wasn ’ t familiar with the term ‘ Adventouring ’. Now , having seen it boldly emblazoned on the Moto Morini X-Cape 649 and ridden the machine – I get it . I ’ m sold on the word AND the concept - those Italians have always been great at expressing themselves . And , it pretty much sums up what most adventure riders like to do - to have an adventure while touring and exploring . Moto Morini is not a particularly common machine in NZ , but the Italian manufacturer has been around a long time , starting out life in Bologna , Italy , way back in 1937 . They were popular and competitive machines in Europe back in the day . More recently Moto Morini fell off the radar somewhat , and suffered a period of relative inactivity . However , in 2018 they became part of the Chinese Zhongnony vehicle group and now they ’ re truly back in business , with this all new and great looking 649 X-Cape . In this case , Italian design meets Chinese manufacturing muscle and scale to produce an attractive , conventional looking adventure bike with a steel tube chassis and alloy swingarm , 18 litre fuel tank and an adjustable screen . It ’ s LAMS compliant too , perfect for the budding ‘ Adventourer ’.

HEART OF THE X-CAPE The engine is a liquid cooled , DOHC , 8-valve ,

52 KIWI RIDER