(Gutted) new Corsaro owner saying hello and...

[v2ono]

Well, this isn't how I was planning my first post to be, but hello everyone- I'm the new (I've had it a week) owner of an early (06), but on the face of it lightly used Corsaro.

Bit of background on me- I grew up around bikes, my dad owned, amongst other things, a nummber of Vincents since long before I was born, and the family transport for us all for most of my childhood (60s and 70s) was a 1952 Rapide with a fecking great 4 seater sidecar on it.

He also had a 3 1/2 strada in the 70s, which he had a love/hate relationship with, mainly due to its then starting habits and one or two other problems, it eventuallygave up the ghost, and was left unloved in a corner for a few years, before I, as I then 17-18 year old, rebuilt the motor and restored the cosmetics as it was suffering a bit, changing it from that nasy brown colour to the traditional faster red, and re-making a lot of the standard loom and connectors with much better quality wire and connectors. I ran it around for a year or so before selling it on, it was totally reliable, and always started first or second kick for me (which irritated my dad no end!)

Anyway- to the present- I've never been without at least one bike since my childhood, and although to date that 3 1/2 was my only Morini, I've always sort of had a soft spot for the marque, and since they first appeared always fancied a Corsaro.
Sowhen recently, a very local to me 2006 Corsaro came up at what was on the face of it not a lot of money I bought it.

It's done 5,000 miles, and basically been sat in a shed for the last 3 years or so.
It was serviced approx 200 miles before it was laid up, and although the battery is definitely not as strong as it could be, a bit of fresh petrol in it and it ran suprisingly better than I was expecting, given that it is an early one , and how long it has been standing.
Did a check over of all the essentials and gave it a good clean before taking it for an MOT. Didn't change the oil before that first ride as I didn't have a new filter, and sort of took the view that even though the oil had been in there 3 years, it had only done a max of 200 miles and still looked a decent colour so could wait a few days until I had the filter. Hindsight and all that, but who knows, anyway, it's irrelevant now.

Of course flew through the MOT , I took it for a 30 mile or so detour en route back from the MOT place and all seemed well, need to get some new tyres on it, and was already planning some upgrades, but once warmed up it fuels reasonabley well and ticks over fine , with a silent engine, and no leaks etc.

Had a couple of errands to run in the car after that, but when I got back was itching to have a proper ride, and the sun was out so filled up with super and off I went.
All went well for 30 miles or so, had a stop for 10- 15 mins looked over it, all looking good, fired straight back up , no strange noises or leaks and on a nice open local B road I thought I'd see where I could get the vmax to, so full beans through all the gears- it definitely seemed to run out puff after 4th, and I was just thinking " the tunono would slaughter this and no way this has anything near 130hp" when it slowed quite dramatically.
Having owned and raced more than my fair share of 2 strokes over the years , I unconsciously ride with a couple of fingers on top of the clutch lever so whipped it staight in and coasted down to approx 30mph, bike was still ticking over, so let the clutch back out and it was running on both, apply any throttle though and a nasty metalic knocking....
Luckily I was only a few miles from home by them, so crept home at under 3k rpm on practically no throttle, parked it up in the garage, and at idle, it sounds normal.
Apply any throttle and theres that noise again. Feck...

I got it up on the bench, dropped the oil and pulled the strainer and my worst fears were confirmed- little slithers of bronze coloured metal, so I'm guessing a big end bearing- are there any other bronze bearings/busshes in there?
There's no hard or steel bits there, just the bronze stuff.

Only thing that confuses me a little at the moment is that at tickover it sounds normal, but I guess that's irrelevant really, as it's a complete strip?

So, any and all advice and suggestions on what to do now helpful, either if you know anywhere I could buy a complete motor, bits to potentially repair, recommend anyone to take the the job on etc (all I know of is 3X or NLM?) , or any other suggestions as to what it might be, or any further diagnosis I can do.


