It's official! Italian brand Moto Morini will be officially arriving in the New Zealand motorcycle market in 2022.
Distributing Moto Morini will be established distributor Europe Imports, the same folks behind BMW Motorrad here in NZ, with the first Moto Morini bikes expected to arrive around March 2022 (global shipping dependant).
To introduce Moto Morini to the Kiwi market Europe Imports is only bringing the firm's new adventure model, the X-Cape to whet appetites with other models expected to follow.
The X-Cape joins a growing list of middleweight adventure tourers set to arrive in 2022 and is based around a 649cc parallel-twin with a claimed 59hp (44kw) and 56Nm of peak grunt.
It doesn't sound like earth-shattering specs, but the Moto Morini joins a growing list of Italian machines that are looking more at style and practicality rather than all-out performance in their mission to get the world on two wheels. With a weight listed at 213kg (dry), the Moto Morini is in the same ballpark as the LAMS Japanese 650 offerings in terms of power to weight.
However where the X-Cape really stands out its ancillary parts. The suspension comes in the form of a large adjustable 50mm Marzocchi fork up front attaching the 19-inch tubeless spoked wheels to the steel trellis chassis.
Braking is, of course, backed by ABS which is switchable with Brembo calipers doing the hard yards to pull the bike to a stop.
The cockpit has the rider seated behind a 7-inch TFT dash with phone connectivity and an easily adjusted windscreen, with seat height being as low as 820mm.
The X-Cape will be Moto Morini’s first model to join the New Zealand market, with distributor Europe Imports expecting the first examples to arrive in March. Pricing will be announced closer to the bike’s arrival.