Battle-Scarred Moto Morini

Time seldom stands still for racing motorcycles. The guys who ride them and the mechanics that fettle them want to win races. They are always searching for better performance and handling, and if that means swapping engines and modifying frames, then so be it. Preserving a motorcycle for posterity just doesn’t come into the equation. Take a look at this battle-scarred Moto Morini and you’ll see what we mean.

Tarquinio Provini raced it for a number of years, but it has gone through several major reincarnations. The engine started life as a 1960 two-valve DOHC, but it now wears one of the three-valve heads that were tested in 1964. The frame is also a little later than 1960.

In an endless search for more power, designers Dante Lambertini and Nerio Biavati tried just about everything they could think of to squeeze more power out of the 250 single. Besides a two inlet and three exhaust valve layout, they experimented with desmodromic valve operation and even four-valve heads, but in the end, the two-valve engine always delivered more power.

Moto Morini never won a World Championship, but the tiny factory in Bologna earned its place in motorcycle legend by making the ultimate 250cc four-stroke single. It was phenomenally fast, absolutely reliable, handled superbly and — with the beautifully rounded fairing fitted — boasted wonderfully efficient streamlining.

The MV’s engine blew up trying to stay with the Morini

The story started at the end of 1958, when Morini took a sensational victory in the 250cc class of the Italian GP. Emilio Mendogni led all the way to win by a substantial margin, with Gianpiero Zubani second on another Morini, and MV-mounted Carlo Ubbiali finishing third. Mendogni had averaged over 105mph, while Zubani made the fastest lap at nearly 107mph. Tarquinio Provini, on another MV, blew up his engine trying to stay with the flying Morinis, but he had already wrapped up that year’s World Championship.