It went like this
The affairs of the Bologna
firm as recollected and commented on by two important characters, Gianni
Marchetti (General Manager from 1946 to 1989) and Franco Lambertini (Technical
Director from 1970 to 1989). Behind the scenes revealed, decisions explained.
Interview with Marchetti
"It is certain that the
moment of crisis could have been overcome and we could have continued"
So Gianni Marchetti asserts
today, re-examining the Morini situation at the end of the 1980s. He continues:
"The
business was healthy, it didn't have, and had never had, debts. Despite
the great production restraints imposed by the new helmet law, it could
none the less therefore, survive and look forward to the good times with
more adaptable designs.."
So why was it then given
up?
"After the death of Alfonso
Morini in 1969, the business was passed on to his only daughter, Gabriella,
a lawyer. Married to a physician, owner of a clinic, she had no children.
Devoted to her father, she really took to her heart the future of the business.
No other woman would have had the courage to devote herself to the Firm
like she did. Unfortunately, in the 1980s, Morini had become a hotbed of
Trade Unionists.
Persecuted by heavy confrontations,
Gabriella had been reduced to entering the factory by the back door. So
when she outlined the slump of the Custom market (which at that time was
the backbone of the Morini production line) she could not keep it going.
But the biggest reason behind this serious decision was the former."
Is it true that the business
was given up for six billion lira?
"After a lifetime at Morini,
I preferred to stay away from the negotiations. I can not therefore confirm
the figure."
What type of person was Alfonso
Morini?
"He always did it on his
own, climbing the ladder without putting a foot wrong. Master of the subject
in all of its facets. He also had a good nose for sporting activities.
He was an optimist, approachable, he listened to everybody. He helped so
many people, he who never had help from anyone. He was a great worker"
Didn’t he do everything possible
with the sporting activity?
"It was his single passion,
not only for the competitive point of view, but I would say, chiefly, for
the mechanical one."
How did he go about creating
a new model? Who were his closest collaborators?
"Firstly he outlined his
ideas and discussed them with the Technicians, then the prototype was sketched.
After exhaustive testing, they drew up the definitive designs. An anomalous
procedure which, however, he always used. His collaborators were, Dante
Lambertini, Domenico Lugli, Franco Marchesini and later his nephew Franco
Morini, who in the '50s was to merge the homonymous construction of engines"
How did he expand the factory?
What took place exactly?
"The first was at 1 Via
Berti, around 700 covered square meters, with one hundred employees. Then
in 1955 came the move to a bigger property at 7 Via Bergami (6.000 covered
square meters), that came to employ a maximum of 150 people. The castings
and some components such as the gearbox came from outside, but inside all
the workmanship and assembly took place"
When did they reach the peak
of production and with which model?
"During the boom of the
125, astride the year 1960, we were making 9,000 Corsaro’s per year. When
the boom deflated, we remained on this figure thanks to the success of
the Corsarino 50. In the good years of the twin cylinder, we made 6,000
- 6,500 of them per year"
which was the most successful
model?
"Each model was bound
to its historical period and it answered the requirements of the moment.
It is not therefore possible to assign the absolute title. However the
best selling Morinis have been the 125 two stroke, the 175 four stroke,
the Corsaro and the 350"
Any…..failures?
"The Briscola 175 of 1956
was a poor model, with trailing link front suspension. Then the GTI 250
of 1966 and the Dollaro 50 moped of 1971. However, even in these cases,
Morini was not too badly affected"
How well did the exports
go?
"Up to the arrival of
the 350 our output was not very interesting to the foreign markets, it
was destined almost exclusively for domestic consumption. But, we exported
30% of the Twins, for use in Germany, Holland, Spain, France and England"
Was it not a little bit hazardous
for a firm like Morini to undertake the design of the Turbo and to then
abandon it after having promised the first deliveries for September 1982?
"It looked as if the Turbo
was destined to burst forth. But it was fearfully expensive. Besides, the
turbines that Alpha Avio promised us at some point were not available.
Just as well, because the "blaze" of the turbo was short lived"
Is it true that at this time
you had been approached by Harley-Davidson to create a small Italo-American
Duo Glide?
"I can confirm the contacts.
And I can add that they were not concluded."
Lambertini
"To strengthen the works
Pirate 125-150 four stroke for enduros, this was my first assignment at
Morini." This is how Franco Lambertini starts to unravel the skein
of his memoirs. "It was 1970 and the two stroke was becoming more and more
menacing. For the usual questions of budget, the assignment didn't allow
me ample freedom of action, in fact, I had to achieve the result changing
the design of the engine in the least possible way, it had parallel valves
operated by pushrods and rockers. Then, based on my previous automobile
experience, I designed a flat cylinder head with combustion chamber in
the top of the piston, also the inlet port and curved exhaust port so as
to stir up turbulence and best exploit the combustion"
With what practical results?
"The power output of the
125 was raised from 14 to 16.5 hp, that of the 151 (which competed in the
175 class) from 15.5 to 18 hp, all measured at the wheel. There was also
an increase in torque, as demonstrated by the lowering of the maximum revs,
from 10,200 to 9,800 for the 125 and from 9,200 to 9,000 for the larger
engine. There were also benefits to the longevity of some parts like the
crankshaft"
Excellent results, but why
were they not applied to production models?
