When riding around the city, it goes without saying that bigger is never better. That said, there’s a fine line between capably compact and too small to be practical. Perhaps this is one of the many reasons why small-displacement bikes with engines within the 300cc to 450cc range have become so popular in recent years.
Indeed, bikes like the CFMoto 450 NK and Yamaha MT-03 are loved because of their versatility, not so much their outright performance. You can ride them through heavy traffic, filtering effortlessly through rows upon rows of gridlock. But when the road opens up, you can very easily exceed the speed limit, not to mention, have a blast on the twisties.
To that end, up-and-coming manufacturers, particularly those from China, are eager to capitalize on the growing popularity of small bikes. And this is where Morbidelli enters the picture with its new F352.
Right off the bat, it’s clear that Morbidelli’s going all in on the whole futuristic sporty look, as the F352 boasts some super angular, very aggressive bodywork. It gets a pointy LED headlight complete with DRLs, as well as sharp bodywork that, to my eye, sort of looks like a cross between Kawasaki and KTM styling.
Beneath the surface, the bike’s underpinnings are fair game in its class. It gets a single 300-millimeter disc up front with dual-channel ABS sourced from Bosch. Meanwhile, suspension duties are handled by a 41-millimeter inverted fork.
Performance-wise, the F352 gets a 349cc parallel-twin which Morbidelli claims pumps out 40 ponies and 31 Nm (about 23 pound-feet) of torque. Now, on paper, none of these numbers are particularly impressive, and neither is the bike’s claimed dry weight of 170 kilos (374 pounds), as there are lots of bikes in this class that weigh considerably less.
Nevertheless, when you put all these specs together, you get a bike that looks pretty capable, especially in the urban setting. It seems light (and low, with a 790-millimeter seat height) enough for beginners to easily swing a leg over and filter through traffic. And it definitely has enough oomph to cruise comfortably at freeway speeds, too.
And so, at the end of the day, the deciding factor here will ultimately be its price. Chinese-made bikes have always sold for considerably less than their Japanese and European counterparts, and provided that Morbidelli plays the numbers game right, there’s a chance that this thing will actually be a success in the European market, and who knows, possibly stateside, too?
Source: Morbidelli
