Test ride before you X-Cape!

The new Moto Morini 650! With the middleweight category of adventure machines expanding all the time, those of us who prefer less weight and complication are being spoilt for choice, so how do we choose?

A test ride is the best place to start and at The Overland Event we ensure you have access to machines that may not be available to view or test in every town.

One of those this year is the Moto Morini X-Cape, a 650 parallel twin that’s only £7k, stocks of which have at last arrived in the UK. All 4 colour options will be on show including the very tasty Carrara White and you can ask as many questions as you like of the guys on the stand.

Like a lot of Italian manufacturers Moto Morini have had a turbulent past since their creation in 1937. Ownership has chopped and changed and been intertwined with Ducati and Cagiva while at times the factory has been used as an engineering firm only, but the passion has always remained and they are proud of their ISDT and tarmac racing heritage.

You may remember about 15 years ago the 1200 V-Twin Gran Passo and Scrambler models were available in the UK, but X-Cape 650 is their new offering. It’s a 59hp twin that’s striking to look at, and the 19’’ front wheel and large 50 mm adjustable Marzocchi forks guarantee good road holding, making it just as suitable for twisty mountain passes as off-road dirt tracks.

The large saddle space (845mm/820mm high) offers perfect ergonomics for taller riders and the slim chassis makes standing easy. The Bosch ABS can be switched off on the dirt so that you can use the quality Brembo brakes to their full potential.

We are really looking forward to doing a full review, but you can ride it yourself on our test route that includes a private off-road section if you’d like to test it on and off road.