Inspired by the chopper craze which had developed in the United States and was infecting many civilized countries, the fashion had brought forth several tame entries from the Japanese. European representatives in this category are thankfully quite rare - this example is the Morini Excalibur.
In the mind of the chopper enthusiast such a machine should emulate the American V-twin. As Morini already had one in the 3½, it was simply a matter of extending the rake and trail to the point where it would barely stay in a straight line, fit it with "ape-hanger" handlebars, reduce the tank capacity and generally make the machine as ugly as humanly possible without actually painting it in Confederate colours.
The somewhat antiquated design of the air-cooled overhead valve V-twin was perfect for the job, and actually delivered rather more oomph than the average chopper enthusiast could safely handle.
Built in both 350 and 500cc version, the Excalibur proved one of Morini's best sellers. When the Easy Rider craze ended and sales slumped like a tattooed Neanderthal, it spelled doom for Morini.
N.B. Fantic built choppers for underage bikies which were even horribler.
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