Moto Morini is a small Italian brand that was born in 1937 and built a storied history in the decades that followed. Racing great Giacomo Agostini was said to have started his racing career on a Moto Morini and the Italian brand even participated at the world stage, almost winning the 250cc world championship in 1963. The 80s and 90s were harder times for the brand and the company went into liquidation in 2009. Production was resumed in 2012 and since then, the company has built high capacity, V-twin powered motorcycles.
Moto Morini has now shared a sketch of what is clearly an ADV motorcycle on its Instagram page, hinting at a reveal in EICMA 2019. The company goes on to reveal that it will debut two new motorcycles at EICMA and both will be based on what it calls a brand new midsize platform. One of the bikes will be an ADV and the other will be a street-naked. The company says it will also unveil a new ‘Super Scrambler’ based on its existing platform at the show in Milan.
There are no further details at the moment, and what Moto Morini’s description of ‘midsize’ is unclear. The company’s entire range, which comprises the Milano, Corsaro, Scrambler and Gran Passo, is powered by the wild Bialbero CorsaCorta 1,187cc V-twin. This is a fast revving four-valve, liquid-cooled engine that produces up to 140hp in some models. Our guess for this new mid-capacity platform is that it could be somewhere at the 800cc mark. If so, it will open up Moto Morini to a wider audience.
That’s a good thing because Moto Morinis can be frightfully expensive. The brand had a very brief stint in our market in 2014, when it was brought to India by Vardenchi. Two models were brought to India, the Scambler and the Gran Passo ADV. They were raw and exciting motorcycles to ride, but the price proved to be prohibitively high and Vardenchi shelved plans to sell the bikes here.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
