How Standard is Yours?

[George 350]

Hi All,
Just wondering how much owners modify their bikes away from standard. As has been mentioned by others, there doesn’t seem to be many discussions as to what exactly is the right colour red or what grey should the wheels be, so despite their recent surge into ‘collectable’status, Morini’s appear to be relatively safe from the rivet counters. I know mine is mostly standard, but I have done a few things to make it ‘mine’.
What have you done to yours to make it ‘Your Bike’?

To start the ball rolling, here is what is non original /non standard on my bike (and why I did it).
1/ Front brake disc and caliper from a ZX10 on my design disc hub (original disc rusted and caliper seized, new bits were cheaper and lighter)
2/ Braided brake hose.
3/ Cibie H4 Headlight (oh there IS a road ahead then)
4/ Made by me wiring loom with proper sized wires and waterproof connectors. (Original loom was cracking up and wires gone black.)
5/ Tarozzi Rearsets modified by me to incorporate folding footrests and brake lever (Rearsets = comfort, had kickstart spacer, but original alloy kickstart snapped, so 6/)
6/ Made by me alloy kickstart incorporating spacer
7/ Polished yokes – I think they look better.
8/ Inner shield to chainguard to minimise water etc. getting thrown onto upper AND lower run of chain.
9/ Higher power (ex 500) alternator with Denso regulator
10/ Grease nipple in centre of left hand swinging arm bearing (due to rearsets)
I have added some pictures of some of the above to a photobucket album here:
http://s1120.photobucket.com/albums/l494/gfarenden/ (nb: Includes some pics from an earlier post as well).

I should perhaps also mention that it also has had a 2:1 exhaust, S&W airshocks, strada seat, tank cover and krauser rack & panniers in the past, but I grew out of them!
Cheers,
George.

[brianh0_4]

Hi George, does that mean you want to sell a Strada seat

I have a feeling that many people may not know what 'original' is, as you quite rightly say that many people modify. There are very few restorations, that are correct, but then again maybe they weren't ment to be?
I do appreciate seeing one that looks like my, then, new 78 or 80 sport or my one year old drum braked sport. And apart from the 76 sport, the others were fitted with rearsets, and different exhausts, then tank, seat, extra disc, turbo, fairings etc etc!!!

Brian.

[Captain B]

Cheers George for putting the link to the pics: they're all really good, worthwhile improvements. Rearsets are on my list of must-do mods, as well as sorting out my exhaust headers (and pipes). My bike is a 1982 'K' model so now has discoloured black exhaust headers matched to stainless steel silencers. Considering getting the whole lot ceramic coated black to keep the black and red original look, or maybe just getting the whole lot in stainless steel, and polishing the black ally covers. Hopefully meet some of you guys at Cadwell next week - lets hope the weather picks up or I'm in for a long wet ride down!

[3potjohn]

I'd be interested in what you end up doing with your black exhaust system as i am in the same boat. And talking of boats you'll note that the trackday coincides with the MotoGPweekend at Silverstone,to which I am already committed.So we will gladly collect all the rain there, as usual.
This sort of thing...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZIs5kD9Ruc

[Ralph]

It as silencers from NLM and one of there regulators, a BMW voltage gauge
sits between the clocks but I have the Morini badge to go back if I want
other than that its as was un-restored.

[Alfonso70]

I guess the answer to your question is not very! Mines a 1975 Strada, fitted with 76 wire wheels, floating disc, maxton cartridge fork conversion, betor rear shocks, Kirby ignition, Triumph Thruxton solo seat, (hopefully) one off paint job based on a Guzzi V11 scheme, complete new wiring loom by Ferrret and lots more aside. As with all these things its not completely finished yet on my wish list are a pair of remote reservior rear shocks (either Gasi or Maxton depending on budget!), front brake coversion (thinking about 300mm disc and brembo caliper) and set of nice upswept exhausts (does anyone has a set of Lafranconi race pipes i could use as a pattern?).

I realise that alot of people out there will be thinking 'why has he done all that to it, they were perfectly good as standard' and yes i would agree. However i just wanted to build 'my' perfect morini.

Tony

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[George 350]

Alfonso,
I think your bike is excellent. I never have been a rivet counter. On every bike I've ever owned I have changed it in some way, even if it was simply a lurid paint job on my first moped way back in the '70s. Personally my only rules are:
1/Don't cut bits off the frame or engine that means you can't put it back to standard with the original numbers, and
2/That if it was perfectly good originally and is still ok now, then carry on using it. I admire those who convert to monoshock, make up unique exhausts, fit racy tanks etc as long as the whole look is well thought out and well executed. Nothing worse than a bodged rat bike look.
I also own a Norton 650SS, and it has a front brake from a Laverda 750 so it looks 'period' but is much more useful in the real world. (would you like to try and stop a 450lb bike with an 8" single leading shoe front brake?) Likewise it has Honda switchgear, indicators Denso VCR, rubber mounted lights (CEV Morini one on the back!)and a few other mods to make it real world usable and reliable without it losing it's original looks.

