Morini Maxi Enduro
MORINI MAXI ENDURO
REBORN MOTO MORINI has struggled to get steady footing despite the company’s still highly respected name and its undeniably impressive 1200cc V-Twin-powered machines.
But Chief Project Engineer Franco Fambertini is once again optimistic about the company’s potential. At the core is a management change that covers nearly every aspect of the business, thanks to full ownership of the company going back to the Morini family.
Further, Fambertini now has the last word not only on project engineering and basic technical matters, but also on new models. Fambertini, with assistance from former Bimota chief engineer Alberto Strada, is behind the concept and development of Moto Morini’s main news for 2008, the Granpasso 1200.
As a large-displacement adventure-bike, it faces one tough competitor in the form of the BMW R1200GS. But Morini considers the Granpasso its ticket into the U.S. market and a useful alternative to the sporty Corsaro 1200 line.
Power comes from the smoothly tuned “9 Yi” variation of the 87-degree V-Twin, good for about 120 horsepower and 80 foot-pounds of torque. Claimed dry weight is 437 pounds. The Granpasso shares the tubular frame common to the rest of the Moto Morini models. A side-mounted Öhlins shock works with a new hydroformed swingarm to give 7.9 inches of travel. Marzocchi provides the 50mm inverted fork with 7.5 inches of travel. These figures confirm this is an adventure-bike, not a big supermoto. In fact, the 19inch front and 17-inch wirespoked aluminum rims also feature semi-knobbed tires. Seat height is a not-unreasonable 33.1 inches, while a 6.6-gallon fuel capacity assures excellent range.
Production was slated to begin in April but there was still no firm plan for U.S. release of the bikes.
-Bruno dePrato
