MOTO MORINI EXCALIBUR & NEW YORK
OVERVIEW
The V twin engine designed by Lambertini was made to be very flexible, and was used for a wide variety of applications. In the mid-80s, Morini developed a Custom bike, introduced in 1986, aping to some degree the styling of the doyen of cool, the Harley Davidson bikes of the USA. Although not popular in the UK, this machine was well received in European markets even though it was a radical departure from Morini's sport bike roots.
Both 350 and 500 versions were offered, the earlier bikes being named Excalibur, and having extended forks, a cast front wheel and solid rear, square tube twin loop frame and swing arm, ''King & Queen'' saddle and a complex exhaust system designed to improve torque.
The 501 engine was used from the start with this bike, utilising Nikasil bores to minimise engine noise in response to ever more stringent regulations. With the Cagiva takeover there was a long overdue modernisation of the V twin engine, which up to then had suffered from an ad hoc approach to improvements.
Later Excalibur (1988) and New Yorks benefited from such investments with Japanese Kokusan electrics, an integrated starter motor as well as a round section frame and wire front wheel (the rear was still solid). A most attractive and underrated bike, in 501 format it was the most powerful of all the air-cooled Morini (excluding the prototype Turbo) and could readily exceed 110mph which was produced until Morini production ended in 1993.
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IN THE PRESS
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