Here I have for sale a semi-restored 1977 (S Reg) Morini 350 Strada (to Sports Spec) which I think will make an excellent and not too difficult project for someone, having already had the majority of the hard work done and money spent.
I bought the bike many years ago with a view to building a lovely Morini Sports spec bike, with most chassis parts in red and polished alloy, etc., but although I did most of the hardwork (all engine jobs except reassembling complete, chassis parts plastic coated, some chroming etc), it's completion always seemed to get delayed while I tackled the next British bike rebuild.
Anyway, I have finally realised that I am never likely to get it finished now (too many other projects lined up!), so it might as well let someone else have a go, and free up a bit of room in the garage. I can assure anyone that is interested in it that it is a genuinly nice and straight bike, that is extremely original. I can truthfully say, that if I was in a position of wanting to buy a like minded project bike, then this would be a good one to go for. It has been with me for almost 20 years, was a complete bike (before I stripped it!) and although needing some work to finish off, should not be too difficult to complete.

I have owned the bike since 1988 (almost 20 years - and still couldent get it finished!), having bought it from a local Morini enthusiast who used the bike daily, but had laid it up as it was slipping out of gear. Apart from this, and looking a bit tatty, it was complete and operational. I purchased it with a view of it giving it a reasonably quick restoration, then running it alongside the bevel drive Ducati 900ss I had at the time.

Engine (Mechanical) Details
On stripping the engine I found that one of the gearbox selectors was badly worn (he told me this would almost certainly be the case, which is why it was slipping out of gear and he had laid it up, waiting to do this) and I purchased a new bronze one at the time, which is included in the sale (see accompanying photographs).
As always with engines I restored at that time, I also had the crank reground and had new bigend shells in it. I also seem to remember having the plain main bearing on the crank ground, and looking at it now it certainly looks like a new shell is present here as well, as it looks perfect.

The previous owner introduced me to a friend who collected Morinis, and I was able to swap the Strada cam for a Sports cam, and also pick up a set of Sports pistons. These are used, but in excellent condition and just need new rings. The barrels have both been rebored to take them already. This brings the engine up to Sports spec.

There is also new head gaskets, new Little Ends (these still need honing) new cambelt, a couple of new seals, and the engine is now ready to be put together. (I can assure any potential new buyer - to my knowledge there is no reason why it could not be reassembled immediately, I have tried to get on with it myself a couple of times over the last 5 years, but always get stopped by another project!).

- Heads are all cleaned up and reassembled, ready for rockers to be refitted . I cant remember clearly, but it may be there were rubber valve caps still to be bought and fitted, cost for these should be minimal

- All bearings are original and extremely good. I have checked all of them and they all run freely with no noticeable wear. If any were worn they would have been replaced. Actually, apart from the black staining from the oil (modern engines never seem to get as dirty as older engines, not sure if this is improved oils or synthetic?) the crankcases / bearings / overall finish of the engine is extremely good. There are no noticable stripped threads signs of abuse and generally the bike looked mechanically very well kept. One of the inspection covers has a small ding in it and I vaguely remember one of the crankcases edges has a standard chain wear, but that is about it.

I think it also has a spare set of clutch plates for it, which I vaguely remember buying from the same man as sold me the Sports cam.

Chassis
The frame and all cycle parts have been powder coated a very nice red and are straight and complete, with no signs of accident damage or knocks. The powder coating was done many years ago, so there are very minor scratchs or marks where I have moved them from one garage to another over the years (and ocassionaly got overspray on them, which I have removed), but hopefully you can see from the photographs that it all looks very good.

The mudguards are very nice and the previous owner did fit many stainless steel fastenings. The petrol tank was stripped down to bare metal and rust treated, which is how it is now. It is in good nick and is now ready for repainting. Unfortunately I dont have the Morini tank badges, which is one of the only bits missing on the bike. The side panels are in perfect nick though and do have their badges.

The forks are complete and in good original condition. There is a small amount of pit marks, mainly on one leg, but I personally would not have them rechromed yet as I dont think they are that bad and are covered by gaiters.

The wheels are just as I bought them. Straight and original, I think both tyres are reusable, but may be a little hard. In all honesty though, they could do with having the original grey powder coating rubbing down or blasing and being repainted. I was going to polish them or paint them gold which would go well with the red frame. I was also going to replace the chain and sprockets but have not got round to this yet.

I think the exhaust system, although complete, has seen better days, and could do with the pipes rechroming, or painting black. It comes with Silentinium silencers but these I think are starting to go (they normally rot from the inside), and I was thinking of turning it into a 2 into 1, then putting a single silencer on it, maybe a Conti, that would sound great.

Electrics and ancillaries are exactly as they were when taken off the bike, everything has been saved and nearly everything looks resusable. Clocks are nice and original and I have had quite a few of the smaller fittings replated or chromed. I think the handlebar levers need replacing as both have lost their ballends at some point.

Engine and frame number are both the same - 13481 and are matching numbers. The engine shot of this number is attached and the frame number was on the last set of photos I sent you.
Engine prefix is stamped A, which is shown in photos below. The bike comes complete with both old and new log book, and an original type Morini manual.

Overall I hope it will be a nice bike for someone, and although I am not giving it away, I hope the price is reasonable considering the amount of work I have already done. You can still pick these bikes up for moderate sums of money, but as any restorer will tell you, it is the cost of restoration that accounts for the large bills, and hopefully the majority of this work has been done. Please feel free to mail me for more details if you are interested at : paul.norman@racingvincent.co.uk or phone me on 0778 - 8978063.