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

A few years ago I downloaded some photos of a 3½ K1 Sport which was for sale at The Bike Specialists in Sheffield. What made it interesting was that it had a right foot rear brake pedal and a left foot gear lever. I have no idea whether it was a neatly done homespun conversion, or if it left the factory that way. The K2 arrangement is quite different so it doesn't seem to be an interim model.

Still... Here are the photos...

...

K2. (Note the enclosed chain).

Interesting.

If it wasn't a factory fit, certainly looks to be a well executed conversion.

I don’t have a problem with my K1 with a right hand gear lever and left foot brake nowadays. This is because this bike has clip ons whereas now my other two have raised bars so I adjust.
I would like a fully enclosed chaincase though.

A friend has just acquired Rick Stemps late model 500 (W 2 if you like). t has a similar conversion and the foot pieces look proper Morini so presumably such was available. If not in UK then in other markets maybe.

The K2 pictured has the German made alloy full chain case made in the late 70's early 80's .....the late Rob Kenton's sport had one fitted.

Becker in Germany made the alloy chaincase, yet it used MZ rubber tubes which only just fitted the 530 chain.
Laverda made a similar chaincase with larger tubes that fitted all their models (500/750/1000) plus it fits road Morinis
Peter Furlong in the UK made a glassfibre version again with larger tubes which was adapted to fit many bikes including Morinis (I think Arthur had one on his 500?)
The Norton Rotary also uses an oil bath chain case with rubber tubes (still available), yet the alloy chaincase which fits Grimeca wheels would need loads of work to fit within a Morini swinging arm.

The Laverda chaincase is the best option and they often for sale as not cool enough for todays Laverda owners!

My 500 still has the Peter Furlong case. I worked with him to get it to fit. It uses MZ rubbers. Not sure if he made any more...never seen another. I can post a picture if anybody is interested

My Norton Rotary Classic has the full chaincase and its a nice thing sealed with oil in it permanently.. I have some spare NOS tubes and pretty sure they are MZ too.

My 700S Silk has a full case too

What does this say about me ?? Answers on a postcard...............................

'It must be a .....' wrote: 11 Jan 2026 17:36 Peter Furlong in the UK made a glassfibre version again with larger tubes which was adapted to fit many bikes including Morinis (I think Arthur had one on his 500?)

I still have one of those in the shed from my Katana 1000. No rubber tubes, just a large glass fibre box. It really was not cool!

I've also seen a DKW rotary and a Morini fitted with a Jawa 350 chain case - again it has rubber tubes similar to the MZ

Mine is A US import (kinked frame but not a K, drum rear brake) and has the chassis mods and parts for a left foot gear change. I've no idea if this is a factory version of a home brew one.

The gear lever runs through a short tube in the corner of the chassis tube

then via a short drop link

to a cross bar running through a tube under the back of the engine

At the right hand end a little ear pokes up and has another link to the gear selector shaft

the various linkages


The brake lever has a simple mount for the brake cable and switch


however the routing for the cable must be a nightmare as it has to loop up and over the wheel, which can't be good for effectiveness

NB these were taken when first acquired the bike...it's cleaner now!

NB these were taken when first acquired the bike...it's cleaner now!

Strangely, that was going though my mind! Although I would hate to see photos of mine from the same angles!

Strangely enough, my 3 1/2 Sport/Strada had a similar arrangement to the American import that was a home brew version done by a previous owner who was a right lower leg amputee. The difference being that both the foot brake and gear change were on the left with the footbrake pedal suitably cut down to accommodate the gear change lever. This and its resurrection from a 20 year sleep is fully recorded in the documentation that came with the bike when I purchased it.