Remember Morbidelli? It started out as a general manufacturing company before moving into Grand Prix bike racing in the late 1960s. The Italian firm had some impressive results, winning three 125GP and one 250GP titles in the 1970s, but had little impact on the roadbike sector, apart from an abortive attempt at a V8 sport-tourer in the mid 1990s.
The brand has since been resurrected by Chinese firm Qianjiang, and is producing some interesting machines – like this new T100 adventure tourer. It’s a budget bike, priced around £8k, built around a unique V-twin engine. The 997cc unit has a weird 80° V-angle with SOHC four-valve heads and puts out a slightly underwhelming 88.5bhp @ 7500rpm. It lives in a steel tube cradle frame, with decent running gear: KYB fully-adjustable suspension, J.Juan brakes with Bosch ABS Pro, and Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR rubber in 120/70 19 front and 170/60 17 rear sizes. The wet weight is a bit of a disappointment though: 265kg wet is going to hold it back on the performance front you’d imagine.
There are two versions of the T100: the 2V with cast aluminium road wheels and the 2VX, with wire-spoked off-road-style rims (though they both have the same 19” front wheel and identical tyre sizes).We’re leaving the best till last though: the T100s are priced to sell, at just £7999 for the 2V or £8199 for the 2VX. More info from UK importer MotoGB at www.motogb.co.uk
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