Is it worth it, and what's it worth?

[Alex A]

I've been interested in the Corsaro 1200 and Veloce models for some time, but as I'm a long way from any dealer, I haven't had the chance to have a proper look and haven't been in a position to seriously consider buying one. Until now.

I currently ride an SP-1 (amongst other things), but wanted something that's just as thrilling to ride but more of an all rounder. I've had so much trouble finding anything I'd prefer to swap for the SP-1, never mind something I want to pay more to trade up to. I was considering looking for a low mileage SP-2 (harder than you might think), and was on the cusp of buying a new Fireblade when I spotted an '08 Corsaro 1200 at a local dealer. Decided to take a test ride before I committed to anything else, and, well, I don't need to tell you how good it is. Suffice to say, it ticks every box for me in terms of aesthetics and performance.

I am aware the the factory is currently closed and the stock is all sold up, and the future of the firm is very much in question at the moment. That doesn't bother me in itself. But it wouldn't be a bike that's just for show. It would be something to potentially use every day of the year, sun and rain, and cover 6000-10000 miles a year. I understand they're very well made bikes, and it would be meticulously cleaned and maintained. But this is where I'd appreciate your input: Am I likely to suffer with niggles and problems that will see the bike off the road for weeks at a time due to minor design flaws and patchy parts availability (especially in a few years time)? I recently owned an early 90s Guzzi and had endless little problems with that, and Guzzi stock very few parts for bikes of that vintage. Those two factors together meant that I never really got proper use out of the bike, I couldn't depend on it, and it rather spoiled the ownership experience. And what if the worst happened and I need a new tail fairing/tank/lights/clocks in the near or long term? Am I going to have to bastardise the bike with non OEM parts just to get it back in order?

There are three used bikes I can find from dealers at the moment:

A 57 plate Corsaro 1200 with 4300 miles at M&S for £5.5k
An 08 plate Corsaro 1200 with 5600 miles at Robinsons of Rochdale for £6.5k
A 58 plate Corsaro Veloce with 2800 miles at 3X for £7250.

There's also a brand new tricked up Corsaro 1200 at NLM for £9k.

If it was a straight choice, at those prices, the Veloce makes the most sense. But the '08 plate 1200 is by far the closest dealer to me, they're the most generous dealer on trade in value, and the asking price is probably negotiable down to £6k. Is it worth the hassle of selling the current bike privately and buying from a very distant dealer to go for the Veloce instead?

Being a very rare bike, it's hard the gague the appropriateness of those values, especially in respect to how they're affected by the closure of the factory.

In short, I absolutely adore the bike. But would it be unwise to buy one as a long term dependable bike considering the present unclear circumstances surrounding the future of the firm? What specifically should I be looking out for (beyond the usual consumables etc.) when looking to buy one of these bikes? And what should I really be looking to pay?

[corsaro chris]

Alex;

I ran an early [06] Corsaro for three years and had some minor niggles over about 16,000 miles. Mine was black and silver, and I loved it, but ended up doing some long trips with Diane on the pillion and so swapped it for a Granpasso.

Just about everything except the oil filter and cycle parts you mention is standard Italian sourced, and between the UK and German importers there are "loads of spares" as of yesterday as I asked when having the GP serviced down at 3X. [The oil filter is a one-off special for Morini, but there is a manufacturer and the main constraint is that their contract is with Morini, not importers / dealers]. Some spares are very slow though, as you will note from other comments on the Forum.

The big question, before anything else, is has the bike (if it's a pre '08 model - not plate...) had all the upgrades? An easy way to check (just asking doesn't always work) is to see if the radiator has an earthing wire to the frame and a chunky electrical connector under the seat (the original wasn't man enough for the current). This isn't foolproof but gives an indication.

If asking the dealer fails, check with 3X - they might just help. North Leicester are another good source for advice, and they may have just sold the bike in the first instance!

There is a dealer listed at Bury [Ital Sport] - so there should be a mechanic there who has knowledge of the bike - worth checking the 3X website http://www.motomorinimotorcycles.co.uk/.

Which you buy can only be your choice - the Veloce has better suspension and "silencers", and does go a little quicker if you can be bothered.

Let us know what happens, and welcome to the Forum

[Alex A]

Thanks for the response and the kind welcome Chris. Very helpful.