Brian, I do have a surplus Strada seat - not standard as it has a red cover, PM me for more details if interested.

John, RE: Black exhaust - I got the downpipes from mine chromed as it was originally (the set I had were originally black) and it took the plating firm over 2 months with them in a caustic tank to strip off the old black, so be warned if you want to go the chrome route.

Happy modifying,
George.

[Ralph]

Alfonso,
I like my bikes to look more or less as the maker intended,
but it's your bike and it's up to you what you do to it,
personally I think your bike looks wonderful.

[boris tarpit]

. . My bike very definately not standard tho it retains the look and character of Morini thru and thru . . It's an '83 250 with sleeved down Telefix clip-ons, rear sets (I had to weld to the frame to clear the rear exhaust) . . . The exhaust system is my own crossover design, both pipes the same length 2 into 2 with Lafranconi Competizione silencers. The rear header comes out on the right and the front pot exits on the left, it sounds glorious not too loud but deep and resonant . The seat is restyled to give a bit more of a hump . . . The motor is a 350 with a 501 top end on it giving 426cc, L5 ii cam 28mm del ortos, cut away airbox - polish balanced and lightened everything - it certainly motors . . I need better brakes as the standard front is just not up to the job so next will be the floating brake ect conversion, I want to keep with a single disc . . I have a Brembo goldline caliper I plan to fit . . . I also plan to get a bit more weight off the bike with plastic mudguards, a fork brake and smaller rear light maybe . . . I'd like to make a 3 1/2 swingarm fit as the standard one is a bit bendy and looks cheap and nasty . . it's a little bit flighty with relatively hi power in such a short wheelbase . .

I like it because at first glance it's a standard bike and very innocuous looking but with italian flair without being gimmicky or chopped about . . .

[Alfonso70]

gosh that sounds very interesting, especially the exhausts, do you have any photos?

[AndrewW]

An interesting thread.

http://www.takkatakka.co.uk/bike2.html

My bike sort of looks standardish, but its far from it.

The basis of the bike is a 76 wire wheel Strada, rebuilt to resemble a Sport

Non standard stuff, in no particular order:

Paint vaguely to early Sport pattern, but in a much darker red
Stripped and polished upper and lower yokes
Early pattern Sport seat
Yamaha DT175MX indicators
Hagon progressive fork springs
Roy Thursby floating disk and 250 Morini master cylinder mated to the standard caliper with a braided hose
White Power steering damper
Akront wheel rims
IKON 'dial-a-ride' shocks
Phil Smith rear sets with built in grease nipples for the swing arm pivot
NLM swan neck kick start
Laverda fuel taps
'Ricky Racer' 2-1 exhaust system
NLM stainless steel instrument bezel
Tarozzi clip ons and quick action throttle
New pattern del'orto carbs

Sadly, the bike's off the road at the moment with a knackered transfer bearing. but it will be getting an engine make over when its stripped to sort that out, which will include new (but standard) rocker gear and a check on what other mods were done in the engine when it went though Phil Smith's workshop.

[72degrees]

. . - it certainly motors . . I need better brakes as the standard front is just not up to the job so next will be the floating brake ect conversion, I want to keep with a single disc . . I have a Brembo goldline caliper I plan to fit . . . I also plan to get a bit more weight off the bike with plastic mudguards, a fork brake and smaller rear light maybe . . . I'd like to make a 3 1/2 swingarm fit as the standard one is a bit bendy and looks cheap and nasty . . it's a little bit flighty with relatively hi power in such a short wheelbase . . .

The exhaust system sounds interesting. I fitted a NLM stainless 2:1 on the 2C/375 just before the Dijon run as the old 2:1 had started to rattle a few hundred miles after my quick and dirty repair by internal sleeving and brazing (the silencer parted company with the rest just past the 'Y' joint at Cadwell last year). It goes well on the nice large diameter pipes, but ground clearance on the right is severely limited. The whole thing is much bigger than I expected and looks more like 500 dimensions than the used 350 2:1 I grafted on before. That was under a lot of stress from nailing on to the 350 in a 250 frame though. A custom system is clearly what I need.

I've found the front brake disappointing since I fitted a braided line, but suspect the pads may be glazed. Very 'wooden' feeling. I also managed to boil the fluid on one session at this year's Cadwell despite it being good and fresh.

If you sort the bendiness of the swingarm out keep a close eye on the frame near the pivot. When I raced the 'Rotarini' which had a Rotax 250 disc valve motor from an SWM crosser in it (a genuine 40 BHP at least I reckon) the frame cracked and I had to brace it all up round the swingarm pivot. That was using a 350 rear wheel and cushdrive in a 250 swingarm and running Dunlop KR84 'soft' compound tyres to be fair. Lots of grip and reasonable power got things flexing a bit I suspect.