Review: 2025 Moto Morini Calibro 700 Bagger

Are you familiar with the phrase: “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black?” It’s a quote attributed to Henry Ford regarding the Model T, purportedly from 1909.

Despite its 116-year age, Moto Morini saw fit to apply Ford’s paint job advice to its new-for-2025 Calibro 700 Bagger. The black of the Calibro, however, is imbued with colorful metallic flakes, creating a sparkly hue in direct sunlight—a luxury Ford would never have abided on his bare-minimum Model T.

Sans electronics, except for electronic fuel injection and ABS, the Calibro 700 Bagger is also a bare-minimum kind of motorcycle. Morini can afford to be stingy with its color options because, if you’re looking for a mid-displacement, sub-$7,000 bagger, the Calibro is the only guest at the party.

Its nearest competitor, outfitted with a similar fork-mounted batwing fairing and hard saddlebags, is Honda’s Rebel 1100T. With 390cc more displacement and an accompanying $4,000 price increase, it’s not exactly a direct comparison.

If you’re familiar with the standard Calibro 700, the Bagger edition is that bike with a fairing and bags attached at the factory. Moto Morini claims a 443-pound curb weight for the standard Calibro, with the fairing, bags, and mounting hardware adding 19 pounds, bringing the total curb weight of the Bagger to 462 pounds. The price difference between the Calibro and Calibro Bagger is a justifiable $800 ($5,999 vs. $6,799).

Get Stroked

The 649cc parallel-twin powering all stateside Morini models is produced by CF Moto, a subsidiary of Zhongneng Vehicle Group, and is based on the Kawasaki powerplant found in the Versys and various other models. The engine in the Calibro and Calibro Bagger retains the same 83mm bore of that original engine, while its stroke grew 4mm to 64mm, resulting in an engine capacity of 693cc.

The bump in displacement increased the engine’s output by seven horsepower and 10 lb-ft of torque, going from 61 hp at 8,250 rpm and 39.8 lb-ft at 7,000 rpm to 68 hp at 6,500 rpm and 50.2 lb-ft at 8,500 rpm.

As a previous owner of a Versys 650 and a current owner of a Ninja 650 race bike, I’m very familiar with this particular engine configuration. Dare I say, I think I like the Calibro’s version the best.

Its power delivery is evenly spread throughout the rev range, with no peaky spikes. The engine’s minimal vibration is the same at 1,500 rpm as at its 10,000-rpm redline. There’s some high-frequency feedback in higher revs, but nothing to complain about.

You can easily row the cooperative six-speed transmission when navigating through traffic. The clutch pull is light (way lighter than my old race bike), with a wide, user-friendly friction zone.

Meanwhile, the slipper clutch delivers smooth downshifts. The belt final drive is quiet and a great enabler of laziness, as it does not require lubrication and needs minimal adjustment.

In the front, a two-piston J.Juan caliper grips a 320mm disc, while the rear’s single-piston caliper from the same brand bites down on a 255mm disc. Ridden at the speeds and aggression level for which the bike is intended, the brakes provided sufficient performance to keep you safe.

It’s when the Bosch ABS kicks in with the subtlety of an electric fence that you’ll become aware of how hard you’re stopping. How the ABS responds to locking wheels reminded me of the primitive ABS from way back when the technology was new to two-wheelers.

Piloting the Calibro Bagger through the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes in Southern California—where the hillside is sliding into the Pacific Ocean faster than Caltrans can repave the roadway—the bike’s preload-adjustable twin rear shocks, with four inches of travel, absorbed the worst of what the buckled pavement threw at it. The nonadjustable fork, with 4.7 inches of travel, did not. The front suspension feels underdamped and low-budget, even on pavement with typical imperfections.

Da-na-na-na, Batwing!

A fork-mounted batwing fairing on a Harley-Davidson is quintessential Americana, but at $27,749, a 2025 Street Glide isn’t for slim wallets. So, having created its own mid-displacement bagger niche market, how does the Calibro Bagger measure up?

From behind the handlebar, surprisingly well. The rider’s head, chest, and hands are remarkably protected from wind, considering the fairing’s small size.

The airflow around and through the cutout between the fairing and windscreen was clean, without helmet buffeting with my 5-foot-11-inch height. There are even two small storage compartments in the back of the fairing.

The rider triangle felt natural, with a comfortable reach to the handlebar and mid-mount footpegs. I found the Calibro to have plenty of legroom, the tradeoff being reduced cornering clearance.

The cut and width of the seat are well designed, and the seat has a nice amount of lower back support. Additionally, the foam density is not overly firm or soft—it’s just right, as Goldilocks would put it.

All the switchgear provided a good tactile response, and, keeping with the American influence, the left and right turn signal switches are separately mounted on their respective handlebar ends.

Centrally mounted in the batwing fairing is a (too) large analog tachometer with a (too) small digital readout displaying the speedometer, gear position indicator, fuel level, engine temperature, and trip/odometer. If it were my design, the tachometer would be half the size and the digital readout twice as big. Not only is the area of the current digital instrument cluster too small and doesn’t have a clock, but it’s also too dim (especially in bright light) with no brightness adjustment.

And who needs a tachometer that large on a cruiser?

Going the Distance

Taking the Calibro Bagger touring is a doable scenario. The motorcycle has a 3.9-gallon fuel capacity and enough engine performance, weather protection, and rider comfort for maintaining long mileage days.

It’s the five-gallon saddlebags with narrow openings that won’t let you get far without doing some laundry. The hard bags are lockable via the ignition key, but the small size will restrict your carry-ons, especially if you’re riding two-up.

I gave the previous Moto Morini I tested—the 2023 X-Cape—high marks for its attention to detail. It’s the same story with the Calibro Bagger. From the raised logo on the nickel-finished fuel cap to the adjustable gear shifter and the nicely routed, clamped-together cables, the Calibro sports the clean look of a more expensive motorcycle. It doesn’t have the appearance of a budget bike.

However, I was bummed to enter my garage one day and find the Morini badges peeling off on both sides of the fuel tank. Had I just bought the bike new and brought it home from the dealership, I wouldn’t be happy.

Besides the peeling badges and the other foibles mentioned in this review, the Calibro Bagger seems a solid motorcycle. At only 462 pounds wet, the Calibro is light on its feet and easily maneuverable in city environments.

The straight-line stability is good by way of the 18-inch front and 16-inch rear wheel combination, with only a slight head weave when navigating high-speed sweepers. A fine riding companion for experienced or inexperienced motorcyclists, the Calibro is a bagger that’s not overwhelming by any measure—be it size or price.

Technical Specs

+ affordable, good engine performance, versatile
– narrow saddlebags, oversized tachometer, budget front suspension

Distributor: Moto Morini USA
MSRP: $6,799
Engine: 4-stroke, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin
Displacement: 693cc
Power: 68hp @6,500rpm; 50.2lb-ft @8,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed, constant mesh, belt final drive
Rake/Trail: 28.0°/4.8in
Weight (wet): 462lbs
Seat Heighty: 28.3in
Fuel Capacity: 3.9gal
Fuel Grade: regular
Colors: Metallic Black