Wire wheel Strada.

[Mark]

I was recently looking at a photo of a Strada with wire wheels and a front disc, apparrently 1975.
Did the factory produce such an arrangement and if so is 1975 correct?
It seems odd as the Sport didn't have a disc until 1976 did it?

[texaskitty]

For 1976 the Sport was fitted with a front disc brake but the Strada still had a front drum brake. My guess is that the Strada first got a front disc brake in 1977. See what others say.

[Mark]

I agree with 1977 or thereabouts for the front disc brake but by then it also had cast wheels didn't it?

[norbert]

There was a strada with wire wheels and disc brake, but I imagine that they were produced only one or maybe 2 years. I´ve seen two of them, don´t remember if they had borrani or steel rims . Guess they are from 75/76. From 77 the sport as the strada came with cast wheels as far as I know.

norbert

[norbert]

Found a picture I made in 2013. Wire wheels with steel rims and disc brake. The paintwork is from the older model. As you see, this bike is nicely restored and not all original, stainless brake tube, rubber inlet tubes ... but he wheels came like this. If I remember it well, the owner told me that it was from 76. It was the first time I saw a strada with this wheels. (in the background Rocinante)

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[corsaro chris]

Morinis at the SW centre meeting, Spring 1977

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Photo shows the first South West section meeting of the MRC at Rode, just north of Frome - this was held in about May 1977, and you'll see that there are several wire wheel / disc brake Stradas. The rims were steel - only the Sport had alloy.

I bought mine in early 1977, having seen one at the Earls Court show (London) in late 1976. So it would be correct to think that in Italy there would have been this form of bike on the road in 1976 - the UK importer (Harglo) always looked for a deal on the Morinis that they bought in, so they would have been in production for at least a few months before they brought a batch over! The Clarke book has the disc brake with cast wheels introduced in 1977, and so the disc / spoke wheel combination was a transition that lasted for a relatively short time (the original Sport and Strada models were both in production by 1974); the prototype was first shown in 1971 and it's alleged that a few Stradas were made in late 1973.

Good riding,

CC

[Lewes96]

Hi, my Strada is a 77 with chrome rims and wire wheels and a front disc

[Mark]

Thanks for the info and pics.
I never knew such an arrangement was made, we see the wire wheel/disc 1976 Sport quite often but it seems there was a similar" interim" arrangement for the Strada too.
Thanks for enlightening me.

[MarkB]

And who knows what might have been done when the bike was already in use? My double disc wire wheel Sport didn't have the second disc fitted until the '90s, after the engine had been breathed on by Alex at NLM. If I didn't have old invoices to show that, nobody would know it didn't leave the factory like that in 1976.

[corsaro chris]

If you want to get all excited about such things note the difference in the front fork stays on the wire wheeled, disc braked Stradas (in the photograph) and the wire wheeled, drum braked Strada behind... Whole books are written on such trivia, and some of them are even read, I'm told!

What I do know was that the Strada was great fun, ridden for three years and then swapped for a 500 that lasted eight. In turn, the 500 was swapped for a Dart after seeing one in Bologna, and I still have that...

Good riding,

CC

[lambs]

Whole books are written on such trivia, and some of them are even read, I'm told!

I think I'll wait for the movie.......