Moto Morini Corsarinos
With Phil Aynsley
I’ve always had a soft spot for small capacity Italian motorcycles, probably due to the fact that despite their humble power outputs and usually very plebeian base models, their national heritage always demands a sporting variant for youngsters to emulate their Grand Prix heroes on.
Moto Morini was no exception to this way of life and here we look at a couple of their 48 cc models from the ‘60s and ‘70s.
The company debuted the Corsarino (Little Pirate) in 1963 – a follow up to the 125 cc Corsaro (Pirate) which had been introduced in 1959.
The Corsarino was also an OHV four-stroke single and the first versions were the V and Z. Both were moped-like machines with step-through frames but with fixed foot pegs, not pedals and a three-speed hand change gearbox.
The Z featured a dual seat. The V was only sold until 1966 but the Z continued until 1969, using a four-speed foot change from ’65.
A proper motorcycle framed model, the ZT, was added to the line up in ’64 and was discontinued in ’69. In addition various Scrambler models were produced from 1966 until 1975.
The Corsarino ZZ was the sports model and initially used the three-speed hand change before the four-speed foot change model was introduced in 1966.
The first bike seen here is a ’66 ZZ. A 15 mm Dell’Orto carburettor was used to help the motor reach its claimed 4.5 hp.
The second bike is a later, early ‘70s model and features a change to a more upright riding position. Production of all Corsarinos ceased by 1976.
