New owner in New Zealand

[idleidolidyll]

I've taken a punt on buying the GP. It's a new 2009 model in red and is one of the last two available in the country; there's a Corsaro left too.
The importer is standing behind the 3 year warranty and I figure that Moto Morini has a bunch of tooling and moulds already made so if they eventually do go tits up, someone like 3X will buy the ability to continue supplying parts etc.

I figure that modern bikes are so damned reliable that I'm unlikely to have serious problems that can't be sorted out and anyway; it's not my only bike (I have a KTM 690SMC).

Buying a bike just before Christmas means there's a chance the first service will fall in the holiday period and I won't be able to ride it without putting the warranty at risk. I'm therefore determined to put the 1500 kilometres on the clock in about 5 days riding: I've done 750 km so far.

Day 1 was a 130km ride last friday night after buying it. My focus that ride was to try to get the rear shock set up for one up riding. The engine seems real stong but I'm not revving it too hard yet.
I was surprised that the skinny tyres were fine and seemed to assist with making the steering reasonable responsive where a set of standard tyres for a bike that size (120/17 and 180/17) would have likely resulted in quite slow steering. The bike was very civilised indeed.

Day 2: Took the wife for a spin, kept revs up a bit so as not to load up thye motor too much. 400km ride in muggy hot weather. Took quite a few tweaks to get the rear shock to where it feels good two up. Mainly the rebound was too fast and I put 5 turns on the spring preload. Wifey is only just over 5' tall so we had to carry a step ladder so she could get on board...............OK, that's an exaggeration! Mind you, I tried to always stop beside a curb or something to help her get on and off. I've had a KTM 950SM in the past so she's OK with that.
2 up ride quality was excellent and I managed to wear all the virgin rubber to the edges. Wifey likes the seat and the passenger hand grips although she says the muffler gets quite hot. Looks like I'll be replacing the Cat muffler with an after market to get that temperature down.
Day 2 was a success except the front seat is not comfy on long rides. I'm going to need a sheepskin seat cover or develop arse muscles to suit the bike : I prefer the former.

My ride yesterday was in a Spring storm. We were putting in a memorial to a mate who died after a bike accident last year around this time so the trip had to be done regardless of weather. The skinny tyres became a problem in that weather: the shing areas on the tarmac are dangerous with a bike this torquey and with skinny tyres. On a number of occassions the rear wheel broke traction and spun up: once at speed. This could be very dangerous if leaned over so take care folks; the GP has the potential to bite back.

I fitted a Givi top box yesterday too. That worlks well and is about all the space I need. We are off to the classic Boxing Day motorbike road races in Whanganui over Christmas which is a 1000km trip there and back. I'll need a tank bag added to the top box.
These races are on public roads and have been going for over 50 years. It's a big event raced around the town cemetary (hence the name 'Cemetary Circuit') http://www.cemeterycircuit.co.nz/

Apart from the uncomfy front seat; I know I'm going to like this bike.

[Emmohaswheelsagain]

HI - Welcome to the forum.
You are obviously enjoying your Morini.
I'm sure this will be just the start and you will end up with a garage full of Morini's.
With snow all around us in the UK it is also good to realise that the sun is shining down under and your biking season
is now in full flow. All we can do is plan for the New Year and try protect our bikes from the full impact of our severe winter. Minus 8 here tonight so the heater is on in the garage just to keep the bikes warm.

Paul

[idleidolidyll]

I was a bike courier out of Cardiff in the early 1980s and often had to trek to Scarborough or Dundee in Winter. Black ice was the biggest concern although a few of those UK Winter blizzards had me cowering in the services on the M6 on more than one occasion!

Later lived in Bedford, Plymough and Crawley: last time being 1999.

Living in Auckland I never have problems with snow or ice, just torrential rain!

Mike

[Emmohaswheelsagain]

Hi Mike,

Back in the 80s I rode a Morini 500 Strada. Not quite the power of the latest Morini's but a good tourer and capable of riding all day if you wanted too. LIke all Morini's it handled, I even managed a few laps of the Olivers Mount without falling off.
I enjoyed looking at your link. Its great to see that proper racing is alive and well down under in New Zealand. Over the years I've seen a few good Kiwi's racing in the UK, Dave Hiscock, Stu Avant and Dennis Ireland just to mention three. Hopefully we will see some more coming over. Enjoy your Gran Passo and if you get the time lets us have your thoughts on the bike with few pictures for our club magazine here in the UK. Our editor Adrian is always pleased to receive road test particularly when the roads are as varied and challenging as yours.

Safe Riding

Paul