One of the saddest stories of recent times is the demise of Moto Morini. The Scrambler remains one of my all-time favorite bikes, but the factory is now in liquidation and remaining stock is for sale at a discount. So it felt appropriate to travel back in time a little and feature a classic Moto Morini, courtesy of the Italian Motor Magazine blog. This lovely machine is based on a Corsarino but is styled on the 175cc Settebello single cylinder. It’s using a 22mm Dell’Orto with remote float bowl, a PCB racing Fontana-style front brake, and a massive Veglia white face tachometer. So it’s some way between a resto-mod and and a full-on custom, and none the worse for it. “The puny Corsarino front end was abandoned in favor of a telescopic Marzocchi unit from an Aermacchi 350 … Tank and seat are Settebello fiberglass units widely available for racers and restorers in Italy, but it was necessary to trim and scale down the length of the tank to fit the weeny Corsarino,” says Adam from IMM. “I rode it a year or so back along empty Tuscan roads; it’s tiny and fast—60mph fast—and furious and deafening at 8,000rpm and top gear, as only a small Italian racing motorcycle can be.” [Check out the Italian Motor Magazine for more vintage two-wheeled goodness.]
Facebook
Twitter
RSS Feed
Newsletter
9 Comments
Love it. Sort of a cafe board track racer.
Always been a fan of the “tempest in a tea cup” type of bikes. The Honda Dream 50 is one of my favorites, but this customer is not far behind. Pretty sexy!
So delicate. If anything hit you side-on you’d just have to lift yr legs and it’d pass right through…
İn the third picture I see something interesting: Anyone has an idea about why that front brake cable is position on top of the lever and not in the axis, like the clutch cable? Or is this not the brake cable?
So beautiful. I would love a small italian bike like this. I would have to put an expansion exhaust on it though.
Needs to go two-stroke diesel electric start for the coming fuel crunch! Some nuclear/electric sourced rechargeable battery bikes are this powerful today! This ia a museum piece! We are leaving the fossil fuel age as we speak! Even some Gas/electric hybrids are in production! up and running! For sale to the proletariat! India has them? Gasoline – gone up in smoke!
Turgut — It’s got a four leading shoe front brake! Look at the top photo, two brake cables just below the number plate. Amazing.
Uncle B – What a shame.
Let’s find a clean way of running it on bio-fuel, without losing the charm.
A 50cc will never be a stereotypical ‘gas-guzzler’ and many small engines are excellent examples of huge efficiency in tiny packages, even if this particular example isn’t quite the greatest example of that efficiency.
From time to time I see traction engines in use on public roads – they’re big, slow, heavy and ponderous. They’re consigned to history, but some people with a passion for them keep them running and occasionally use them for pleasure.
Let’s hope that classic 50′s don’t just become ornaments, but keep on running in some capacity, for the enjoyment of the handful of enthusiasts that appreciate them.
Unrelated to this bike…boy do i miss my 500 Strada. Had to sell it due to financial distress. What a great little V twin that was. RIP Morini, you will be missed.