I’ve Never Seen an Off-Road Motorcycle With This Over-the-Top Feature Before

When it comes to great affordable mid-sized adventure motorcycles, it’s tough to beat a quartet of brands from Japan. 

After all, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha all offer good-looking, nicely appointed 649cc to 776cc bikes for $11,000 or less.

Moto Morini

That being said, a recently revived Italian-born, Chinese-backed brand would like a word. 

It’s called Moto Morini, and its souped-up new X-Cape 700 Gold Edition has much to offer at a price point that should still fall well within the four figures.

Rising from the ashes

So what’s Moto Morini’s deal, anyway? While the name isn’t as familiar to US moto fans as, say, Ducati or even Moto Guzzi, it boasts nearly as much history.

While those two brands date back to the 1920s, this one was founded by Alfonso Morini in Bologna in 1937. 

Moto Morini

Its subsequent roller coaster run, dotted with a number of eye-popping V-twins, came to a halt with liquidation in 2010, then kickstarted back up in 2012 following acquisition by Zhejiang, China-based Zhongneng Vehicle Group.

Now headquartered in Milan, the brand has been steadily rebuilding over the past decade. 

Among its small but growing lineup — which also includes a naked sport bike, a scrambler and somehow a bagger — the X-Cape 700 looks like the most promising. 

Its case is not hurt by the new Gold Edition, which offers everything the base model does and more.

Road-worthy, trail-ready

The beating heart of both versions is a 693cc parallel twin made by Chinese-brand CFMoto, which one industry observer calls “a reverse-engineered, slightly tweaked Kawasaki 650cc engine.”

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when it’s encased in a ruggedly good-looking silhouette.

Moto Morini

Other highlights include a 7-inch TFT display, adjustable windscreen, Brembo brakes, Bosch detachable ABS, 19-inch front wheel and reliable suspension courtesy of a Kayaba monoshock and Marzocchi fork with 50mm inverted shanks. 

The Gold Edition upgrades that package with a wide-ranging array of additional features. The most noticeable and — and befitting the nomenclature — are tubeless spoked wheels with a head-turning gold anodized finish.

Moto Morini

The Gold edition also offers a legit traction control system and a handy center stand (a godsend for off-road bikes that sometimes must be parked on sketchy surfaces where a side stand feels suspect).

Lastly, there are the luxe accoutrements: a dashcam, heated handgrips and the feature behind the headline of this story … a heated seat.

While I can see the appeal of the first two, this last one feels like overkill, especially because half the time you’re off-roading, you’re standing up on the pegs anyway. 

Moto Morini

This element — together with the gold rims — speaks to the fact that this bike might be a bit more aimed at the occasional off-road motorcyclist rather than the hard-core enthusiast who probably wouldn’t give it a second look anyway. 

If you mostly ride paved surfaces but like knowing you could rip fire roads — and maybe even actually do so from time to time — a double or even triple take at the Gold Edition (or even the base model 700) is most certainly warranted.

Availability and pricing

The Moto Morini X-Cape 700 Gold Edition is currently available — in red, white and black — in Italy for €7,940, or roughly $8,600.

Until the bike (hopefully) arrives on our shores, US riders can console themselves with the similar-looking, slightly smaller and more affordable X-Cape 650, which has an MSRP of $7,999.

Moto Morini

Moto Morini X-Cape 700 Gold Edition

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