Living with legends

The classic world is divided between those who like or loathe Italian motorcycles. I can see their respective points of view. Italy is capable of producing motorcycles that not only look wonderful, but also sound fantastic and perform brilliantly. It’s also fair to condemn the Italian industry’s attitude towards reliability, finish and especially electrics. The old joke about why Italians build beautiful bikes – so that you have something to admire while sitting waiting for the breakdown truck – has a ring of truth to it.

Then there’s Morini. This minor player in the grand scheme of things appears to be granted special dispensation when it comes to matters of Italian quality and engineering. We will laugh at ‘Italian spaghetti electrics’ on a Ducati, but a Morini gets a free pass. A Laverda is ‘harsh and uncompromising’ to ride, but the little V-twin is ‘inspiring’. Even vibration, always ‘intrusive’ on a 350 MV, becomes ‘charismatic’ on a 3½.

It just so happens that the eclectic shed would currently benefit from something smaller but interesting enough to use on a wet VMCC run,