Back in December, 2022, document filings with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seemed to indicate that Moto Morini was imminently poised to come back to this country. A filing was made on the manufacturer’s name (which is listed officially as Zhejiang Morini Vehicle Co., Ltd.). Specific model names weren’t mentioned, but references to an MM650 and an MM750 were made.
On January 5, 2023, Moto Morini made things official. It’s adding the U.S. market to its list of places of operation, which already includes Italy (of course), India, and other parts of Asia. What’s more, Moto Morini says that it’s already at work establishing its American headquarters, which is based in Irvine, California—the heart of the American motorcycle industry.
While the official announcement puts an end to speculating on whether Morini will come to America, it’s clear that the company is still in the early stages of its expansion into a new market. There’s no mention made of specific models it intends to sell in the U.S., for example.
Digging further into the announcement, although there’s a URL given for a dedicated Moto Morini U.S. website, that URL does not currently appear to be functional as of January 6, 2023. We’d speculate that growing pains are the most likely explanation, and hopefully the site will be fully functional sometime soon. Since the announcement states that interested parties can see the complete line of Moto Morini vehicles at said website, it would definitely be helpful. We’ll check back in the next few days to see if this situation changes, and will update this piece if and when it does.
In any case, the Morini announcement also states that a nationwide dealer network is planned, for which Moto Morini U.S. is currently taking dealer applications. Additionally, the company says that it’s currently hiring for both dealer development and product support positions as of January, 2023, and that you can email contact@motomorini.com (Please note, that’s the main Moto Morini domain, not the U.S.-specific one) for more information.
It’s always cool to see new bikes on the road closer to home, so we’re looking forward to that. We're also always up for getting some seat time on new bikes, so hopefully we’ll get the chance to check them out in the future and report back on our experiences.
