Help on an early Sport

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Bevel6
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Joined: 09 Mar 2017 16:27
Location: Florida, USA

Help on an early Sport

Post by Bevel6 »

I'm doing up an early 1974 Sport for someone who is a concourse nut. I know that some early sports did not have the chrome bezels around the gauges and lacked the "sport" badge on top of the steering head. I'm trying to figure out what this machine should have. Does anyone have the serial number range of bikes that did have these features vs, those that did not? Thank you for your help.
texaskitty
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Joined: 17 Jan 2016 06:37
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by texaskitty »

I don't know if it's possible to match the introduction of the Sport badge with engine or frame numbers. However, I feel pretty certain in saying that a 74 Sport would not have had the Sport badge. The badge seems to be associated with the introduction of the 1976 disc-brake Sport. Bezels: do you mean the chrome plastic bezel around the bottom of the rubber instrument surrounds? Yes, on the disc brake Sport; certainly not on a 74 Sport.

If the owner is a concourse nut I would not be putting the Sport badge or the chrome plastic bezels on the bike.
MickeyMoto
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Location: Even further oop North

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by MickeyMoto »

''I know, this is a Laverda forum but I've run out of options and I know there are Morini people here so here is my question...I'm doing up an early double drum Sport for a guy who is a concours fanatic. I have been told that some Sports had chrome bezels around the gauges and a "sport" badge on top of the steering head but the earliest ones didn't. I'm trying to find someone who can tell me if the bike I have should have these features or not. Stuart Mayhew won't help me, Hermy won't respond and the Morini forum is hopeless. Any ideas?''

So, you joined the (free) forum yesterday and we are hopeless? Perhaps nobody answered because a) you had only just asked and b) nobody knows or maybe c) nobody gives a stuff about originality. Your customer would be horrified to look at my 76 Strada!

May I suggest you buy a copy of the Mick Walker book from the club website. There is also a road test book with contemporary road tests. There is also an Italian book with lots of pictures available I believe from NLM.

One last thing... what is a genuine concourse Morini? Who knows as no records exist and the bikes were assembled in a 'haphazard' manner. As it will be restored I presume it will be shinier than it would have been anyway, something I, personally, hate.
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72degrees
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Location: West Midlands

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by 72degrees »

MickeyMoto wrote: So, you joined the (free) forum yesterday and we are hopeless? Perhaps nobody answered because a) you had only just asked and b) nobody knows or maybe c) nobody gives a stuff about originality. Your customer would be horrified to look at my 76 Strada!
Oh dear, yet another Morini seen as an 'investment' show queen, not a machine to be ridden. I do appreciate a really good restoration to original condition (whatever that was) but much prefer a bike with 'patina'. I'm of the opinion that as long as one or two 'perfect' examples exist in museums somewhere I'd rather the rest were kept on the road and used regularly. I'll confess to breaking a couple of Morinis over the years, but at least parts from them enabled others to be kept running, or projects to be finished that needed far less work than the machines I recycled.

It is, however, reassuring to find on a attending meetings of the members of the MRC that the ethos hasn't changed completely, or as a founder member I'd have to suggest a change of name to the "Morini Polishers Club".
huub
Posts: 194
Joined: 24 Jul 2006 15:11

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by huub »

i wonder what a concours restoration on a morini looks like,
sounds like a pretty hopeless task.
both my 75/76 morini's had painted spokes. not plated , but painted!
quite a stupid idea, now lets see somebody replicate that for a restoration. :D
morinipete
Posts: 166
Joined: 03 Jun 2007 08:45
Location: Rugby, UK

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by morinipete »

Yes, I thought the whole idea of a Morini was to find out how much you could throw away without effecting the performance. Why anyone would want that bloody big drum, for example, defeats me too. They do look nice but have you ever experienced the difference between one and a disc :shock: Keep it for the living room.

I haven't been to an AGM since it got separated from the Track Day - not too many restoration specials out there this year, in the rain, I noticed - but I'm pretty sure we don't have a most 'un-used', or 'delivered in a van' award? Don't we have 'most original' and simply, 'best'. Dave Marlow would be able to confirm.

If it's not in the statutes I'd advocate for the 'most original' being only for unrestored bikes (which I think is the tradition anyway?).

Mind you if there are any originality lemmings out there I've got boxes of bolt-up inlet manifolds, electronic tachos and related tat. May be there's a market :D

Pete
texaskitty
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Joined: 17 Jan 2016 06:37
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by texaskitty »

Isn't there room on this forum for those who ride their bikes hard and don't give a stuff about how original their bikes are - and those who want their bikes, for whatever reason, to be as original as possible?

On my first trip to Italy in 1986 I went to a re-running of a post-war hill climb event. I think it was outside Florence. Coppa della Consuma could have been the event. It was wet. Some of the bikes didn't even get out of their transport vans, but it seemed that no one found that strange and I think some of the 'dry' bikes still won trophies.

Pete - I might want some of those parts one day.
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72degrees
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Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by 72degrees »

texaskitty wrote:Isn't there room on this forum for those who ride their bikes hard and don't give a stuff about how original their bikes are - and those who want their bikes, for whatever reason, to be as original as possible?
Of course there is. I was mainly seconding MickeyMoto's irritation on finding this forum branded as "useless" because there weren't immediately lots of answers on a detail of trim. I suspect a query on how to get it started would have been responded to much more quickly.

