Motorcycle specifications Morini 350 Dart 1988 A sportswoman on the move

The Moto-Morini 350 DART, launched in 1988, is a pure product of the Cagiva Group. At the time, the group owned the Cagiva, Ducati and Moto-Morini brands, among others.

The DART's design engineers therefore drew on the group's organ bank: the chassis came from the Cagiva C10 Freccia (125cm3) and the engine from the Moto-Morini 3½.

The chassis is at the top of the 125 class: ultra-rigid, oversized steel perimeter frame, high-performance suspension (even if the fork remains classic) and top-quality Brembo braking system. This chassis easily accommodates the 35 hp of the Morini 350cc engine, which is shoehorned into the frame originally designed for a 2-stroke single-cylinder developing over 30 hp.

The aesthetics of the Freccia C10 are identical to those of the Ducati Paso, with a completely closed fairing that completely hides the frame and engine, and a fork head with opaque bubble.

If the Cagiva Freccia is a big 125, the Dart is rather small in the medium-displacement 4-stroke sportbike category. Power isn't mind-blowing, but it's still in the middle of the range, giving the Dart decent performance (approx. 170 km/h).

This bike went completely unnoticed in France, the category being shunned by the domestic market, and the Cagiva group putting much more emphasis on Cagiva and Ducati (the Dart competing directly with the Ducati SS 350 and then 400cc, whose size and image were more flattering).

This model's displacement was later increased to 400cc by increasing the bore (+4 mm). Power was increased by a single horsepower and torque by 0.2 mkg, without any change to the machine's behavior.

The Dart disappeared like the rest of the Morini catalog in 1996, when the brand was mothballed by its owner at the time, Ducati Motor Holding, a company itself controlled by Texas Pacific Groupe.

Tanthallas - Internet photos D.R.