Moto Morini
 |
|
| Industry | Motorcycle |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1937 |
| Founder | Alfonso Morini |
| Headquarters | Milan, Italy |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
| Website | motomorinimotorcycles |
Moto Morini is an Italian maker of motorcycles. It was founded by Alfonso Morini in Bologna, in 1937.
Earlier, Morini had also manufactured motorcycles together with Mario Mazzetti under the name MM. Morini came under Cagiva control in 1987, then in 1996 came under Texas Pacific Group, which had also bought Ducati, and in April 1999, the rights to the name were purchased by Morini Franco Motori spa, a company founded by Morini's nephew in 1954. After building large v-twin motorcycles early in the 21st century the company went into liquidation in late 2010.
Moto Morini restarted the production of motorcycles in 2012.
Alfonso Morini was born on 22 January 1898. Before he was 16 he was repairing motorcycles, and at the age of sixteen, opened a workshop. This was just before World War I broke out. During the war he was with the 8th Motorcycles Unit, stationed at Padova.
In 1925 Mario Mazzetti, impressed by Alfonso’s work, asked him to build a single-cylinder 120 cc two-stroke racing bike, making Alfonso the designer, constructor, and racer. They were successful racing, under the MM name, and Alfonso’s finest racing moment came in 1927 when his MM 125 took six world records at Monza, during the Grand Prix of Nations. (These records were not bettered for twenty years.) In 1933 he set a new world speed record for 175 cc motorcycles of 162 km/h.
In 1937 Alfonso and Mario parted ways, and Alfonso Morini went into the production of 350 cc and 500 cc three wheelers, under the Moto Morini name. The government regulations favoured these lighter fuel efficient machines, and the successful Moto Morini M610 had advanced features, like cardan driveshafts.
This was interrupted by World War II, and Moto Morini was converted to produce aeronautical components. In 1943 the factory was bombed.
Undeterred, in 1946, a new three-speed transmission, single cylinder, two-stroke T125 emerged from the new Bologna factory, Via Berti. In 1947 a Sport version appeared. In 1953 a 175 cc pushrod OHV four-stroke model appeared in production. Models like Gran Turismo, Settebello, Rebello, Supersport, Briscola, Tresette, and Tresette Sprint also appeared. In 1956 Moto Morini moved to a larger production facility at Via Bergami. In 1958 Alfonso Morini, Dante Lambertini, and Nerio Biavati designed the 250 GP Double Camshaft.
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