Resurrection Morbidelli imminent?

When the Japanese got involved in the automotive industry, people were initially quite condescending about how everything was shamelessly copied there, but that soon changed when the Japanese motorcycle industry gained the upper hand and almost all European brands had to leave the field one by one. clean up.

Of all the historic brands from the early days of the motorcycle industry, sometime in the early 1900s, BMW, Moto Guzzi and Royal Enfield are about the only brands that have been in continuous production and have not perished under the Japanese invasion, although Enfield was moved to India.

Those who attended last month’s EICMA in Milan would think that history is repeating itself, except that the threat now comes from China. Just like Japan, China has also started with cut & paste, but China has also developed strongly in a short time.

Yet there are major differences between Japan then and China now. On the one hand, the rapid development of the Chinese industry is a direct result of the many collaborations that European manufacturers in particular have entered into with Chinese giants, but on the other hand, it is also the Chinese giants that have saved ailing European brands from extinction.

One such Chinese giant is the Zhejiang Qianjiang Motorcycle Group, which has successfully revived Benelli – in its home country of Italy (headquarters and R&D are still based in Pesaro), Benelli has been the fastest growing brand in recent years.

However, QJMotor is also the parent company of Keeway Motors, which in turn is now the driving force behind the new motorcycle brand MBP, which stands for Moto Bologna Passione. MBP shares many of the dealerships and distributors with Keeway, but claims the engines are designed in Italy, with help from the Keeway R&D Center in Barcelona.

However, two of the three most interesting models presented at the EICMA in Milan seem to have been marketed in China under a different brand name before.

Starting with the C1002V, a cruiser powered by a 997cc V-twin delivering 70 kW (97 hp) peak power @ 7,600 rpm and maximum torque of 102 Nm @ 6,500 rpm, featuring KYB suspension and J. Juan brakes (which in turn explains the link with Keeway R&D in Barcelona). The TFT dashboard. Has connectivity to M-link GPS so Mr. Xi can see exactly where you are. The seat height is very low at 680 mm, the top speed is quite high at 198 km/h.

However, the C1002V looks suspiciously like the Gaokin V1000 Thor, which was launched in China at the beginning of this year, but otherwise seems to have no link with the QJMotor empire. A second model presented in Milan that could also be interesting for the European market, the M502N, a 486cc parallel twin that looks like two drops of water on the Gaokin Flame 500.

To make things even more confusing: the Chinese manufacturer Gaokin is already present on the global market, but not under its own name, but as the producer of the Austro-Japanese Brixton Motorcycles, which in turn wants to appear British. The Brixton Crossfire 500 uses the same parallel twin as the M502N.

MBP’s standout at the EICMA in Milan, however, was the T1002V, which is powered by the same 997cc V-twin as the C1002V with the same performance, but equipped with an Allroad outfit with longer travel. The suspension and brakes are also from KYB and J.Juan, it also stands on wire wheels in sizes 19″ at the front and 17″ at the rear. This T1002V seems to have no link with existing Chinese models.

Interesting developments, but what is the link with Morbidelli? The MBP name and logos are all registered by Hong Kong-based Powerlink Technology, a firm that has also registered the rights and logos for “Morbidelli MBP” and “Morbidelli MBP Pesaro” at the same time.

Morbidelli Benelli Armi (MBA) produced racing motorcycles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One Graziano Rossi, who you may know from his son, Valentino, won 3 races on a 250cc Morbidelli.

With MBP linked to Keeway, Benelli’s sister company under the QJ umbrella, it is not inconceivable that Morbidelli will be given a new lease of life in the foreseeable future. The link is already there, in the Benelli museum in Pesaro you can also see the Morbidelli collection.

The most talked-about Morbidelli is undoubtedly the V8 developed in 1994, an innovative 32-valve 847cc 90° V8 with shaft drive, which was so incredibly expensive that it turned out to be economically unprofitable to produce. In 2001, the Morbidelli V8 entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most expensive motorcycle. A reincarnation of the V8 under the QJ umbrella would be super cool.