'New' SOB.

A Morini 500 was delivered to my door this afternoon, so I'll be having
my hands full sorting it out over the next few weeks.
I'll be needing a few parts, and as NLM are 15 miles away, expect to be
up there a few times.
I definitely need a pair of rear shocks, so what should I go for?
Also a new pair of tyres - what were the cheapies recommended by Lozzo?

Any web sites that I should bookmark for reference?
Thanks
Alan.

 

I've had Hagons on one of mine and they were rather good.

Sir may want to subscribe to the Morini mailing list.

 

Hopefully it's not that POS TOG had for a while.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

No, a basket case from a local chap. Seems to be all there so far apart
from rear shocks, and 1 carb hasnt been found yet, but it was in 6 large
storage boxes, so it could still be there.
Alan.

 

Unlike you, then

A basket case Morini? Oh, this is going to be *fun*.

 

The Morini Riders Club naturally:
http://www.morini-riders-club.com/

Given the price NLM charge for second hand Morini bits, it is probably
worth more in pieces than it ever will as a complete bike. Don't let
that stop you resuscitating it though.

I second Timo's Hagon shock recommendation.

As to tyres, I was impressed by my Dunlop KR825[1] /Avon AM23 club race
combination on the 350 today, even in falling snow, but cheap or road
legal they ain't.

[1] Except that I nearly lost the front just going down to the paddock
for practice. The new braided front brake line is a significantly better
than the 30 year old original.

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

No, a real nice chap who I bought it from, he bought it from a friend 5
years ago[1], and immediately stripped it down to get the frame painted,
which he did, but never got round to rebuilding it, so it should be a
straight rebuild, with new consumables. The bonus is the extra spares he
gave me - 3 rear mudguards, 2 chain guards, and loads of other bits, so
these could be sold off to fund any parts required.
It came with various original manuals, parts books and service books.
£500 I paid, which I'm happy with.
Alan.
[1] He also told me he has a number of other motorbikes which will be
sold soon, a Yam TR1(?), a MZ, and he had just sold a 650 Katana. He has
got a load of 'vintage'/old cycles, which he keeps in the house as they
are worth so much - apparently there is a thriving market for early
cycles, and he has no need to ebay them as they are so sought after, he
just makes a few calls, and they'll be sold.
Alan.

 

Hm. They'd have to be slightly more desirable than a TR1, an MZ and a
650 Katana....

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, A.Lee

<marks thread "Amusing">

 

Not just Morinis.

I bought this:

Ebay item 140217581200

last weekend. I was only £20 off reserve, and he offered it to me, so
I had a look at it, and we agreed on £500 as the Second Offer had now
timed out and so he wouldn't have to pay any final value fees.

The engine runs very well indeed. There is an oil weep from the cam
cover (common issue and easily fixed) and also from behind the
sprocket cover. I haven't investigated that yet. He says it's the
output shaft - that's an engine strip, if so. Most likely the gear
lever shaft oil seal - again, an easy fix. Unfortunately, it also has
a corner broken off one fin and a little bit broken off the head
casting under the cam cover. Not enough to force a leak, but along
with the fin damage,enough to rule it out for anyone who wants a
really good engine.

But..... the tinware was amazing. It had been replaced as and when
needed, and some quite recently. So I took the decision to break it,
keeping the Boyer ignition kit for my existing 400 Four.

This weekend, the front and rear guards, exhaust, chainguard, front
caliper, master cylinder, side reflectors, seat and spare 'sports'
seat earned £630.

The front wheel has recently been rebuilt with new spokes and rim (not
mentioned in the auction). That'll fetch another £75. Headlight,
headlight bracket, switchgear, clocks, tank and panels (painted with a
stick but otherwise in perfect order), electrical components, forks
(recently fitted with new stanchions and, again, not mentioned in the
auction), and carbs (which can honestly be sold as in perfect order
and ungunged, unlike 99% of the sets that come up on Ebay) are all to
go. That'll be another £250-300.

The engine I'll break. There are always people looking for decent
camshafts, sumps (very easy to overtighten the drain plug and crack
the sump) and a block with perfect pistons and rings (recently
rebored, you see).

And people have been deluging me with enquiries for obscure fasteners
and bits of trim. And then there's the frame and log book.

In other words, a £500 SOB that wasn't really worth restoring is worth
at least double that in components. But it's got to be a bike that
people want to restore, obviously.

 

In communiqué

My recent Ebay acquisitions have been more as 99% complete spares kits
for my own consumption, given the cost and unavailability of some early
nineties stuff.

I admit that GFR#2 was a bit of an expensive whim, particularly after
factoring in a cylinder replate and new piston. In fact, at present, it
is one of only two of the fleet with a current MoT and tax and may well
do BOSM duties if I can get some more running in miles on it before
then. The tart is currently on SORN as I have been too busy with the
Morini project to get an MOT for it. If the weather doesn't improve
again I might wait until May.

The other is Nordwest#2 which I picked up for £510. That has paperwork
up to July, but I haven't actually ridden it yet. The ignition switch is
a bit dicky and the bodywork gross in the extreme, but it has a new tank
and Teikei carb and very good condition Arrows silencer. The wheels are,
if anything in better nick under the dirt than those on number 1. More
importantly it is also early CDI, so the same ignition module etc.

I reckon Nordwests are approaching the bottom of their value curve, so
to speak, and I already detect some restoration interest.

As to Morinis, I got the basis of the Forgotten Era hill climb bike for
£655. Complete and running, albeit with a very poor (but reasonably
cheap to get rewound) ignition charging coil in the stator and a seized
front brake caliper.

A mate just got £900 for his very unoriginal but MoT'd 350.

Despite the conditions, and the poor running I really enjoyed riding the
resulting compilation of Morini parts on Sunday, so it is unlikely to
get broken up, or go back on the road for the foreseeable future.

I really do think you had a particularly bad experience with your 500
and should still try a 3 1/2. The problem would be finding one in good
condition at a realistic price.

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Yes, I think I'd like to give a 350 a go. At least I didn't drop any
money on the 500. As you say, though, the problem with the 350 is
finding one at silly money. That's the bugger with Ebay, really. The
days are almost gone when you could find something advertised for low
money in a local paper or classified ads rag, and pick up a bargain.

These days, people just chuck it at Ebay and see what it'll fetch and
as a buyer, you're competing with God knows how many other people.

One of the best buys I ever made was, oh, must have been about
1993/94, when a local house clearance business advertised a Honda
CD175 they'd cleared out from a shed. I walked round to where they
were, and we agreed £35. It didn't run, but it had only done about 16k
miles, was in really good condition and all there. No keys or docs,
but nobody makes a living out of ringing £35 SOBs, right?

I got an ignition switch from Dave Silver, and a morning's fettling
had it running perfectly. Age-related plate from the Wimbledon VRO. A
pair of Girling shox to replace the horrible originals.

Here: http://www.chateau.murray.dsl.pipex.com/images/cd175.jpg

I ran that bike as a commuting hack for years. At some point I bought
the last new front and rear guards from Dave Silver. About £120 the
pair, IIRC. I found a brand new pair of chrome tank panels in a
breaker - £10 the pair.

I got a job in Tunbridge Wells in 2001, sold it to some ukrm-er for
£325, as it was just a bit small for a 40-miles-each-way run. To judge
by Ebay auctions, in that nick, it'd now be worth £800+, as they've
shot up in value. Silly, because there are a lot more desirable SOBs
you can find for that money.