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MILES COURTS CONTROVERSY
Morini riders are fantastically enthusiastic about their wonderful and brilliant motorcycles. So I expect that Paul Miles, who wrote about the 3½ Strada in RC175, has by now had terrible things done to him, probably involving the Official Morini Flywheel Holding Tool. His main criticism is that it is ‘underpowered’ compared with the Japanese bikes of the 1970s. It might be but, somehow, that is a comparison most Morini riders do not think about. When buzzing a 3½ Strada or Sport along a nice twisty road, most riders are thinking about the delights of the handling and the lovely free-revving urge of the engine. Some say the acceleration and speed are not far short of an old British 650 of the go-to-work variety.
According to an old road test I have in front of me, a mid-1970s Honda 360 produces only the same power as the Strada (34bhp for the Honda, 35bhp for the Strada), although there were of course more powerful Japanese 350s. I was going to claim that the Strada is much lighter than a Japanese equivalent but the figures do not back that up: Strada dry weight 353lb, mid-70s Honda 360 357lb. However, I think the Strada carries its weight lower and its wheelbase will be shorter. The latter, particularly, is the key to the Strada’s lovely handling characteristics.
Paul did sort-of acknowledge the lovely handling. Morini riders would go a bit further and, perhaps, say they have never experienced a more completely-together motorcycle. Steering, suspension, brakes, engine and gearbox all work as a package — as they were designed to by Franco Lambertini, the former Ferrari engineer who was brought in and given the freedom to design something distinctive. Riding a 3½ briskly on the sort of road motorcyclists like is a delightful experience. Sometimes it seems you just have to look into a bend and the weight-shift steers you round. Sometimes you want to lean over hard at slow speed — coming out of a roundabout for example — just because you can.
Acknowledgement of imperfections: yes the kickstarter is very awkward. My 1976-registered Strada (probably made in 1974) is pre-electric so I just have to put up with it. Because I have never learned to left-foot kick, I have to do the starting while off the motorcycle. That is a problem if you stall