"We only made twenty of
the works engines but really that year we interrupted the sporting activities
in order to concentrate on the preparation of the new 350"
Why 350cc, a capacity that
Morini had not built before?
"It was the best compromise
between performance, cost, pollution, and consumption. Besides, this capacity
was the maximum accessible by youngsters between 16 and 18 years of age"
How long was the gestation?
"I drew up the designs
in a few days, at the end of 1970. Eight months later the motorbike was
on the road. We displayed it at the 1971 Milan show, with the air filters
still out in the open. Then we put them under the tank. This was the most
apparent of the changes made before sales began, in the spring of 1972"
Were the smaller and larger
versions anticipated in the original plans?
"Yes, the engine was "conceived"
as modular, not only as a twin cylinder but also as a single, eliminating
the rear cylinder. Obviously in order to use the same equipment and to
reduce maufacturing costs"
Looking back, which was the
best version?
"The 350 most hit the
target, less happy was the Single, especially the 250 which vibrated in
spite of its flexible engine mountings"
The Twin introduced various
exclusive technical solutions, some already experimented with successfully
in the Regolarita Corsaro, others were firsts like the belt driven raised
camshaft in order to use short pushrods. Why not risk still more by adopting
an overhead cam (and perhaps four valves), electric starting and some form
of anti-vibration?
"I had also designed a
belt driven overhead cam with four valves, electric starting, swing arm
pivot passing through the cases, but had to drop them for reasons of expense.
Note also that at that time in Italy there were no suitable electric starters
available. As soon as some were available, we used them in the 500. That
was in 1977"
The valve diameters seem
small, especially that of the exhaust, why such unusual sizes?
"It was a concept that
came from competition cars, to create a high exit velocity for the burnt
gases (about 30% faster) to assist the arrival of fresh gases in the combustion
chamber. In truth, that's why the engine did not produce high power but
had good torque and reduced consumption. Thanks to the good combination
of various factors of which I have already spoken, we established I believe
a record with 190-220 gr/HP/h over a wide rev range. The optimal rapid
and complete combustion allowed us to reduce the ignition spark advance
drastically and to meet in full the strict Californian pollution standards"
The ideal "V" is one of 90
degrees. Why did you use 72?.
"In order to make the
engine more compact and keeping it compatible with the needs of balancing.
In this way the unbalanced masses were kept modest, and in fact the vibrations
were less than those of a 125 single cylinder four stroke of the time"
The Morini Twin cylinder
stayed in production for more than ten years. How was it improved over
time?
"Only with alterations
to the timing, ignition and exhaust. So the power output of the 350 went
from 32-33 Horsepower at 8,600 revs to 37-38 at 9.200"
However, it was not all rosy.
You remember when connecting rods kept breaking causing massive engine
damage?
"That was a painful period.
Afterwards we noticed that there were micro-cracks in the stamp formed
connecting rod bolts. We went on to use bolts with nuts and the nightmare
vanished"
Why did you not officially
enter competition with the Twin?
"The desire was there
and in the first years the motorbike, prepared opportunely, could boast
a certain competitiveness. But the cost of racing was enormous, it was
therefore excessive in relationship to the Firms sales volumes."
With a notable amount of
courage, you studied and produced the prototype of a turbocharged 500.
Why did you take an interest in this formula and when did you begin to
work around it?
"The results achieved
by the Renault Formula One engine impressed me. It produced almost double
the power of the corresponding normally aspirated engine. And in fact,
the Morini Turbo produced 84 Horsepower at 8,300 revs against the 42 at
8,500 of the normally aspirated version. I started research in 1979, the
motorbike was tested in 1981, covering a good 70,000 kilometers, and displayed
with great success at the Milan Show in that year."
And then why bury it?
"At the same Milan show
we had shown with similar success the off road Kanguro 350. With the available
resources, we could not start to produce two new models. It was thus necessary
to choose one and we decided on the Kanguro. Besides, I don't deny that
the Turbo would have caused some suffering to normal production."
When did you begin to work
on the new V-Twin? Which capacities were they to be made in?
"The times had changed,
the engines were still modular but were to be in 350cc, 500cc and 750cc
capacities. In 1986 the first series of the prototypes were ready. The
larger capacity version developed 86 Horsepower."
Why did you reduced the angle
from 72 to 60 degrees?
"To limit the overall
dimensions, espescially that of the largest capacity version. In fact the
angle of 72 degrees would have been too open."
What technical improvements
as regards the preceding twins?
"Everything changed: over
head single cam driven by silent chain, four valves per cylinder, water
cooling, contro rotating anti-vibration shafts."
Why were they laid up?
"The new owners made it
know that they already had an excellent twin cylinder engine."
Also to the technician, the
question on the fate of Morini: would it still be alive today it they had
not given up?
"I am convinced of it,
we did not have to produce large numbers in order to keep going, 2,000
motorbikes in a year would have been enough, besides the Custom market
was starting to recover after the helmet shock. And Morini would have certainly
benefitted"
The above was translated
from an article that appeared in the Italian motorcycle magazine "MOTOCICLISMO
EPOCA" in May 1996.
