Moto Morini

MOTO MORINI

A sportbike company turns to enduros

MOTO M0RINI IS ONE OF THE Italian motorcycle manufacturers that climbed to success after World War II. Founded in 1937 by racing enthusiast Alfonso Morini, the factory was put to use during the war making airplane components-until, that is, a well-placed cluster of Allied bombs put the plant out of commission until 1946.

With the cessation of hostilities, Morini began the road to success with a 125cc two-stroke. Four-strokes soon followed, which, in turn, led to 125cc and 250cc four-stroke racers that won numerous Italian championships. Giacomo Agostini, 13time world champion and Italy’s most famous race , spent the early part of his career on Morinis. The factory’s racing involvement culminated in 1964 when rider Tarquino Provini took the double-overheadcam 250 Morini, which by then was pumping out an astounding 36 horsepower at 1 1,000 rpm, to within two

points of stealing the world championship away from Honda’s wailing four-cylinder racers.

The early 1970s were marked by the design of a Morini V-Twin, the engine that the company is still using today. Currently produced in 344cc and 507cc versions, with a 123cc single-cylinder derivative, the 72-degree Twin seems destined to be Morini’s engine for the immediate future. If there is another engine on the draw-

ing boards, company officials made no mention of it during our visit to the Bologna factory.

Indeed, the feeling coming from the Morini organization was one of status quo. The firm produces about 5000 units a year, with only l 50 or so earmarked for sale in the U.S. Company spokesmen seemed content with those figures, and noted that there are are no plans to increase sales volume in America.

350 KANGURO AND 501 CAMEL

M OST AMERICANS PROBABLY REMEMBER Moto Morini for its oddly named 3½, a goodhandling sportbike first sold here in the mid Seventies. Today, that motorcycle has evolved into the 350K2, which is mechanically similiar to the 3½ but with cosmetic changes, the most notable of which is a nicely done half-fairing.

But the K2 is really a bit-player in Morini’s lineup, for it is sold only in small numbers. The real stars of the Morini show are the 350 Kanguro and 501 Camel,

two modern-looking, dual-purpose “enduros” that feature electric starting, disc brakes at both ends, and hotter cams than on last year’s models.

Company officials are quick to claim that the camshaft and exhaust-pipe changes to the 501 allow it to stay on performance par with its class competitors, the Honda XL600R and the Yamaha XT600. And because of that performance parity, you can look for a Camel-based entry from Morini in the 1986 ParisDakar event.