Among the rarest and most unusual Italian bikes is Moto Morini's range of modular V-twins, produced in small numbers from 1972 to 1993 at the family-owned Bologna works. The first to appear was the 3½ (350cc), which was designed by Franco Lambertini and first shown at the Milan show in November 1971.
It was followed in 1975 by a "bored and stroked" 500cc version which, although it was much torquier, never achieved quite the cult following of the charismatic 3½.
There are so few in South Africa that until recently I had only ever seen three and I'd never ridden one so, when Lance Allam and Richard Piller offered to lend me their neatly restored 1979 500 Sport, I grabbed the chance.
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"Keep it as long as you like," they said, "Ride it around, use it as a commuter – it's a nice street bike."
Lambertini's magnificent 72º V-twin is based on proven, conservative engineering principles. This was so different from the usual attitude of Italian bike owners that it increased my curiosity even further – so I did exactly that and used this 24-year-old exotic rarity as daily transport for two weeks ... and I loved every moment of it.
Lambertini's magnificent 72º V-twin is based on proven, conservative engineering principles, applied in unconventional ways. For instance, it’s a pushrod motor but with a high-mounted camshaft set in the vee and very short pushrods, driven by a toothed rubber cambelt, almost unheard of in 1971.
The cylinder heads are flat, the valves are parallel and the combustion chambers are recessed into the top of the pistons. It's called a Heron head and, if it sounds familiar, it's exactly the same as on a 1600cc Ford Kent engine.
It also allows impressive compression ratios on ordinary petrol – the 500 runs at 10:1, high for the period.
It's fed by two very ordinary 28mm Dell'Orto carbs mounted back-to-back in the vee and drives via a (theoretically) dry clutch and a five-speed gearbox.
The low centre of gravity allows the bike to flick from side to side like a kitten chasing the wind.
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