The show bike

In OBA 81 I was surprised and delighted to see the archival photo of the 1975 Earls Court Motorcycle Show. That Moto Morini 350 behind the racer is the very bike I bought – and still own! Devimead, the Midlands (UK) dealer known for their hot up kits for BSA A65s, had one Strada and one Sport as well as the racer (a bored out 350 sport) up on the stand as well as some other makes they represented, and I chose the Strada because its softer cam made it a better proposition for touring. I paid the deposit, specified red tank and side-covers instead of an insipid blue, and a week later took delivery up in freezing Staffordshire. I headed south to the warmth, worked in South Devon until spring and took the ferry to Europe where the Strada performed brilliantly. After all these years I can still remember buzzing over the Swiss Alps, the lightweight bike eating all those switchbacks, down to Italy, back over to south of France and generally exploring the place. Apart from some bad moments with Camembert cheese mixing it up with smelly socks in the backpack it all went like a dream.

Then I shipped it back to Australia and the red machine found itself enjoying the Great Ocean

Road, Reefton Spur and other twisties – usually in front of my mate’s Honda four. We also did some serious touring; Brisbane and much of Victoria. 75,000 miles (not km) later it’s still as sweet as ever, especially after a nice rebuild – oversize pistons, rings, valves etc (by Greg Parrish) and a lovely red paint job. So that’s its story, the pretty little Italian with a big history and a hunger for more miles.