Moto Morini is an Italian motorcycle brand owned by Chinese motorcycle giant Zhongneng. While having true blue Italian roots, Moto Morini was purchased and brought back to life by the Chinese company in 2018. Since then, the brand has been best known for its middleweight models in the form of the X-Cape adventure bike and Seiemezzo neo-retro roadsters.
At EICMA 2022, Moto Morini made it clear that it had intentions of leveling up in the performance sector. It pulled the covers off the X-Cape ADV-R 650, an adventure-enduro machine based off the standard X-Cape 650. The ADV-R set itself apart from its more road-focused sibling thanks to burlier tires, beefed up suspension components, and aftermarket exhaust system. Back then, it was thought that this bike was just a one-off model designed to show the X-Cape’s performance potential. This time, however, the X-Cape ADV-R 650 made its debut in Spain by participating in the Bassella Race.