Is there any record of which frame numbers relate to which years production?

Already spoken to Ital Sport - they're confident they could service the bike and sort any mechanical issues.

[morini_tom]

Alex,

Firstly welcome to the forum, and thank you for your interest in Moto Morini, particularly at these difficult times. You are wise to be asking these questions but it's great that you've not dismissed possibility of owning a Morini at the moment. If more people out there had the same attitude as you then I suspect MM would not be in it's current situation.

As Chris said, making sure the bike had all the updates done is key. I think the last major round of updates was back in 2008 and the only problem I've had with my '08 registered Corsaro is a small oil weep from the left hand engine cover which was sorted at the 6000 mile service. My 2006 corsaro did have some niggles but these seemed to be sorted by the updates in 2008. Even before the updates it wasn't that bad but in truith I think the corsaro was not quite ready when it went into production, and it took them a little while to get everything spot on. I think you can forgive Morini this- It's just not feasible for such a small factory to put in the development resources upfront that the more established manufacturers can. And credit to Morini- they were committed to sorting every bike out there, so they extended the 3 year warranty and all of the updates to even the first bikes off the production line (I suspect many other manufacturers would have hidden the updates by releasing an '08 model year bike with a few upgraded components or minor facelift, and tough luck to everyone who bought an older model)

Anyhow, back to your questions. I see no reason why the Corsaro can't be daily transport if it's looked after. In general the quality of the fastners is good and my corsaro looks as good as it did the day it rolled out of 3x showroom, especially when compared to my dad's FJR1300 which he picked up the same day, which is now positively furry. One niggle you may experiance is the high beam sometimes switching on in very heavy rain. You'll find that WD40 sprayed into the switchgear every so often helps.

I am not aware of any horror stories reliability wise, and I don't think any problems have manifested themselves in the higher mileage bikes out there. Servicing is pretty straighforward, the first really major thing is I think camchains at 50k.

Some people have found the wear rate of the cush drive rubbers to be quite high, although in my experiance they settled down at about 4000 miles. In any case I doubt the rubbers are unique to Morini so should be an easy to source consumable if needs be. As chris points out, the oil filter seems to be unique, and obviously gaskets will be too but I don't see this as a problem at the moment- If Morini do completely fold then I suspect the OEM suppliers will be permitted to provide parts, and I think there are enough bikes out there now to make it worth their while.

I'm sure we are all wondering what we will do for parts if we drop the bike, and right now there's no real answer to that question. All I can say is that when we were at the factory last year there seemed to be a lot of stock, so I hope that whoever resurrects/takes over/asset strips MM makes this available to us.

The Morini is a low volume exotic so it's probably not going to be as 'easy' to own as the Honda, but it certainly shouldn't be difficult, and if you're anything like me, after 3 years of ownership it'll still make you giggle like a lunatic. Perhaps most suprising for me was how competent a machine it was long distance touring, 2-up when we visited the factory. Despite being a naked it was perfectly comfortable, the fairing seeming to deflect enough of the wind blast, and the bike just rolled on effortlessly no matter what we threw at it.

The Morini range is so good that I cannot help but think that it will, in some form, be resurrected. I have heard from so many different sources that the engine is the best out there in it's class (one of those was a long establised Ducati dealer) and I'm sure that somebody will be able to make the business case work.

Out of the bikes you list I would go for the Veloce- firstly because I would trust 3x to have ensured the updates were all present and correct, secondly because it's a veloce! Also, the '08 corsaro will be due a service at 6000, so that's a chunk of the difference in cost offset.

I'm not aware of a list of framenumbers/production years. My '06 reg corsaro was 2523 and my '08 reg corsaro is 3334- but then my bike was a display bike for a while, so it's probably a 2007 production year.

Hope that helps a little, and keep the questions coming!
Tom

[nahnah27]

My Granpasso has recently been written off by the insurance company although initially a costing was made of the parts required for repair. One stumbling block was the lack of availability of a new swing arm and body panels. These might have been forthcoming in due course but not in the time scale that Aviva wanted to settle within.
Somewhere "out there" is a Granpasso with undamaged engine and RHS. 3X mentioned to me that they would attempt to buy the bike off Aviva for spares but I do not know whether they have done so.
Now sad I don't own a Morini.

[Beveldrive]

Let that be a lesson to us all......don't fucking crash!!