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Anyone out there use their 350 Sport for "mild" weekend touring? I'm not looking at huge distances but wondered how other riders cope over distances of up to 300 miles (in a day). I realise that the Strada is probably a better bet for touring but I have a Sport and need to adapt. I'm sure some of you guys must do fairly high mileages on the little v-twins so thought I'd ask for other's experiences and advice.

I'm particularly keen to learn what baggage riders use - my first thoughts are large tank bag and/or throw over panniers. Any one had any trouble with tank bag restricting air flow into the fuel cap and, if so, how did you overcome this?

My 1981 350K is virtually unmarked so I am wary of attaching anything likely to damage it's near perfect finish.

My reason for asking is because I was originally mulling over trading up (not sure it is a trade-up really) for a 500 Morini for the extra torque but would rather keep the 350 as it is great fun to ride without luggage etc (and I can't afford 2 bikes)!

I realise that a mere 350 is small for use as a tourer but it will only be "toured" rarely and, I reckon, should cope OK one up - I had an MZ250 years ago and that covered the distances fine (albeit slowly) and also a Yamaha RD250 so cc's need not be a barrier. Even had a chair on the MZ for a while!

Any suggestions/input welcomed - thanks!

I have used my old Beemer with it's hard panniers for many years-Obviously hard to beat. I have a '82 350 Sport now and have spent some time trying to see how to carry stuff. It has the fibreglass tail unit so this means i have to carry a tent on the pillion part of the saddle.
I use a magnetic tank bag, I got from Aldi once though I don't think they did them last time around.It has an under the tank strap as well.I have a piece of thin rubber sheet (from a caravan shop- had to turn my collar up coming out of there I can tell you) under the tank bag as my home brew paint is not too resilient.Especially when the keys are stuck on the magnetic part! No issues with fuel cap. I did think about cutting around the bag cover here but have not.
As for panniers I got those Oxford First time bags from Argos.Bit of a faf compared to the Krausers of course.A few extra bits of webbing and vecro (from my local chandlers)keeps it kosher. I also got some 2 inch elasticated webbing. I glued and the sofa repair bloke sewed velcro at each end of a pair. These go under the saddle but on top of the fibreglass base.Then the tent bag is put on the pillion and the webbing stretched around the thing. A couple more straps around this for good luck and its done. I use a Vango Omega tent but its about 5kg.About the max I reckon.
The furthest Ive been was about 280miles in one hit.
Be certain to pack a few brufen.

John
(This is my second attempt at posting... darn site )

Ive found most 'decent' tank bags ok, and non marking, although your brain is always telling you different. An extra coat or two of wax on there should do the trick.
If you have the sports seat its difficult to use throw overs I guess.

I have a nice 3.5 Strada could consider swapping, nice long seat and the rack also?

300 ish miles a day with 'ease' as long as you like retina detachment and a good dental shakedown!!! Seriously I took the Morini, two up, down to Bristol and back in one day easy enough, sat purring along the motorway, and cruising through the twisties.

Enjoy.

I use a tankbag on my 350K Sport with no problems; it's from Hein Gericke and is a magnetic one assisted by a small strap that goes under the headstock. I always make sure the strap doesn't tangle with the horn or fuel tap wires, but apart from that I've had no problems with it blocking airflow to the tank cap.

I've also used a set of 'MotoFizz. throwover / strap-on panniers; these use straps which clip onto the panniers and which can be adjusted for width using velcro. Bit of a fiddle on mine as I've got a home bodged cafe racer seat, but once they're in place they're fine. That 'wonder web' stuff is handy for protecting paintwork from panniers, and I have previously used an old tee shirt to protect the tank when using a magnetic tank bag. Not an issue on my Morini, which is somewhat patinated.

I took my Strada on the club trip to the Netherlands last year, when it was pretending to be a Sport. We didn't do more than 250 miles in a day, but certainly could have done more. I just had a pair of Oxford throw-over panniers, which are fine on the Sport seat: the front strap goes over the seat, and you slide the rear one under the seat so it's sitting on the frame rails.

With Strada pegs and high-rise clip-ons, the most I could manage was about 90 miles before a leg stretch, and a hot bath and a couple of nurofen were very welcome at the end of the day (although I do have back problems which are not the Morini's fault!).

