In a fit of Morini-mania I joined with Jim Calandro and Craig Hunley to buy a collection of parts equalling approximately three Moto Morinis from Glen Bewley in Atlanta. I drove to North Carolina in early May so we could divide up the spoils in Jim's driveway. Jack Ballard, Lynnea Stadelmann, and Carl Nyberg came to witness the carnage. After being the prime mover for buying the Bewley stash, Craig managed to convince me to buy his share, so I went home with my original Morini plus two more, the 1980ish 3-1/2 Strada and the 1978ish 500 Strada. I'm going to concentrate on the 500 and turn it into a cafe racer special - that'll be the subject of another web page!
Here are some photos of the event, all about 85 Kbytes in size:
A long view of the driveway, over the top of Jim's luscious drum-brake Sport
Three frames, seats, Valentini bodywork., and Jack Ballard. the items under sheets in the garage are very tasty! From left to right, the frames are a 1) an early Sport frame which Glen was turning into a racer, using the Valentini bodywork and some other fancy bits, 2) a 1980ish 3-1/2 Strada, and 3) a 1978ish 500 Strada rolling chassis.
Wheels, fenders, and gas tanks. In front is a set of alloy Borrani rims with twin discs in front and single disc rear, anodized a funky shade of chartreuse, which go with the red early Sport frame. The fenders were pretty wretched, and we had one decent gas tank, for the 1980 3-1/2 Strada.
The 500 Strada rolling chassis. Glen had completely rebuilt the engine under the guidance of guru John Hoffman, but he was going to install it in the 1980ish 3-1/2 frame, which has the kinked front downtubes that are supposed to be desirable. The 500 chassis is cosmetically rough, but all the main functional bits are there, and it will make a nice "special".
The funky early Sport frame. This was being modified (e.g., by adding a disc rear brake) into a vintage racer by Glen, and now Jim will continue the project. Jim is inspecting the Valentini bodywork in the background.
The 1980 3-1/2 Strada frame with 500 engine. Glen was putting this together for his girlfriend. The 3-1/2 frame would be lighter and maybe a bit lower.
My partners in madness: Craig Hunley and Jim Calandro. Craig (left) was responsible for inducting Jim into the Church of Morini a couple years ago.
North Carolina branch of the Church of Morini. From left to right, Lynnea Stadelmann, Craig Hunley, Jim Calandro, and Carl Nyberg, behind Jim's 1975 Sport.
Detective work. We had fun trying to figure out which pieces went with which chassis. Here's a shot of the 500 while we were sorting things out. In thebackground is my truck with my 1976 3-1/2 Strada already loaded.
My truck, with three Moto Morinis loaded in the bed. The box under the tailgate and a few other odd bits (such as the gas tank on the tailgate) ended up behind the seats in the stetch cab. I did some quick calculations and figured I was close to the recommended load limit of the truck, about 1500 pounds, counting passengers. Here's another angle.
From Jim's house near Charlotte I drove to the Washington DC area and picked up my dad, who foolishly had volunteered to share the 1700-mile drive back to Colorado with me. Here we are, about to set off from a parking lot near his house. This longer shot shows a worrisome sag at the rear of truck, but it ran great all the way home, passing 180,000 miles on the odometer along the way.
It was a great trip and nice adventure! I hadn't made a long pointless road-trip in ages and wasn't sure if I'd still enjoy it, but my butt held up and I'd do it again without much urging. Special thanks to Craig Hunley for being the primary instigator for this project, and to Jim (and especially his amazingly patient wife, Anne) for being a gracious host.
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