Moto Morini to enter India again, with AARI
Italian motorcycle brand Moto Morini has entered a partnership with Hyderabad-based Adishwar Auto Ride India (AARI) and will make a comeback in India. AARI is the same group that sells Benelli and Keeway bikes in our country.
If you didn't already know, Moto Morini had first tested the tide of the Indian two-wheeler market back in 2014 via a collaboration with Mumbai-based motorcycle customisation firm, Vardenchi. Two 1200cc bikes made their way to India - the Scrambler and Granpasso, but things didn't really go according to plan for both parties, assumingly due to insanely high pricing of both bikes, and a plug was later pulled on the entire operation. So will the partnership with AARI prove to be a success? We'll have to wait and see. Let' just hope that they get the pricing right this time around. AARI already has a good base with its Benelli and Keeway operations, boasting over 50 dealerships across India with a combined base of 20,000 customers, according to the company.
Moto Morini currently sells  three motorcycles in markets abroad – the Moto Morini X-Cape which is an adventure bike (pictured above) that surely must have caught your attention at the 2021 EICMA show in Milan, the Moto Morini Seiemmezzo SCR scrambler, and a neo-retro version of the latter called the Moto Morini Seiemmezzo STR. All the three bikes are powered by a CF Moto liquid-cooled parallel-twin 649cc motor but come in different states of tune. The one to watch out for here will definitely be the X-Cape. The X-Cape produces 60PS and 56Nm and boasts a cool top speed of 175kmph. The X-Cape rides on 19/ 17-inch front/rear wheel combination, shod with Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tyres. Suspension duties are handled by a beefy 50mm, fully adjustable upside down front fork from Marzocchi, while rear features a monoshock with adjustable preload and rebound damping. Fuel tank capacity is 18-litres and ground clearance is a good 175mm.