As I’ve said before to anyone who’ll listen, mostly the cat, you don’t need a big bike to have a big adventure.
I had my first one in 1998 riding an Enfield Bullet which I bought new in Delhi for £865 back to the UK, and the biggest bike I’ve taken on a big trip was the BMW R 1200 GS I rode around the world following the 1912 journey of Carl Stearns Clancy 100 years on.
The books on those are Way to Go and In Clancy’s Boots, if you fancy some armchair travel or inspiration for your own jaunts.
Anyway, we don’t all have the £19,280 for the current BMW R 1250 GS Adventure TE or the 23 grand for the new Ducati Multistrada V4 – not to mention the fact that I suspect few riders risk taking them off road because of the cost of repairs if you drop them. That’s if you can pick them up in the first place.
It’s no wonder that manufacturers see more potential in middleweight adventure bikes such as the Yamaha Tenere, the Suzuki V-Strom, the excellent Aprilia Tuareg 660 and the Triumph Tiger 660 Sport, which I found surprisingly underwhelming.
Which makes the Moto Morini X-Cape a very interesting prospect, especially since its £6,999 price tag makes it £2,450 cheaper than the Triumph and £4,600 cheaper than the Aprilia.
It certainly looks the part, with fully adjustable Marzocchi front suspension, Brembo brakes, Bosch ABS, Pirelli tyres and a 7in TFT dash which gives a significant nod to that on the BMW 1250 range, with the tacho sweeping across the top of the display.
Surprisingly for a relatively budget machine it also comes with tyre pressure sensors, back-lit switches and two USB ports.
Climb aboard the nicely sculpted seat, and it also feels the part, with a lofty riding position, excellent mirrors and that screen showing you all the basic info you need, including which gear and riding mode you’re in.
The latter is incredibly complex, so do pay attention, Bond. One is called On-Road, and the other Off-Road. Got that?
Start up, and the air fills with the same happy burble as the Moto Morini 6½ Seiemmezzo I’d been riding earlier, since it’s the same 649cc inline twin supplied by CF Moto which is basically a detuned copy of Kawasaki’s 72bhp ER-6.
Ride off, though, and things immediately feel different. In the 212kg Seiemmezzo, the engine is a gutsy gem, pulling enthusiastically all the way from 2,000rpm to maximum power at 8,250rpm, but with the X-Cape weighing 226kg, it takes noticeably longer to spin up to speed, meaning that overtake gear selections take a bit of planning.
It does get up to speed in the end, just not with the same rush of excitement as the Seiemmezzo. With fully loaded luggage and a pillion passenger, you won’t be going anywhere in a hurry.
A more free-flowing exhaust and shorter gearing would help a bit, but what it really needs is another 15-20bhp.
Mind you, I’d felt the same flatness about the Tiger 660. The Aprilia Tuareg is more fun than both, but at a cost. However, the good news is that a 1200cc V-twin X-Cape is on the cards with 137bhp under its belt. Now, that would definitely be worth a whizz.
With its off-road aspirations, the plush long-travel suspension soaks up rough roads with aplomb, although at the expense of scalpel-like cornering. But then, I had been spoilt with the precision of the Seiemmezzo, and after a while on the X-Cape, those wide bars made carving through corners nicely accurate.
The tyres, which are 17in at the rear and 19in at the front, are a nice compromise between road and off-road, with purer dirt bikes favouring a 21in front which sacrifices a bit of on-road handling agility.
The bad news, though, is the screen, which produced incredibly noisy buffeting. At anything over 65mph, it felt as if the entire cast of Riverdance was dancing on my eardrums. In hobnailed boots.
Thinking it was because I’m unfeasibly tall, I ducked down as far as possible, but it didn’t make much difference.
None of the other riders complained about it, so maybe I’m weird, and the screen is adjustable, but not easily, and even then only slightly.
In practical terms, the range from the 18-litre tank is a useful 180 miles, and accessories include a full set of hard luggage.
And a taller touring screen, thank heavens, so that would be my first purchase with all the money you’ve saved by not buying one of its more expensive rivals.
But with that sorted, it’s an impressive package for the money, with all-day comfort and decent range.
A bit like my Enfield, in fact, although possibly faster and more reliable – although don’t tell the Enfield that. You know how sensitive old bikes can be.
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New year, new jacket
For years now on launches, I’ve been slated to here and back by fellow bike journalists Toad and Chad for wearing the classic Hein Gericke I’ve had since about 1846.
Those aren’t their real names, by the way, but they’ve been called that for so long that they’ve forgotten what their real names are, although I can now exclusively reveal that they’re Simon Hancocks and Adam Child.
“Listen, dudes, as I always say, style never goes out of fashion, and fashion always goes out of style,” I reply haughtily to their endless criticism.
“Yeah, but that jacket has never been in fashion,” Toad said on the last launch.
Well, I’ve finally cracked and got my hands on a Furygan Voyager 3C textile jacket.
It’s £399.99, and the matching Discovery trousers are £289.99, with lots of vents and a zip-out thermal lining for year-round use. If you want to be less colourful, they’re also available in more subdued light brown, cream and khaki.
Only small complaint is that it only has three pockets – two outside and one inside. Taking out the thermal lining reveals four more small ones, although with Velcro closure rather than zips.
But that aside, it looks fabulous, fits perfectly and is waterproof, windproof and hopefully futureproof against Toad and Chad. Which is saying something.
