MRC Forum- brought to you by www.morini-riders-club.com Member: g7AW3f

I wonder if I'm the first person to post about bad handling here?

I've had this particulat 1983 K1 for a long time and have never been happy with the handling.
Everything is stock.
Tyres Bridgestone BT45 with a reasonable amount of tread left.
No obviously discernable side play in the swing arm and ditto no apparent notchyness or sticking in the movement of the head bearings.
I bought it with 11,000km on the clock, in very good general condition with no sign of accident damage.
Current total kilométrage is 22,000 and I think that's correct. The rear shock may be a bit old but even so has only done 22,000km.

When I say I'm not happy with the handling I mean In general, but at 120kph or higher it weaves scarily even in a straight line.

I'm not an engineer or mechanic so maybe I'm missing something here.
Any help gratefully received.

Thanks.

Have a look in the 500 forum, I have recently posted a similar problem, many interesting answers on there.

I had a Strada that never felt right. It was only when I came to trade in back in to NLM and it was parked above street level, that I could see the back wheel was lent over by a few degrees. The swing arm appeared to have been made crooked.

I've got a 1982 K1 which I have always felt uncomfortable cornering - sort of falling into them (I think it would be called oversteer on a car). I have checked the obvious things several times but the feeling persists. Very frustrating when most people are raving about the handling.

davel182 wrote:I've got a 1982 K1 which I have always felt uncomfortable cornering - sort of falling into them

Low or high speed?

Are you running a 100/90 front tyre? The 90/90 Avons for example are wider than the 100/90 Pirellis originally fitted.

My 87 K2 had a propensity to weave, particularly with loaded panniers. On the way back from an MRC committee meeting many years ago, in Her Majesty's South somewhere, I found that if I shifted my weight *back* along the seat (riding solo obviously) it was a lot better. No other Morini I have ever owned was so inclined.

have to agree with davel, my k1sport gave the feel of oversteer or falling in on corners, it was worse when i first got the bike , changed the front tyre to a narrow size and sorted the back shocks out by fitting hagons re instated the steering damper replaced the fork springs with good used ones i got from a club member and use a heavier fork oil , the wider tyre sizes on the front makes it wollow a bit and not as nimble, they are very light bike and takes some mastering to ride them ,a lot of the time the rave reviews about the handling is folk lore usually said by people who have never owned one , having said that it now rides brill , but ive fettled it till i can fettle no more, if you have the clip-ons fitted it makes the steering razor sharp and there is a tendacey to feel as if its oversteering , but its propably not just takes some getting used to , i have now fitted a a srada top yolk, and cx 500 bars and its fine , i use the bike all year round so comfort is key, safe riding, muller.

Low or high speed?

Low predominantly - like going round a small island.

Are you running a 100/90 front tyre?

'Standard' 3.25 x 18 (Dunlop K82).

However some comments on this topic seem to suggest riding position may be a contributing factor. I have standard footrests and high rise clip-ons - so more Strada than Sport.

personally i dont like the BT45, they are good for heavy bikes , but i dont like them on a morini.
so my first step would be te fit a set of MT65 pirelli's , 90/90 and 100/90
then check the ride height front and rear.
most of the morini's i have seen need a couple of shims to get the front ride height back to normal.

I really like the BT45s on my 350K, and I have them in the 'wider' sizes.

A lot of it depends on what you're used to, and what you're expecting. Most of the other bikes I've ridden in the past have been modern ones fitted with wide radial tyres that are very grippy. I also prefer to 'ride the front end' with my weight over the front of the bike rather than over the back wheel, and prefer bikes that are set up to allow me to do this.

So I've ended up with my bike fitted with longer than standard Hagon shocks, sprung and damped to my weight, and with EVGuru's able assistance I've got a cartridge emulator kit in the front forks. The front is still a little bit too stiff but the overall geometry of the bike is now pretty good for how I like to ride. For comparison I rode EV's bike at Cadwell last year and they were like chalk and cheese.

http://www.realclassic.co.uk/moto-morin ... rsion.html

Reading some of the comments earlier in the thread my fat BT45 tyred, jacked up at the back 350k should be weaving its way into the undergrowth at every turn, slow or fast, but it doesn't. It's stable in a straight line beyond 80mph (130km/h) despite having had the steering damper removed, is fine at town speeds and is precise and accurate at track speeds with plenty of feel while braking hard, wet or dry. The steering would be lighter with thinner tyres, but probably not any quicker.

So for the original poster, it's not the tyres that are the problem (unless you're using the wrong pressures - I use 36psi/36psi) so I'd start by checking the basics; are the wheels in line, how much suspension sag is there, and so on.

Here's something I wrote earlier, which might be teaching people to suck eggs, but: http://www.realclassic.co.uk/techfiles/ ... 50200.html

As I said earlier, though, much of the quality of the handling of a bike depends on your expectations and experiences. A Morini is a light, flighty bike without the ride quality or roadholding of something modern, but with a precision and predictability beyond most of its contemporaries.

I have had BT45s on my K1 though now on Avons because they had none of the correct size of BT last time. When I switched to the Avons it felt very different and I had to re-learn bends again.I have the original old shocks on the back and fresh fork oil in the front.The only bearings i have not replaced on the whole bike are the steering head ball bearings.It handles better than my other 2 bikes , of a slightly older German type,so probably unsurprising.
I think tyre pressures are often under for modern tyres-what do others use?
John

Hi,

Roadriders.

90/90 and 100/90 at 29 / 35 psi.

Mike.