Morini Kanguro Rebuild

Not a leg to stand on

The sidestand on the Kanguro is mounted on the swingarm. However on this bike both the stand and bracket were terribly bent - I assume the PO had used it whilst starting the bike. When the swingarm was removed it was clear that the mount had been repaired a little.



I had to choose between improving the bracket and fabricating a new stand or removing the bracket and continuing to use the centrestand. I chose the latter route and also intend to make a bolt-on frame-mounted side stand in the future. After taking plentiful photographs in case I wish to remake the bracket I cut it off with a hacksaw.



The remaining material was carefully removed with an angle grinder and a handfile to leave a fairly flat surface. As this area is behind the frame I'm hoping that any roughness still visible after powder coating will be hidden.

Removal of swingarm bushes

I'm assuming that the suspension bushes were damaged when I pulled the rusty pin out so will be replacing them.



They also needed to be removed before powder coating as I'm sure the baking wouldn't improve them. With the swingarm mounted in a vice they were easily removed with a long drift.



My intention is for NP to make new bushes from plastic to fit a freshly turned pin.

Stripped to the bone

Two evenings ago I had help to lift the engine out of the frame, that was literally a 10 minute job. I suppose one person could manage it but it would be tough. Now I've spent another evening on the stripdown and am left with a frame and swing arm. A few aspects are worth mentioning:

The upper steering bearing came off the stem readliy with the application of a puller, with pressure onto a steel palte on the top of the stem. The previous strip down of this obviously helped.

The alloy bearing carriers came out of the frame fairly easily with use of a drift inside the headstock.

The swingarm pin has a 22mm WAF nut on the right and a welded-on head on the left. The nut came off surprisingly easily after a few days of penetrating oil.

The pin itself seemed stiff in the frame and swing arm. I'd been warned that it might be stuck and need cutting out as surface rust causes it to expand.

The pin was not able to the unscrewed. I applied a bearing puller to the pin on the right with the arms under the frame boss. By a combination of 'unscrewing' the pin and tightening the puller whenever it went loose the pin was extracted.

Unlike on the road bikes, the pin did not seem to have been threaded into the frame. (NB In the entry of 20/12 I note that the frame should be threaded so always use an unscrewing action.)

Check for metal shims between frame and swingarm and note where they are so you can reassemble it the same. I had one washer on the left only. (NB The parts diagram shows a shim on both sides.)

Now I've just a few small items to remove before sending the parts off for powder coating. I've decided to leave the steering lock in the frame, even though it doesn't work, as removal looks like a big job.

Starting again!

OK, so now I know that the bike will go together and is quite good to ride I'm going to do the job a bit better. I'm very concerned that the frame will rust away if it's not dealt with soon. I'm thinking of getting it powder coated, but even if I go for ordinary paint, all of the ancillaries need to be removed if it's going to be a decent job. I think I've got time to do the strip, paint and reassemble before the Land's End trial.

I've not got a lot of time at present but 2 evenings have made a marked impression on the bike.

Post-Edinburgh tidy

The flickering headligh was annoying after doing so much work on a rewire. Investigation showed that the main beam was not affected, nor the rear lamp, just the dip. The light could be made to flcker by moving the lmap housing. This seemed to be a loose connector...

Removing the headlamp revealed that the connector for the dip beam on the bulb was very loose. It showed evidence of sparking and it was apparent that this connector was far more moveable than the others. The terminal was cleaned, rebent an dsmeared with vaseline. Actually now it was a little tight on the bulb. This connector is a weakness of the headlamp and with the wires supplied it would have been useless.

Over the last few days I've tried starting the bike from cold a few times and found it didn't seem to like the choke. The weather has been fairly cool so this made me wonder if the idle mixture is too rich. I've screwed in both mixture scres a fraction of a turn. Not rebalanced the carbs though. Now it does feel to start more readily, usually second kick, with one of the chokes on. That is more what you expect from a Morini. Now I need to test it more thoroughly and see if it still idles when hot. With luck, warm starting will be easier too!