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Hello All,
Mathew from Canada here.
After 5 or so years looking I finaly got myself a 3 1/2!
Seems to be a 1977 Strada (A3 / ... ?), but LOOKS like the Sport,
with the Magura clip ons and Tarozzi's, hump seat etc.
I've got a few questions,
1) The rims are "San Remo Trials" Are these Original?
2) I am having the tank and side panels painted. Does anyone have photo's of a Silver and Black Sport paint scheme ? (Like the one above but silver instead of red?)

I'm in the process of a good going over and cosmetic restore. The mileage reads ~2900mi and judging by the internals of the top end it just might be acurate! Much cleaner inside than my old Beemer!


[/img]

Hi, congrats on your buy! As to your questions:

The A3 was made for the Italian home market in either the Sport or Strada version. The only real difference would be the S stamped at the lower left front part of your engine if it is a genuine Sport.

"Real sports" commonly used Tommaselli clipons, Boranni rims and no rear sets. As your's has Magura's, San Remo rims and Tarozzi the bike might have been rebuild at some stage or upgraded. We do that all te time...... but you also never know what came from the factory, they yend to have used anything when some part was not in stock.

Black silver paintschemes were done on later models, an example is on
http://www.motomoriniclub.nl/291.jpg
http://www.motomoriniclub.nl/292.jpg
But I think you are looking at the original paintjob replacing the yellow with silver like this example http://www.motomoriniclub.nl/076.jpg

As far as paint goes it is how you like to do it, mine is Italian green (never used originally) and in the process of rebuilding.

Good luck getting 'm back on the road, André

In the very top right of this picture you can see the black and silver'
I'm looking for.
Anyone got a better picture?[/img]

I think the black / silver paintjob was only on the Strada. Not that that should discourage you if you fancy that paintscheme!

And I think the 'S' was only stamped on the official UK imported Sports, but I may be wrong.

Nice to hear your top end internals are nice and clean- that would suggest it's been used fairly regularly, at least recently.

3narf wrote:
Nice to hear your top end internals are nice and clean- that would suggest it's been used fairly regularly, at least recently.

It's been sitting for at least 10 years. The prevoius owner rode it once since 1997 when he bought it, with 2870 original miles... now at 2900...

I'm really excited to get her out on the road. Waiting on a parts order from NLM...

mgill wrote:

3narf wrote:
Nice to hear your top end internals are nice and clean- that would suggest it's been used fairly regularly, at least recently.

It's been sitting for at least 10 years.

Hahaha! So much for my theory then.

They must've at least put decent oil in it when they laid it up...

Whereabouts are you in Canada, btw?

Hi Mathew.
I'm not sure that this bike has a factory paint job, but it is a Sport done in silver and black.

I believe it belonged to a rider in Rome..




..and here is a silver and black Strada. Again, I'm not sure of it's originality.



Best Wishes,
Jenny.

Morini Jen! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
That's it! Wow! That's great!
Mathew

3narf wrote:
Whereabouts are you in Canada, btw?

I'm about 3hrs WSW of Toronto.
-16C outside right now,
So for all of you in England that think riding in the winter sucks...
well at least your riding!!!

Cheers!
Mathew

mgill wrote:Morini Jen! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
That's it! Wow! That's great!
Mathew

Gosh!. ..

Glad to be of service! ..

Look forward to hearing how it goes with getting your bike back on the road..

Keep warm.
Best Wishes,
Jenny.

3narf wrote:And I think the 'S' was only stamped on the official UK imported Sports, but I may be wrong.

The 'S' was stamped on the cases at the factory, possibly to identify the engine as sport specification whilst it was assembled. The differences are higher compression pistons (11:1 rather than 10:1) and a camshaft with more duration and lift. Legend has it that not all engines were built to the correct specification and I think all engines used high comp pistons after a certain date.

To determine if a bike is a 'genuine' sport, you need to look for various clues. The rev-counter should red-line at 8500, rather than 8000. If using wire wheels the rear drum should be 180mm, not 160mm (5 bolt sprocket fixing, rather than six). The top yoke should be plain. If a disc braked model, there should be caliper mounting lugs on both fork sliders. The front mudguard should be shorter and have two stays, not four. To me, it's engine spec. that's most important, since everything else is so easy to swap. I don't worry much about originality, but I'd not want to pay the 'sport premium' if it wasn't one.

Morinijen wrote:
Glad to be of service!

I'll be going with the Silver and Black paint scheme on the Sport in the first picture. I will post up some pictures when I get her all put together!
Thanks Again!
Mathew

EVguru wrote:

3narf wrote:And I think the 'S' was only stamped on the official UK imported Sports, but I may be wrong.

The 'S' was stamped on the cases at the factory, possibly to identify the engine as sport specification whilst it was assembled. The differences are higher compression pistons (11:1 rather than 10:1) and a camshaft with more duration and lift. Legend has it that not all engines were built to the correct specification and I think all engines used high comp pistons after a certain date.

I can't find the "S" Anywhere. Checked the NL Morini Clubs site to reference the VIN# and it seems to be a Strada.

[/quote]To determine if a bike is a 'genuine' sport, you need to look for various clues. The rev-counter should red-line at 8500, rather than 8000.[/quote]

Mine red-lines @ 8000rpm

[/quote] If using wire wheels the rear drum should be 180mm, not 160mm (5 bolt sprocket fixing, rather than six).[/quote]

Have the 180mm rear drum with 5 bolt sproket

[/quote] The top yoke should be plain. [/quote]

If by "plain" you mean no bar risers, it is plain. Has Magura clip ons.

[/quote]If a disc braked model, there should be caliper mounting lugs on both fork sliders.[/quote]

Has single disc. No provision for another.

[/quote] The front mudguard should be shorter and have two stays, not four. [/quote]

Has the longer one.

[/quote]To me, it's engine spec. that's most important, since everything else is so easy to swap. I don't worry much about originality, but I'd not want to pay the 'sport premium' if it wasn't one.[/quote]

I agree completely. The carbs have been rejetted from the import spec.
112 main/ 50 pilot / 7447.5 slide / 260k tube.
Does this sound Right???

I am comfortable with the price I paid, and parts, although a bit scarce, are very reasonable when compared to my BMW, although somewhat more expensive than my other vintage Honda's.

I am grateful for the response and help I've gotten from you all.
Mathew

mgill wrote:

3narf wrote:
Whereabouts are you in Canada, btw?

I'm about 3hrs WSW of Toronto.

I've been to Trenton / Belleville; that's in the other direction, of course.

Nice country out that way, roads are alot curvier than here.
Mat