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Hi,
I’m contemplating buying a late 500 twin shock Camel, however the tank is (in my opinion) rather ugly, and as it’s made of fibre glass, I’m concerned about its safety. I also like fiddling on bikes, so I’m wondering if a 350 or 500 tank (Sport or Strada) could be used instead? Is the Camel frame basically a 500 road going frames, with longer travel forks and shocks?

Are there any other suggestions… I did see a Dutch thread about Alloy tanks.

Hopefully this suggestion wan’t be considered as heresy, and I look forward to hearing peoples thoughts.

Hello Wodgedodge.

Welcome to the Forum.

Don't worry about heresy. There aren't any rivet counters in the Morini Riders Club. There were never any rivet counters in the Moto Morini Factory!

I doubt that there is enough similarity between the road frames and off road frames for the fuel tanks to be a straight swap. But still, anything is possible with a bit of work.

The early Mk.1 Camel fuel tank is the most attractive in my opinion and is not too dissimilar to the road going tank. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me will have some advice for you.

On the bright side, as you appear to be based in Oakham, you are very well placed to partake of the activities of the Morini Riders Club Green Lane Section.

Once again, welcome.
Jenny.

Hi Jenny

Thanks for the welcome and comments on the Camel, and I agree, the earliest version was by far the best looking.

Hopefully I’ll get clarification from within the group on tanks, but the alternative would be to get an aluminium one made up, but that would be pretty costly.

Living in Rutland, I have done some exploring of the green roads around here, the TRF green road map is really helpful, but it would be fun to go out with a few other riders. I just need to find the right bike.

Hi, the road 500 tank will fit on the Camel 500 twin shock frame without any mods.
BUT it clashes with the front forks and will need serious modification at the front and probably look worse than the glassfibre tank?

The last 500 SEI Special tank is better giving more lock if the indicators/headlight mounts are moved, not many of this last model were made so the tanks are difficult to source especially in the UK.

Sign up for the club's Green Lane section and as Jenny mentioed there a very active group in your area.

Have fun, Ian

Hi Ian

Thanks for your sage words… interesting!

I do like a challenge, and there are some good workshops around here that could help out.

Do you have any photos of where this has been done or tried?

Also, the side panels look quite like 500 road bike ones. Are they the same or different?

Finally, where do I sign up to the green lane section?

Thanks again for your guidance.

Wodgedodge wrote: ↑22 Jul 2025 08:27 ... where do I sign up to the green lane section? ...

Send a message to... green-lane@morini-riders-club.com

Apparently there is a WhatsApp group, but as I don't have a smart phone I've no idea what that even means..

Hello Wodgedoge, as said by Jenny and Ian there is a very active Green Lane group within the Morini Riders Club, and yes we do ride out your way too! This is mainly because I live in South Leicestershire and generally head East and towards Rutland when riding with either my local chums or whenever we get a few Morini together in that neck of the woods.
I haven't seen a Camel with a road tank fitted but if Ian says it works I will believe him-he knows!
If you're an MRC member I can add you to the whatsapp group too. If you are a member already you will have seen mention of our exploits in ATG-I hope! In the last few years we have as a group visited, the Isle of Man, Spanish Picos, Kent twice and various other places-we're off to the Isle of Man again for Classic TT week soon. Derbyshire/Staffordshire Peaks are easily reached by us too, they are generally busier but still good riding.
I tend to do my local rides on weekdays as nobody else is around then, so if you can make weekdays that's great. Mondays particularly would be good as we can get another local Morini rider out then too. If it's weekends only I can do that too.
As we are mainly not especially young, or hardcore MX types, we tend to take a pace that is more tourist than tearaway and we stop for refreshment frequently.
Something else that might interest you is that a member in Staffordshire/Shropshire is planning to produce a few Mk1 style tanks in aluminium. He has an old original tank to copy and they will be made to order. They won't be cheap but they will be good quality.
Even if you don't ride with us the group is very useful for information on these models.
Send me a PM if you want to join us.

Well, I’ve gone and done it, and bought a nice late twin shock Camel!

I’ll be having a really good look at it tomorrow and get in touch regarding riding groups etc.

The potential to get an alloy tank sounds interesting, I’ll have to see how much they cost!

Thanks to everyone who has contacted me, it really help with my decision to buy the bike and I look forward to meeting up soon.

That's good-another Camel to roam the Rutland byways! We will soon have a continuous line of them to the east coast.
Is the one you've bought from Ripley? I don't know the bike or the previous owner but that model is very similar to mine and they make a good trail bike too. I hope you get plenty of enjoyment from it and the club too.