none at all! In fact, as I
found out the first time I gunned
the ZZ hard exiting a second-
Braking is handled high-spec Brembo
radial brakes and Bosch ABS.
