501

[buell1203]

Not 3 1/2 really but I guess this section is most read

I have an opportunity to buy a very low mleage 501 excaliber for the engine. It is very sweet running and quiet.

I am not familiar with the 500 hence wondered what might be an average value for this model bearing in mind I only want the engine
What would be a reasonable value?i cannot refer to e bay as a guide as this model is fairly rare

Thanks

[MickeyMoto]

They are worth an absolute fortune... unless I'm buying it, be far, far too much money.

I'd offer 50 quid and when the offer is refused, laugh and walk away then give me the guys contact details...

[swtuggle]

I paid $2000 USD (seller's reserve and only bid IIRC) for my 87 model in Oct 2011 on the auction site. What's more, I had it shipped 2815 miles from PA to WA for an additional $650.

I know this would seem like absolute madness to you lucky gents in the UK, where you seem to have as many Morinis as us Yanks have obese women.

However Morinis, any Morini, are rare as hen's teeth in the states, at least west of the Mississippi. I was given two contacts by a Canadian member here, but one was a dead end, and the other, it's been a slow, infrequent correspondence. Not to mention, his 500 frame/wheels/etc. are a 1350 mile drive away.

The seed was planted in 1985 when I visited the only Chicagoland Morini/Laverda dealer (Yamaha also). As I got out of my car, I witnessed an all-red Sport 500 with non-stock exhaust speeding away from the dealership in anger. I was hooked, and finally got serious enough to have one, any one, just a couple of years ago.

After some tweaking (lamented elsewhere on these forums), she's a pretty quick, great handling bike, apart from the Honda Shadow cruiser look (which I'm determined to change somehow) and because of this design, the ergos are very cramped, slightly leaning me back, causing lower lumbar fatigue rather quickly with horrendous windsock buffeting on the highway.

Steve

[buell1203]

Absolute fortune eh? Ho ho. Well the seller wants 1k for it which to my mind is too much but I am a tight Welshman!

Thanks for the USA input. Sadly we do not see many morinis either so you are not alone...certainly very few of this model.
Obviously your values will differ from ours as we have different market.

[hendre]

Absolute fortune eh? Ho ho. Well the seller wants 1k for it which to my mind is too much but I am a tight Welshman!

Thanks for the USA input. Sadly we do not see many morinis either so you are not alone...certainly very few of this model.
Obviously your values will differ from ours as we have different market.

I would buy it for 1k and ship it to the mainland for an additional 400...

[buell1203]

Thanks Hendre

I thought we were the mainland!

Are there people on the vast continent of Europe sufficiently interested in this ugly machine? Different market,different tastes I suppose?

For me it would only be bought for the motor..but I still think it is to expensive and I have no immediate use...but!!

[steve pegg]

If its sweet running and looks altogether, I reckon 1K would be alright. I would suggest you try using it as it was designed before tearing the engine out. Yeah I know some people say they are ugly and a waste of the engine but Morini did make good bikes so give it a try. I used to scorn the notion of owning a Camel until I had one to use, I was happily converted and very pleased to be proved wrong.
If it is not to your liking hang onto it the price can only go up.

One Moto is not enough, Steve

[hendre]

Thanks Hendre

I thought we were the mainland!

Are there people on the vast continent of Europe sufficiently interested in this ugly machine? Different market,different tastes I suppose?

For me it would only be bought for the motor..but I still think it is to expensive and I have no immediate use...but!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent (particularly by the British, Balearic and Canary Spaniards, Icelanders and other European island nations plus peninsular Scandinavians), is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands.

[MickeyMoto]

Thanks Hendre

I thought we were the mainland!

Are there people on the vast continent of Europe sufficiently interested in this ugly machine? Different market,different tastes I suppose?

For me it would only be bought for the motor..but I still think it is to expensive and I have no immediate use...but!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent (particularly by the British, Balearic and Canary Spaniards, Icelanders and other European island nations plus peninsular Scandinavians), is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands.

But surely England is the Mainland? Wales is separated by Offa's Dyke, whoever she was... unless you have the reverse view What about people who live on the Isle of Dogs - the possibilities are endless.

Fog in Channel, continent cut off....

[EVguru]

It's worth whatever you're prepared to pay to get hold of a 501 (507cc) engine.

The last one I saw on ebay that was bought for its engine went for around £800 and then very quickly apeared on ebay again sans engine. I'm pretty sure it didn't sell, so don't expect to get anything back on the remains.

They're a nice ride and you can't see much of them whilst riding, but every now and then you have to walk towards them!

Even I'd be reluctand to break a New York which I think is a much better Custom (if you like that sort of thing).

[mad muller]

i will now light the blue touch paper, i cant think of a worse looking bike god knows what they were thinking of, a design team high on vino, a crap attempt to capture some of the cruiser market, only gives moto morini a bad name take the motor out stick it in a proper frame, sell the rest on ebay thats if you can! if the engines as good as you say £500 quid would be about right, but i used to ride a honda 50 still looked better though! all the best muller.

[buell1203]

England is somewhere I go when visiting Stafford show.I can go there without a passport!

As for the 501 I appreciate the comments. Perhaps it is worth a try as it is but I really think I would look like a pimple seated on it so will pass.

The camel? I love them. Nearly bought one two years ago but I could not start it,nor could the vendor.

I have made a low offer on the 501 as I knew that the chassis parts would be hard to sell on..except on the mainland
Perhaps Hendre?

I do not think he will accept so will pass on the info to prospective buyers if he declines my offer.

It is in n Wales.

[boris tarpit]

. . I paid £750 for mine, (complete, low mileage) I bought it for the engine but didn't have the heart to break it when it came to it . . it's kitch and tacky and an ergonomic disaster but it makes me laugh and steers and handles beautifully . . the engine is a gem tho, even in restricted form . . .

[hendre]

But surely England is the Mainland? Wales is separated by Offa's Dyke, whoever she was... unless you have the reverse view What about people who live on the Isle of Dogs - the possibilities are endless.

Fog in Channel, continent cut off....

OK, I'll soften the blow a bit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainland
Mainland Britain: (i.e. the island of Great Britain), as opposed to Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. On the Isle of Wight in 1982, Paul Theroux overheard residents at Ventnor: "and now they were talking about 'the mainland', as if we were far at sea and not twenty minutes by ferry from Portsmouth".