The bike was happy to sit at 6,000rpm (70-ish) indefinitely and even the Belgian motorways were not daunting. It was a great experience which I'd recommend to anyone. Here we are at Arnhem:



Regards, Mark

Hi John,

As always Mark comes out with a great picture showing off his very clean Strada.
In answer to your question you can tour on pretty much any Morini, although it does help if you have short legs.
I had a long break from Morini's after having three in the 70's & 80's. Although I sold the bikes the original luggage I kept so when I returned to Morini's in 2008 I had the tank bag and panniers which I had used all those years previous.
If you can find a 500 they are great and probably the best for long distances particularly if you wish to carry a passenger. A rack is also very useful particularly if you are camping.
Get out there and enjoy and take the A roads, you will find these more enjoyable on a Morini.

Safe Riding

Paul

Thanks for the replies guys - plenty of useful information.

Tank bag and panniers now on Christmas list!

The pic of Mark's bike at Arnhem is almost a publicity/marketing shot! - the bike is in fantastic condition and looks almost new.

Keith

Hi,
I've a set of Oxford panniers for sale if you can't wait for Santa! I've only used them once, about 4 years ago on a touring holiday to Somerset on my Guzzi Le Mans. I'm on an '06 Triumph Speed 4 now [elbows and wrists finally gave up!] and my wife's on a '76 Morini 350 Sport. I see they're about £65 new. Looking for £40 if you're interested.

Steve
07714751099

Hi,
Occasional touring on a 350 Sport should present no problem, mine is a 1978 and had the squishy one and a half person seat. I used a set of throw over panniers with bungees around them to stop them lifting in the slip stream. I then used a bungee net to secure my tent and a small rucksack over the top, (see photo, mines the red one!) which effectively held everything in place. I also use an expanding 'Frank Thomas' magnetic tank bag which is brilliant.

As for distances, once a group of us went from North London to Glencoe in a day for the Scottish Rally and repeated this on the return journey, by my estimation that was about 530 miles each way.

I've been to the Isle of Man two up with the same luggage minus the tent, which was about 250 miles each way.

I also spent about ten days taking in the AGM, track day and the Scottish Rally, solo but with full camping equipment.

All these trips were taken at 'A tutto gas' and I've never had concerns cruising long distances at 80 mph or more (including 2 up), stability being absolutely fine. Long distances aren't a problem on a Sport, no more boring than on a Le Mans or Commando etc. the only difference being you have to work a little harder through the gears, but then you gain by being more agile. 'A' roads are more interesting than motorways, but sometimes combinations make the best routes, but that will depend upon your time-scale and preference.

Morini's can be loaded up and thrashed all day, as for choice of luggage I merely have what was available and certainly didn't spend a fortune acquiring it. The best mod for prolonged comfort was a pair of rear sets, all bikes of this era suffer from a poor riding position, my Commando and Le Mans were not exceptions. However that is probably subjective, I'm 6', so you may need to experiment a bit to suit yourself.

Changing your Sport for something else will simply bring along a different set of problems!

All the best.

Thanks for the reply.

530 miles in a day - impressive stuff!

Makes my trip from Peterborough to Wales next year look extremely do-able!

As you say a change of bike will only bring another set of challenges so I'm sticking to my 1981 350K (especially as I have just splashed out on some new silencers).

Not sure I could sustain 80mph for long periods though - mine gets quite a bit of vibration in the clip ons after about 70mph, not really bad but "tingly"! Not really found riding position too bad with standard footrests (I think the later bikes had less of a "problem" than the early models in terms of footrest positioning).

Just need to source a large tank bag (should be ample for a long weekend) - panniers too for longer stays but need to make sure I can protect my pristine paintwork before using them.

I did around 300 miles on my 3 1/2 Sport on Saturday, from Hertfordshire to Wiltshire and back, which was around 6 hours riding time on a broad mix of A and B roads and motorways. It was remarkably unstressful, and the rear-set footpegs are much more comfortable than standard ones. On the return journey, mainly motorway, we only stopped briefly to refuel.

What really pleased me was the 86.8 mpg average over the trip.

I´ve avoided posting to this as I have a habit of opening a cn of worms but I´m currently stuck in wet Poland on a trip so I thought I would. The following is fro my experience, yours may differ.

Firstly, there is no way of carrying luggage on standard bike that won´t wear the paint. You will need some form of rack to keep the bags from the panels and to keep the bags intact they need to be off the rear springs. If not every bump the springs will b e chewing through the fabric, especially if they are wet.

Magnetic tank bags are brilliant but you need to take care where you place them down. If the magnetic flap picks up any iron filing, swarf, grit then it will stay put and wear through the tank paint. A piece of that non slip mat between the bag and the tap helps but you still need to store the bag in safe place, not in the workshop under the grinder.

86.8mpg? I hope that it isn´t running too lean. I´m not trying to rain on your parade but it does sound a little too good. Just a thought.

Cheers

Rod