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Re: Help on an early Sport

Posted: 10 Oct 2017 18:13
by Bevel6
There are several Morini forums out there - this one is obviously not "hopeless" or I wouldn't have bothered asking members to take the time to consider my question. I have the greatest respect for the experience and knowledge routinely displayed by the members of this group and am deeply appreciative of those who are kind enough to share it. As a Morini neophyte I need all the help I can get.
I am not a concours fan myself. I have an early drum Sport like the one I've been tasked to restore. Mine gets ridden all over the place and has acquired the patina that goes with it. Still, if the guy who owns the Morini in my shop wants a "trailer queen", who am I to judge. It sounds like the chrome collars for the gauges and sport badge on the steering head were not included on the early drum sports so I that's the course I'll pursue. The final challenge will be the tank badges as he lost points because they are held on with adhesive, not the plastic pegs of the originals.

Re: Help on an early Sport

Posted: 10 Oct 2017 18:37
by corsaro chris
There's a man in New Zealand who makes gorgeous replacement badges; not original but gorgeous...

Good riding,

CC

Re: Help on an early Sport

Posted: 10 Oct 2017 20:00
by corsaro chris
Oh - and a comment on paint number and rivet counters, and a term very familiar to me in another part of my life (to do with historic railways and their reproduction in miniature form...) and correct paint colours, etc., as requested by Mark.

I had a discussion with a very well known UK artificial light expert last week (and thanks for the excellent advice, Bob, if you ever visit esoteric forum such as this...), and he showed me how even slight changes in colour balance can make a lovely Italian racing red look like rotten oranges or maroon. Couple that with 43 years of sunlight on your red (all early Sports were red, yes?) Morini or what-have-you, and bearing in mind that some of those years may have been in Italian sunlight, and there shouldn't be an original "as it came from the Factory in Bologna" red-tanked Sport in captivity where the red is as it came off the production line... If there is, it should have next to no kilometers / miles on the clock!

But - that doesn't stop anyone putting the clock back and making a 1974 Sport look like it just came off the line, just like the brochure of the time shows. Just remember that the bike in said brochure was polished to the nth degree to get to look like that, so please avoid the temptation to over-restore - if your client allows - and encourage him to ride the bike!

I say this because I'm just back this evening from riding (as in taking the rev counter high up the range) two of the best Morini out there; a 2007 Corsaro Veloce and a 1974 Sport. One of them has to go from the garage, but I can't make up my mind which... More riding required, methinks!

Good riding or restoring, everyone!

CC