MOTO MORINI CORSARO 1200 ZZ
FULL TEST
P104
it to deliver. Which it does with
seemingly greater punch than on
older such bikes, making almost
inadvertent third-gear wheelies a
fact of life when riding the ZZ.
This flexible and forgiving yet
potent engine character means
you needn't use the gearbox
nearly as much as you might
expect with that short an engine
stroke, since the CorsaCorta
motor is especially happy to
operate in the 4000-7000 rpm
area, so you find yourself surfing
the torque curve to hold third or
fourth gear over a twisty stretch
of road interspersed with short
straights. There's an average
of 1200 rpm between each of
the evenly spaced top three
gears, and in fact with this kind
of engine performance there's
really no need for closed-up ra-
tios in the six-speed extractable
cluster, just point and squirt.
That's a pity in a way, consider-
ing how smooth and precise the
Moto Morini's Japanese-quality
gear change is, now fitted with a
sweet-action wide-open power-
shifter for upward gear changes.
But, sorry, there's no clutchless
autoblipper system for down-
ward shifts, though, since the ZZ
still doesn't have a ride-by-wire
digital throttle.
This also means no choice of
riding modes on a bike that's in
many ways a refreshing throw-
back to the way it was in the
analog era before the latest and
greatest spec'd-up super nakeds
from other manufacturers got
so thoroughly kitted out with
electronics that they risk their
owners ending up feeling it's the
computer riding the bike, not
them. There's no such concern
on Moto Morini's latest model,
because the ZZ has a delicious
feeling of connectivity between
what your right hand is doing
and the way the bike puts the
power to the tarmac. There's no
digital filter to dilute your desires,
just an analog link between the
throttle and the rear tire that's
refreshingly old school, but deli-
ciously direct.
However, on a dusty surface
like on many of the roads around
the basin of the River Po it was
all too easy to get the rear wheel
scrabbling for grip on the ZZ if I
leaned on the throttle to access
even a part of that hefty grunt.
The addition of TC/traction
control operated by retarding
the ignition, that'll be installed
shortly as standard, will be very
welcome, even necessary, and
according to Massimo Gustato
In spite of quite
conservative steering
geometry (24.5ยบ rake
with 4.1 inches of
trail) the ZZ is pretty
responsive and light
steering.
The Corsaro is available in multiple colors.
