The story
Founded by Alfonso Morini in 1937, in Bologna.1
History
Alfonso Morini was born on 22 January 1898. Before he was 16 he was repairing motorcycles, and at the age of sixteen, opened a workshop. This was just before World War I broke out. During the war he was with the 8th Motorcycles Unit, stationed at Padua.
MM
In 1925 Mauro Mazzetti, impressed by Alfonso's work, asked him to build a single-cylinder 120 cc two-stroke racing bike, making Alfonso the designer, constructor, and racer. They were successful racing, under the MM name, and Alfonso's finest racing moment came in 1927 when his MM 125 took six world records at Monza, during the Grand Prix of Nations. (These records were not bettered for twenty years.) In 1933 he set a new world speed record for 175 cc motorcycles of 162 km/h.
Moto Morini three wheelers
In 1937 Alfonso and Mauro parted ways, and Alfonso Morini went into the production of 350 cc and 500 cc three wheelers, under the Moto Morini name. The government regulations favoured these lighter fuel efficient machines, and the successful Moto Morini M610 had advanced features, like cardan driveshafts.
This was interrupted by World War II, and Moto Morini was converted to produce aeronautical components. In 1943 the factory was bombed.
Motorcycles
Undeterred, in 1946, a new three-speed transmission, single cylinder, two-stroke T125 emerged from the new Bologna factory, Via Berti. In 1947 a Sport version appeared. In 1953 a 175 cc pushrod OHV four-stroke model appeared in production. Models like Gran Turismo, Settebello, Rebello, Supersport, Briscola, Tresette, and Tresette Sprint also appeared. In 1956 Moto Morini moved to a larger production facility at Via Bergami. In 1958 Alfonso Morini, Dante Lambertini, and Nerio Biavati designed the 250 GP Double Camshaft.
On 30 June 1969 Alfonso Morini died. He was 71. His daughter, Gabriella Morini, took over management, and would remain in control until 1986. In 1970 Franco Lambertini (unrelated to the earlier Dante Lambertini of Morini's technical staff) left Ferrari works and joined Moto Morini.
Competition history
In 1948, Raffaele Alberti won the Italian Championship for Lightweight Motorcycles on a two-stroke 125 Competition. Umberto Masetti won the Italian Championship for Lightweight Motorcycles in 1949, on a 125 SOHC four-stroke that produced 12 hp (8.9 kW) @ 10000 rpm, and could exceed 140 km/h (87 mph). In 1952 Moto Morini won races outside of Italy with the 125 SOHC four-stroke, as Emilio Mendogni won both the Nations Grand Prix, and the Spanish Grand Prix. The 250 GP put out 38 hp (28 kW) @ 11,000 rpm and had a maximum speed of 227 km/h (141 mph).
In 1961, Giacomo Agostini began his racing career on a Moto Morini Settebello “Short Rods”, coming second at Trento-Bondone. Agostini was Italian Cadet Champion in 1962, and Italian Junior Champion in 1963. Tarquinio Provini, riding a Moto Morini 250 GP, won the Italian Championship in 1961 and 1962. In 1963, Provini convinced Alfonso Morini that they should try for the World Championship. Provini waged a season-long battle with Honda's Jim Redman for the 250 world championship. Each rider won four races, and the title was not decided until the final race in Japan. The Japanese team (250cc four-cylinder) would not let Provini practice before the race, to hinder Morini's chances. Redman won the championship over Provini by only two points. The single cylinder 250 Morini is still the fastest single cylinder four-stroke 250cc racer to this day.
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2012, back on the market
In March 2012, the factory announced online auctioning of coupon in order to win a completely new and limited-edition model. It is the Rebello 1200 Giubileo, reinterpretation of the namesake bike from 1956. At the end of the auction, Moto Morini built 20 specimens of it to celebrate the 75 years of the brand.
