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.”
