MOTO MORINI: Moving on Up!

After spending some time out of the limelight, 2024 could be the year for the Italian brand to shine

- Alan Cathcart

Moto Morini was founded in 1937 in Bologna, but was a regular visitor to the last chance saloon before its acquisition in October 2018 by Chen Huaneng, the owner of Chinese scooter and minimoto manufacturer Zhongneng Vehicle Group. Mr. Chen promised to invest in the company, and update the company's existing 1187cc 87° V-twin engine to be fully restricted to 48bhp will also be available. The good-looking motor also has multiple pick-up points for several different chassis designs.

These, like the first such two on display at EICMA, will be designed by Moto Morini's progettista Adrian Morton, the former MV Agusta and Benelli designer, who left MV in June 2020, and began work 16 months ago as a freelance consultant designing these first two Morini models. "They're rather improbably the first V-twin motorcycles I've ever produced!" says Adrian. "In doing so, I wanted to make sure the engine remains in full view as much as possible, as V-twins are the signature of the brand, and it's an aesthetically very pretty motor, anyway." Morton has also given both bikes a very distinct face' and a vivid visual personality.

"Morinis have never been associated much with styling," he says. "They've always been pretty functional-looking, honest motorcycles - a kind of Italian Triumph. I've tried here to give them a distinct personality, with the mechanical package in plain view." That's been achieved on both bikes by the unusual modular chassis design, with a cast aluminium forward section incorporating the steering head, attached to a chromemoly tubular steel rear spaceframe - the reverse of the Tamburini-legacy MV Agusta models Morton worked on for so long. Moto Morini CEO Alberto Monni states that production of both models is due to begin in October 24 - but no hints yet on the exact price they're likely to cost.