1976 Wire wheel 3 1/2 Sport for sale soon

[Plasticadam]

Hi all,

If you are looking for a good restored 3 ½ Sport mine may be of interest. In advance of getting it registered and taxed I thought I’d let people know a bit about it as it will be for sale in about a month.

The History
This bike was brought over to the UK from Italy in 2001. The owner was an English academic who though blessed with an undoubtedly huge IQ, discovered common sense was not in great abundance. Firstly his flat in London had no parking so nowhere to work on or store the bike, so the bike rested untouched at my brother-in-law’s 50 miles away. Oh and the other reason it never got ridden? After many years working overseas the academic forgot that hadn’t got a UK bike licence. Doh! So the poor old tre e mezzo languished for 11 years.
My brother-in-law heard that the beauty was to be sold and asked if I was interested. Having always had a soft spot (since aged about 19) for a bike with the nerve and style to put “3 1/2 “ on its side panel. I thought. Why not? Acquired it late last year whilst still unemployed and had time on my hands. Did a comprehensive strip-down and along with a friend who is far more competent with electrics than I (30 years at Marconi Electronics gives him enough knowledge to cope with a 70’s Morini I think) did a pretty good re-build I think.
Current indicated mileage is 28502 kms – which is only 17710 miles. I’ve no reason to think this is untrue but obviously can’t verify it.

What’s been changed/replaced?
Generally I have tried to keep it as standard as possible. The original headlight had some marks and rusting so I bought a new one – this also allowed me to give it a halogen lamp and a chrome shell which I think looks good. Originally this bike came with the most god-awful aftermarket indicator lash-up I’ve ever seen. This crap was junked and I deliberately chose discreet modern black indicators as replacements as I wanted to keep the profile as narrow as possible. Fitted 1970’s Yamaha switchgear to compliment this. Other than that it’s had a massive amount of replacement parts – every service item and loads beside. This list is below:

Frame
• Frame/swing arm/centre/side stands stripped and powder coated
• New head bearings
• New fork seals and oil
• New stand springs
• Brakes stripped and cleaned
• New front pads
• Stainless brake hose
• Brake fluid changed
• New Bridgestone BT45 tyres and tubes
• Wheel bearings replaced front and rear
• New Chain and sprocket
• New handlebar grips

Engine and Fuel System
• New stainless steel down pipes
• Replaced cam belt
• New spark plugs
• Carbs sonic cleaned
• New Dellorto service kit (O-rings/gaskets)
• New fuel pipe and breather
• New Air Filters
• Oil changed

Electrical system
• New halogen headlamp
• New headlamp brackets
• New, discreet Indicators fitted
• New Battery fitted
• New Flasher relay
• New Transducer
• New Regulator
• New Ignition switch + keys
• New Horn
• Period Yamaha switch gear (including headlamp flasher!)
• 80% of wiring replaced

Other
• Paintwork stripped and re-sprayed using Volkswagen Mars Red
• New tank trim strips
• New Top clamp “Sport” badge

Other information
The seat cover has a small hole that has been repaired in the past but I didn’t change this as the original cover has a good Morini name printed on it and I could only find unbranded covers – also it has a nice used feel to it. The silencers are Lafranconi genuine replacements which the previous owner had fitted. They are hardly used but the left one has some scratching to it. Hardly worth replacing unless you want concours which I wasn’t trying to achieve
The top-yoke had handlebar clamps (although the bike came with Tomasselli clip-ons). Made me wonder if it was actually a Strada lashed up to look like a Sport. However the engine has the correct “S” stamped on the crankcase and front mudguard apparently is also right, so I wonder if a previous owner just had “comfort” bars as a touring option.

What’s next and pricing.
I’ve only got a couple of reference pictures from when the paintwork came back. I will take some proper ones once it stops raining! I need to get the bike into the local MOT centre and then after that I can get it registered. NLM has verified it as manufactured July 1976 so I will get an age-related plate. This should all be complete by end of January. I will then start advertising it properly - until then I’m just putting details on here.
Price-wise I would like the best offer over £3900 which I think is a reasonable starting point given the work done, parts replaced and overall condition. Currently NLM has an almost identical one at £6550 with almost twice the mileage, so I think I am being very realistic.

Thanks for reading this far and if you want more details please mail me or call 07967 752618
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!
Cheers, Adam