In 2013 the Moto Morini range included Corsaro Veloce, Scrambler 1200 and Granpasso 1200. About 30 employees are involved in a production of 70 handmade and handcrafted specimens with spare parts coming mostly from Italy. The initial recovery program planned the achievement of a production capacity up to 5000 bikes per year and the employment of 100 workers before 2016. In the new production system the bikes are assembled by hand on customers' request.
Also in 2013, Moto Morini launched the bike rent forms that allowed clients to rent Moto Morini motorcycles for a short period of time. It also introduced the "buy-back" system: a long-term rent that allows customers to pay a monthly fee and decide, after some time, whether to keep the motorcycle or give it back to the factory. Sampler bikes and rented bikes were then sold at reduced prices. At the end of 2013 Moto Morini signed an agreement with the Indian company Vardenchi to provide them with engines.
In the summer of 2014 the headquarters and all Moto Morini locations moved from Casalecchio di Reno (BO) to Trivolzio (PV). Meanwhile, a new model was launched: the Moto Morini 11 1/2.
In November 2014 a temporary shop in Milan was opened where Moto Morini showed the updated range.
In 2015 the company management changed and so did the trade policy: Moto Morini concludes contracts with dealers and distributors and ended the online sale. Moreover, also the production strategy changed, taking Moto Morini more and more to a direction where quality and customization are at the heart of the production. A Granpasso's makeover intended for the Japanese market, called Granpasso R, is launched. The specific characteristics of this model is the reduced ground clearance.
In 2016 Moto Morini increased the commercial structure in order to better manage the new sales network.
In November Moto Morini returned to the 2016 edition of Eicma after seven years of absence with a new model: the Corsaro ZZ. Thanks to the presence at the International exhibition and a media campaign, Moto Morini appeared in many motorcycles magazines. In that period also the Facebook page was reopened.
In 2017 the 11 1/2 was no longer produced and the Moto Morini range included: Scrambler 1200, Granpasso 1200, Granpasso R, Corsaro 1200 ZZ. The Corsaro is the first Moto Morini model in Euro 4, with ABS and electronic gear shift. Furthermore, the lightning system is fully LED, the fuel tank is in aluminium and several body parts are made of carbon fiber as standard. Taking the bike to have the 99% of its components made in Italy.
All the motorcycles are hand assembled, from the engine to the final product. In 2017 Moto Morini launched also the new One-off department, an internal area dedicated to customized models on clients' requests.
To celebrate the 80 years of the company (1937 - 2017) Moto Morini created a limited edition of 8 specimens of a special Corsaro, called Corsaro80. This special model is improved with more body parts made of carbon fiber and hand hammered aluminium.
In July 2017 Moto Morini re-entered the bicycles market. As a matter of fact the company was already selling bicycles in the Sixties. Nowadays, it has introduced a limited-edition model of e-bike. The frame in completely in aluminium for a total weight of 13.5 kg. The engine and the battery are designed by the Politecnico di Milano and are both hidden in the hub, creating a more appealing look. Moto Morini produced 30 specimens of the pedal assisted bike in order to test the market.
At the end of 2017, due to the success of the first e-bike, Moto Morini launched a range of four more models: Gravel, City, Urban and Sport. They all have the innovative Frame Block system: a solution integrated in the frame that works as a locker.
In Novemberì 2017 Moto Morini is present again at EICMA, exhibiting the Corsaro 1200 ZZ MY2018, the Milano, The Scrambler 1200 MY2018.
The new Moto Morini Milano pays an homage to the famous Moto Morini 3 1/2, historic model of the company. In addition to that, Moto Morini showed also a customized version of the Corsaro ZZ, called Corsaro Ti22.
In the spring of 2018 a new version of Corsaro, the Corsaro ZT, will be on the market.
In the autumn of 2018 it was announced that ownership had transferred to Zhongneng Vehicle Group.
In 2025, the X-Cape 1200 was introduced, equipped with an 87° V-twin 1,187 cc liquid-cooled engine, producing 122 hp at 8,500 rpm and 108 Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm. The six-speed transmission is paired with an assisted slipper clutch, designed to provide smoother operation under demanding conditions.
From Wikipedia’s article on Moto Morini, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4