Hopefully you've made it to the end of this post as yeah , I know, I've woffled on a bit

Thanks

RIch

[morini_tom]

Hi Rich,

Sorry to hear about your woes. You sound incredibly unlucky as on the whole the engine is strong and reliable. Assuming you have no recourse with the seller then it looks like you're into a rebuild- something I think few on the forum will have experience of. NLM and 3X are the obvious choice in the UK but I think they have very limited parts stock now. Fortunately the factory has so far proved very willing to give advice and supply parts so dealing direct may be your best option.

www.motomorinimotorcycles.eu

On the factory website you'll find information on how to contact them and also if you register you can download a parts price list which you may find helpful. If you need a parts diagram then I have one I could scan if nobody on the forum has an electronic copy to hand. You'll also find the workshop manual essential- copies do exist on the net and I'm sure somebody will be along soon to point you in the right direction.

The final and most expensive option is the new FMV12 engine on eBay Germany at the moment. But it's 3500 euro...

Please keep us updated with how you get on,
Tom

[corsaro chris]

Hi Rich;

Sorry to hear of your woes as well... As Tom says both 3X and NLM will have had experience of the motor, I'm not sure if either of them have ever taken an engine down as yet, but they both have mechanics who'll have been through the requisite courses.

If you are in Berkshire, then how about coming along to the next club met at The Bell at Aldworth, sort of north of Newbury? At least you can meet up with a couple or so of like minded soles and we can swap tales of Morini old and new. I could also bring along the Corsaro manual (if you let us know you're coming) and you can have a squirt through it for interests sake.

Good luck!

CC

[Tricky]

Rich,

Good luck with this a real shame for this to happen, no one expects to be in your shoes. On such a young bike.

Rich

[v2ono]

Thanks all, appreciate the encouragement!
Have got the pdf of the workshop manual, and now parts list too (thanks Tom), it really is an unusual design motor, it's the only bike that I can think of with a built up crank where the cases don't split, and it looks like (in theory at least) the motor could be completely stripped in the frame, not that you'd probably want to.
I popped the plugs out and cam covers off, I wasn't really expecting to find any clues in that area, but they're fairly accessible and thought I'd have a peek just in case, all looks brand new in there as you'd expect, and both plugs are nice dry and coffee coloured.
Have come to the conclusion it has to be an end or main bearing(s) picked up, hopefully whenever its fully stripped we'll also work out why- turning it over by hand with an allen key in the end of the crank with the plugs out takes some effort all the way around, and does seem tight to me, I've nothing to compare it with of course, so it might be normal, but its got me thinking- Before this happened, even with a fully charged (showing 13+ v on the clocks) and supposedly recent Gel battery, it turned very very slowly on the starter, as if the battery was almost flat, even though it wasn't.

Anyway, I called 3X today , had a brief chat with someone in service but apparantley need to speak to Glen who wasn't about, not been able to speak to anyone at NLM yet, but I will, it's a keeper this one and as long as bits are available, it will live again, its just a matter of when....

And cheers Chris, I'm just on the outskirts of Reading towards Basingstoke, and will be checking in here regularly so will definitely get myself along to your next meet, even if it's not on the Corsaro, although, fingers crossed

Will keep you posted of progress

Cheers

Rich

[Tricky]

Rich,

Mine turns over like yours just the same, as if the batteries flat too. Just thought I would lt you know. I hope you get it all sorted. Its an 06 too.

Rich

[v2ono]

Rich,

Mine turns over like yours just the same, as if the batteries flat too. Just thought I would lt you know.

Rich

Cheers Rich , good to know, as of course I never really had long enough to find out what ' normal' is yet, my motor sounded lovely without any rattles or whines etc before I killed it so sounds like it was all fine , they are pretty big pistons for that battery to get past TDC I guess

[Chips1953]

I am so disappointed that you have had this experience with the Corsaro. I can't help with the repair of the bike as I don't know what may have caused your problem.
What I do know is that for me the Corsaro is the best bike I have ever owned. On Tuesday I went to John O' Groats, form Carlisle and on Wednesday rode back in a downpour nearly all the way, without the bike missing a beat. 900 miles.
If you have the time, inclination and cash try to get the bike fixed and I'm sure you will be rewarded with hours of real joy and adventure.
Good Luck.
I got a copy of the manual from Twisty, if it's still available then perhaps he can let you have a download of it.