Then I'm a definite fan of Pirsgig's quote: "That’s the classical mind at work, runs fine inside but looks dingy on the surface." At the end of the day a motorcycle is a machine built for speed - not necessarily high speed, not a work of Art (though who could deny that a Morini Sport is indeed that - but even more so when moving).
lambs
Posts: 27
Joined: 18 Jan 2017 23:22
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by lambs »

72degrees wrote:Of course there is.
No there isn't based on the childish comments of yourself and the rest of the cheer squad.
1974 Moto Morini 3 1/2 Sport
1972 Moto Guzzi V7 Sport
1975 Moto Guzzi 850-T3
1976 Moto Guzzi 750-S3 (owned since new)
1978 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans Series 2
1983 BMW K100
1983 BMW K100RS

1974 260Z
1989 R32 GTR
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72degrees
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Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by 72degrees »

lambs wrote:
72degrees wrote:Of course there is.
No there isn't based on the childish comments of yourself and the rest of the cheer squad.
So do you agree with the original posters comment (albeit in a different forum) that the Morini Riders Club Forum is "hopeless"?
lambs
Posts: 27
Joined: 18 Jan 2017 23:22
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by lambs »

72degrees wrote:So do you agree with the original posters comment (albeit in a different forum) that the Morini Riders Club Forum is "hopeless"?
You see a big part of the problem for you guys is that the OP didn't actually refer to the MRCF specifically, but to a 'Morini forum', of which there is more than just one. There is also the fact that the OP has been registered on this forum since March 2017, which is not long in terms of some members, but certainly not 'just yesterday' as per the original 'accusation'. Sure, 'only' 2 posts, but that would seem to support the idea that the OP was referring to another Morini forum. It might be expected that the 'benefit of the doubt' would apply in the circumstance, but some would rather jump to other conclusions......

As for this forum being 'hopeless'......certain individuals obviously have a palpable disdain for anyone that dares mention 'originality' or 'restoration' - as clearly evidenced by comments in this thread. Silly put-downs such as the term 'rivet counters' I've seen used a number of times. In that sense, yes, this forum is 'hopeless' because there is clearly - CLEARLY - little, if any, tolerance (from some) for any sort of discussion on restoration/originality matters. Why this is such a problem is beyond me. What people want to do with their own bikes is their feck'n business, they don't deserve ridicule for it, irrespective of whether much information actually exists about the early bikes or not.....after all, isn't that supposed to be the (or perhaps a...) point of having such a forum in the first place ?

Enough. I've said my piece but it won't make any difference.
1974 Moto Morini 3 1/2 Sport
1972 Moto Guzzi V7 Sport
1975 Moto Guzzi 850-T3
1976 Moto Guzzi 750-S3 (owned since new)
1978 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans Series 2
1983 BMW K100
1983 BMW K100RS

1974 260Z
1989 R32 GTR
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MarkB
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Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by MarkB »

Erm, can we all calm down and talk about paint codes for a bit?
"I'll have a V please, Bob."
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72degrees
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Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by 72degrees »

MarkB wrote:Erm, can we all calm down and talk about paint codes for a bit?
Sorry Mark. I shall now delete most of the the post I was about to make, other than this:

I'm an old dinosaur who was present at the first ever meeting of the MRC in 1975, when there was much discussion as to what the organisation should be called. We settled on the Morini RIDERS Club to demonstrate that, to us at that time at least, the most important thing about a Morini was the pleasure to be had from riding one. I am indeed guilty of forgetting that for some people that pleasure is now denied them. There will come a time when I can no longer ride mine. I may then have to derive satisfaction from restoring mine (or even others!). I won't be worrying too much about whether it has exactly the right badges though, just that someone can continue to enjoy the sublime pleasure that is riding a classic Morini in the future ;)

Would I be right in assuming that much of this kind of information is available in the Members Area - or perhaps an original brochure can be requested from the Librarian?
Mepstein
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Location: Newark, Delaware
Location: Newark, Delaware, USA

Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by Mepstein »

Interesting discussion. I’m not surprised to see the discourse. Many similar discussions appear on most enthusiast sites and forums. I’m trying to rebuild and restore my bike to original. I figure if I’m going to do it, might as well enjoy as it was originally conceived. I hear of many people stating it is/was their favorite bike and since I know very little about motorcycles, I decided to build it up like new, rather than make alterations. I do plan to ride it once compleated. But for me, the build is part of the fun.
I do find that all of the people on this board have been extreamly supportive of my efforts. I have been given advice, parts, knowledge and support. So thank you MRC. I hope I can give something back.
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corsaro chris
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Re: Help on an early Sport

Post by corsaro chris »

So; to address the original question;

Early Sports didn't have the Sport badge; certainly the Founders original 'N-reg' Sport (that's 1974 here in the UK) as tested in Bike magazine doesn't, and that had a frame number in the 51xx's. Neither does it have chrome bezels around the clocks. However, reference to photographs from NLMs' stock shows that there are drum brake bikes without the Sport badge with chrome bezels, and I suspect that Mike is right with his question of 'what is original'? Oh, and there are bikes with drum brakes and the Sport badge...

So, the first question is - what is the engine / frame number and does it have the 'S' beneath the cylinder barrel (in other words, is it a Sport at all)? The next is was it a US import, or brought in from Italy or elsewhere at a later date, and has it been previously restored? If it hasn't you have a simpler job, because you just refurbish rather than restore; most parts are available and it's just time that you need!

On the question of use - the later Sports probably ride better, although they all reward a good run - and to the majority of this Forums' users that's the point of Morini ownership. To reinforce the originality question we had a competition at a recent AGM where we ran a 50 Shades of Red competition to identify the 'correct' shade of red used from the factory in the 70s. The methodology? - simple; throwing darts at a board with the shades painted on...

Good restoring and better riding,

CC
"I'll use the Morini"
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