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Dart now on road for first time in my ownership after much repairs to fairing and tank, cambelt change, new brake pads, new tyres and led indicator dash light for brighter more reliable light. First time out, after short run for Mot, over Hartside to Alston and back via A69. Nice to ride, not as uncomfortable as I thought it might be and very willing!
Will leave the repaired fairing un painted till repairs proved so looks a little unloved especially on one side

Nice to see another post about the Dart

I have just bought one for my wife it's lovely to ride great fun. Just changed the 14 year old tyres lol like new they were still with the bobbles on.

Fairings are a problem I have had to make repairs to this one, mainly the front section the bottom two holes. The best way so far I have found is to use the aluminium mesh they sell for body repairs, cut a piece bigger than the crack lay it on and rest the heat iron on top of it, the mesh sinks into the surface and holds really well.

Good tip on the bodywork repair!

We are all suffering cracking bodywork. Sooner or later we’ll have to bite the bullet and have a new batch made but I’m still recovering from the efforts of bringing the batch of aluminium fuel tanks into life and so I can’t face that task yet!

The dart has been around 30 years now, can you believe it?

We should organise a dart ride out sometime, I think the most I’ve seen in one place is about 6 but I know there are more on UK roads.

The morini rally and agm weekend is 17-19 May near Tewkesbury- it’d be good to meet you both

Tom

Meeting up would be good but it's a long ride for us as we live on the Isle of Man !!

Its a great place to live when bikes are your life, I don't think there is another Dart on the Island only ours.

We intend to try and make the bike do this summer with the intention of a total restoration in the winter months, I have put a new belt on her to be safe just as well as when I was taking it off it broke in half!

It’s ironic as the dart I referred to in my reply to your other post about handlebar risers used to live on the island too but I believe it’s moved to the mainland now!

There is often a small morini contingent on the island for the Manx gp so watch the forum nearer the time. I’ve never made it there on a morini but one day I’ll find the time to get across as your roads would be perfect for the morini.

Regarding the fairing and tank repairs, I bought a Chinese copy of a Leister hot air plastic welding kit and after some practice and buying the correct filler rods, welded everything up but have some reservations as to whether the process of heating and joining actually creates a brittle area around the weld mainly on the ABS fairing as the tank is a much more "oily" HDPE. Time will tell hence leaving the painting for now. Tewkesbury is a long way from here too, further than the Isle of Man but of course there is that stretch of water. Are any of you going to the Stafford Show preferably on the Saturday?

no plans as yet to go anywhere, just doing local rallys and track days

Seventyplus: the Morini Riders Club will have a stand at Stafford, in the main hall upstairs, near the bar. Come and say hello.

For our more northwesterly of England members, there is a monthly meet at Wray, near Lancaster. I went last July and it is a beautiful ride on a sunny Thursday evening across t Dales and the Forest of Bowland. The view across to the Lakeland fells is glorious. Get there early, as by the time I arrived half the bikes had gone... I'll post more details in Events.

It's just occurred to me that Dart owners have very little choice when it comes to dealing with bodywork problems. Yes the originals can be repaired (I suppose?) by car body repairers but that may not suit everybody or every different job.
It then occurred to me (these occurrences don't come often or very quickly so they are remarkable when they do come) that the people who recently saved the world of the camel Mk1 fetishists could also help the Dart devotees.

Would any of you agree there is a need for fibreglass copies of the originals? You could do more trackdays then

I've never had a Dart, they never appealed to me. Till now...

Hi Steve,
There is absolutely a demand for dart panels in fibreglass.

It is technically possible (my carbon panels were a wet layup by Olaf in Germany but I believe the molds don’t exist anymore.

I have original panels which could be used to take molds from, provided I get them back in a useable state (I accept they’d need a repaint).

We just need a tame fibreglasser. If you know one then it would be great to get an idea of cost and minimum volumes.

The other route I want to explore is vacuum forming panels as that would potentially be a really cheap alternative.

Hi Tom, no idea about the vacuum forming but I can point you in the direction of a tame fibreglass man. His name is Chris and he runs/owns a firm in Lincolnshire called Sforza racing. They have a website and they normally have a stand at Newark autojumble, possibly at Stafford too. He's very approachable and easy to deal with. I've had a couple of parts done by him, namely the Camel Mk1 side panels and speedo cowls. Both jobs have come out very well and very economical too. Well worth contacting.

Edit- ref costs, the side panels for the Camel were £45 each and the Speedo cowls the same. He is happy to do batches or one off items. He keeps/owns the moulds.

Steve,

I contacted Sforza last year with regards to Dart panels and he said if there was enough interest he would be happy to make some. He said there would be no cost to the 'mould', but would need a pattern, which Tom has.

Maybe this is a job for the Morini Riders Club? I am happy to liaise as the flatlands aren't far from me...

It may encourage me to get another Dart!

MickeyMoto wrote:Steve,

I contacted Sforza last year with regards to Dart panels and he said if there was enough interest he would be happy to make some. He said there would be no cost to the 'mould', but would need a pattern, which Tom has.

Maybe this is a job for the Morini Riders Club? I am happy to liaise as the flatlands aren't far from me...

It may encourage me to get another Dart!

That sounds about right Mike. He is very helpful. Maybe it would be good if you took the project up. Then he will realise it's not just me demanding obscure Morini stuff! As I said, he's normally happy to do one offs as long as there is a decent pattern, I'm sure he could give a more than acceptable result. Not sure if the club would be willing to fund a batch as the demand is likely to be only sporadic and the Darts are nowhere near as common as say a regular Sport or Strada. AGM coming soon-you could put your hand up there!