1982 Moto Morini 350 Sport

1982 Moto Morini 350 Sport

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anonymous-user

Original Poster:

62 months

Sunday 24th May 2020
quotequote all
Of all the classic Italian bike manufacturers, Morini are perhaps the least fashionable, and so you can buy a 1970s or 1980s Morini 3 1/2, a bike built by some bloke in Bologna, for not much money. Parts are still available.

This one has the Sport engine, which has 39 BHP, compared to the 35 BHP of the Strada version, but the riding position and the fairing are more tourey than sporty. Wide V Twin, two little Dellortos (usually only one needs to be choked). Good electric starter, gears on the right, no neutral light (annoying). Most of these have twin pipes but this one has a two into one.

It's not especially fast, but it handles and stops very well. I like it!









Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 24th May 16:04

Tango13

8,973 posts

184 months

Sunday 24th May 2020
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Somewhere up in the loft I've still got an old Performance Bikes with an article on Morinis.

The bit that sticks in my mind is Benjy Straw describing his 500 production racer complete with custom cams, larger valves, larger carbs and a shed load of other tweaks.

Rupert Paul commented that it didn't sound very 'Production' to which Benjy Straw replied that it was hard enough competing against GSX-Rs never mind following the rule book hehe

I'm almost tempted by this...

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1222266

gareth_r

5,995 posts

245 months

Monday 25th May 2020
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Interestingly (or not smile) the Morini V-twins have Heron heads (flat cylinder head, vertical valves, combustion chamber in the piston), as do the "small block" Moto Guzzis.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

62 months

Monday 25th May 2020
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Well, it's interesting to me! Before I started researching Morinis pre purchase, I had never heard of a Heron Head.

The engine is quite smooth, and makes a good noise without being stupidly loud. My previous Italian bike was a 1976 MV Agusta 350S Ipotesi, and the rather old tech parallel twin on that was hard to start, very noisy, and vibrated a lot.

stu67

841 posts

196 months

Monday 25th May 2020
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As I said on another thread my dad had an earlier one, I’m pretty sure it was a 1975 on a N reg. Was a very pretty little bike in a metallic light blue with wire wheels and front drum brake rather than the later discs. Dad never kept his bikes very long at all however he held on to the Moroni for about 3 years if I can remember alongside his normal “big” Honda’s so it must have been good. He had a shop in Brewer St Soho and used it to commute in the summer parking it in car park next to the shop alongside Paul Raymond’s Phantom Rolls Royce.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

62 months

Monday 25th May 2020
quotequote all
The good thing about the bike is that it is nippy for its size, and has very delightful handling. I am not a bold or fast biker, and I just use the bike for bimbles.

PS: I met Paul Raymond once. He was very odd.

stu67

841 posts

196 months

Monday 25th May 2020
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Yes he was a strange “character” I suppose you don’t need to “fit in” when you own half of Soho. As a ten year old I could never figure out why you would have red velvet rather than leather in your Phantom! I can remember sitting in the back of it with his chauffeur eating ice creams with the AC on.
That car park had so many great cars in, think it reflected the clientele, one film guy had an ISO and a Monteverdi, I could fill in my “I spy” book of cars just wandering around.

catso

14,871 posts

275 months

Monday 25th May 2020
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Nice old bike, brings back Schoolday memories; ('79-'80) of swapping rides with a friend - My Ducati 250 Scrambler/his Morini 3 1/2V Sport (unfaired 70's model). I remember being quite impressed at the time as it was quite a bit faster than the Ducati.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

62 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
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The bike passed its MOT, is now insured, and gets taxed on Saturday. Yay!

Pothole

34,367 posts

290 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
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Tango13 said:
It'd be a fun ride home, anyway. I seem to remember contemporary reviews being somewhat uncomplimentary about these when they first went on sale in the UK, but as a classic curio for occasional weekend use it'd be great fun. You can make the motor make a nice noise and you're unlikely to park up next to another one at any bike meet or tea/coffee stop you pull into...Fairly simple to work on, too.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

62 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
quotequote all
This is not one of those. It is the 70s bike, but the 80s version with alloys and disc brakes instead of wire wheels and drums. Well reviewed when new.

gareth_r

5,995 posts

245 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
quotequote all
Tango13 said:
...I'm almost tempted by this...

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1222266
As well as the Kanguro 350, there was a trail bike version of the 500.

Perhaps "Camel" wasn't the best name...

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

62 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
quotequote all
Morini also did a bike that was fully faired in an 80s stylee, but it had issues with cooling, I gather.

I hear that the 500s are a bit meh, because they gain in weight over the 350s but do not gain much in performance.

Anyway, I hope to get a ride on Sunday if the weather stays fair.

Pothole

34,367 posts

290 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
quotequote all
Breadvan72 said:
Morini also did a bike that was fully faired in an 80s stylee, but it had issues with cooling, I gather.
It's a bit of a mongrel, being a Moto Morini V twin (originally 350 and then 400 apparently) in a Cagiva Freccia 125 chassis, Cagiva having bought Morini at some point.

You can see how air cooling might have been an issue:



stu67

841 posts

196 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
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I’d have that, like a mini BMW K1

kev b

2,727 posts

174 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
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A bloke at my local bike meet turns up regularly on a Morini 3-1/2, according to him they are a lot less temperamental than your average old Italian and despite not having much power the handling makes up for it. He takes his to trackdays at Cadwell and isn't embarrassed by much more powerful bikes.

I fancied a Morini back in the day but they were quite expensive, no dealers nearby and I was already hopelessly addicted to Yamaha 2 strokes, so never even test rode one.

I remember the bike press going on about the Heron head as if it were something special but even back then knew that a side effect was a heavy piston and sub optimal valve angles, I think they were pretty economical though.

V1nce Fox

5,508 posts

76 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
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For some reason it reminds me a little of the Guzzi Le Mans around 1992-3 era.

srob

11,863 posts

246 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
quotequote all
Mine’s a Morini 1/2 hehe



My brother’s just swapped his 1978 3 1/2 for a TriBSA too smile

bimsb6

8,183 posts

229 months

Thursday 28th May 2020
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gareth_r said:
Interestingly (or not smile) the Morini V-twins have Heron heads (flat cylinder head, vertical valves, combustion chamber in the piston), as do the "small block" Moto Guzzis.
They use the same barrels and pistons .

carinaman

22,138 posts

180 months

Friday 29th May 2020
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What's the benefit of Heron Heads?

Doesn't the V12 Jaguar engine have Heron Heads?