[corsaro chris]

Hi George;

Sunny Dijon to damp John O'Goats; that Corsaro is seeing some miles (or kilometres...) then. Written up anything for ATG, it'd make good reading?

Rich;

Hope that it inspires you to persevere with the Corsaro! I've got a copy of the workshop manual on disc - send a pm and we'll see if we can't get together; at least you can hear how another Corsaro should sound then...

CC

[Tricky]

Hi Rich,
Not that this info helps, whilst at BSD Racing, I metioned your situation. Mark Of BSD says he sees this on many bikes all the time, when they have not been used and laid up. He said the oil simply drains into the sump so the bearings are dry. They need oil pressure before starting.
He recommends turning them over with out plugs fitted, once oil pressure is there then start them.
I know its like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. But this may well save someone some money etc.

If you want to experience what a Corsaro goes like, you are welcome to try mine.

Cheers
Rich

[v2ono]

Thanks all, this week's been a busy one for me so not really managed to progress anything yet but I will, posts and pics on here have just made me keener than ever to get it sorted.

And thanks Chris, got the workshop manual from here, definitely keen to meet up sometime soon though and compare notes / benefit from your knowledge/experiences.
Rich, yep, I guess Mark's explanation is a likely one, I didn't really have the option though, as when I went to see it, the previous owner had got the battery charged and it started, and yep, would love to take you up on your offer and ride a fit corsaro, I've still got my Tuono as well so you are of course very welcome to have a whizz on that, both italian v twins but very different to ride- I'll warn you in advance, the Corsaro feels tiny compared to it

[Tricky]

Hi Rich,

Ive been v busy this week, ive not been able to reply sooner, Sounds good to me, Perhaps a ride out of some sort would be a good idea with other members, a couple of pub stops too! ASAP in my mind.

Rich

[v2ono]

Well, it's been a while, and am well overdue for an update on this thread.
I pretty much drew a blank everywhere in UK in terms of finding someone to sort it (although Stuart at NLM was very frank and helpful) or getting bits locally, so needed to look a bit further afield.
Ebay italy (google translate has proved invaluable- 50+ emails later...) eventually turned up a lowish miles (8k km) partial engine- basically the crankcases, complete with crank/pistons etc from a private individual in the far south of Italy breaking a 2008 veloce, which I ended up buying, and the seller was very helpful in terms of tracking down the other new bits (gaskets, washers etc etc ) I needed from a dealer over there, and its all finally arrived this week. It's a gamble, as the motor has already been broken and most bits sold off, but he seems like a genuine bloke so fingers crossed its a good un and crap hasn't entered it, as its been open in bits for some months.





so over the next few weeks, I'll transplant the heads, clutch, gennie, waterpump, cases etc etc from my poorly motor onto the new(ish) donor lump, and fingers crossed, we may have a runner !

Here's mine, in the state its been for the last couple of months, awaiting the necessary...



And I think I know why mine failed- I very strongly suspect that somewhere in the french ducati dealer workshop where mine was last serviced a couple of hundred miles before it went boom, there is a small spring, the same as the one in the pic below, as mine never had one when I stripped it!



I also picked up the veloce ecu from him at the same time, once its back up together, plan will be to get it remapped to run open loop, and also get rid of the Cat- would lover the termi race de-cat downpipes, but suspect I may end up just getting a link pipe made up over here, or maybe just the existing cat removed from the current pipes.

Next week-end, all being well, I'll get my motor up on the bench and all being well, it will live again before Christmas

[Daddy Dom]

Hi Rich,
well I peered over the fence from the Tre e Mezzo forum I usually inhabit and read your tale, then the entire thread. Good on you for having such strong faith. I have learnt after 6+ years of Morini ownership that on the whole they are brilliantly designed engines easily f-ed up by people who don't understand them or care to. I haven't had such a bad story but the rewards of riding a Morini when it's on-song are so huge that I'm sure your belief will be repaid.

I look forward to the end of this chapter of your story and then you can tell us about your riding tales.
Cheers,
Dom