Morbidelli 850 V8
MORBIDELLI 850 V8
Quick Ride
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I SUPPOSE YOU OUGHT TO BE dressed correctly to ride a motorcycle that costs $45,000, especially if it’s made in Italy, the home of designer chic. Except Giancarlo Morbidelli had a different reason for insisting that I not wear a set of leathers for my spin down the Italian coast on his 850 V8 prototype. “I don’t want you tempted to start riding it like a sportbike and dragging your knee on the ground,” he declared.
Sartorial considerations aside, slinging a leg over the Morbidelli V8 recalled the one and only time I sat behind the wheel of a Ferrari V-12, entailing an even mixture of respect and awe, nervousness and anticipation, eagerness and impatience to hear the engine sing.
Well, all I can say is that the Morbidelli completely lived up to my expectations. It’s the throttle you appreciate most, because it’s the key to the bestsounding motorcycle engine
man has yet made. Get the fuelinjected, 32-valve V-Eight revving above 7000 rpm and be prepared for a scream that will make your flesh tingle and your blood curdle. This is a machine to feast your senses on; it's unique, awesome, fabulous, thrilling-all expletives apply!
It's also pretty potent, with in stant throttle response and silky smooth power delivery from the 700-rpm idle all the way to the I 1,000-rpm rev limiter. And it's
the best-shifting shaft-driven motorcycle I’ve ever ridden, though the mile-wide powerband means you can loaf along in top gear all day if you like. Moreover, apart from blipping the throttle at rest, which causes the bike to rock slightly from left to right, you never feel the
gyroscopic effect of the lengthways crankshaft.
The lowdown engine location also helps the Morbidelli track sure through fast corners. Yet in spite of its spacious seating position and rangy, 57.4-inch wheelbase, the V8 is surprisingly nimble in tighter turns. It stops nicely, too, the Brembo triple discs making light of the bike’s claimed 440-pound dry weight. The only real “problem” is too-stiff rear suspension, which flips the bike up into the air over the worst bumps. Perhaps the Paioli shock would benefit from the addition of a BMW Paralever-style linkage?
The other negative is an irritating flat spot at wide-open throttle between 3000 and 4000 rpm, due to an engine-mapping problem that Morbidelli says he plans to resolve if the project is kick-started again.
And that’s the rub. If Morbidelli’s new owners don’t have a change of heart, and this motorcycle doesn’t make it into production (however limited), the world of motorcycling will be the loser. The 850 V8 epitomizes the Italian love of mechanical function allied to creative form. It’s engineering art-and it goes like stink, as well. Rescue it, someone, please!
Alan Cathcart
