Moto Morini 650 cruiser coming
Moto Morini might not be the all-Italian brand that it once was but, like Benelli, it's starting the thrive under Chinese ownership that added a new dose of financial stability to the marque back in 2018.
We've already seen the results in the form of the 6 ½ Seiemmezzo roadster and X-Cape 650 adventure bike, as well as Morini's recent return to the U.S. market, and now the company has plans to add a cruiser to its range as well as bringing back the 1,187 cc CorsaCorta V-twin engine, powering a big X-Cape 1200 model.
.jpg)
The cruiser plan has emerged via a design registration in China, showing details of the bike's appearance and tech. It shares the same 650 cc parallel twin engine, sourced from CFMoto, that powers the Seiemmezzo and X-Cape 650, but slides it into a different, tubular steel chassis with twin-shock rear suspension.
Given the similarity between the CFMoto 650 engine and Kawasaki's parallel twin of the same size, it's inevitable that the new Morini cruiser will be compared against the Kawasaki Vulcan S, but Morini has opted for a more classical look with a larger front wheel and a traditional circular headlight tucked into a small nose cowl. Notably, the bike features a belt final drive rather than a chain, which could be seen as an advantage in the cruiser market, while the styling features a tall tank that dives down into a relatively low seat, but without the caricatured proportions of Morini's 1980s attempts at the cruiser market, the Excalibur and New York, which used the company's old 350 cc and 500 cc V-twin engines and featured clumsy, chopper-like looks with over-long forks and, in the case of the Excalibur, ape-hanger bars.
Morini's design images show a bike that's already well down the process towards production, so we can expect to see something in the metal later this year.
