Benelli (motorcycles)

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For other uses, see Benelli (disambiguation).

Benelli Logo

Benelli is an Italian Motorcycle manufacturer owned by Chinese company Qianjiang Group [2]. It once manufactured shotguns, although this part of the business is now a separate company.

1 Early History
2 Beyond World War 2
3 The de Tomaso years
4 Renaissance
5 Sources
6 External links

[edit] Early History

Benelli was established in Pesaro, Italy, in 1911. Teresa Benelli, a widow, sank all of the family capital into the business in the hope that it would offer stable work for her six sons: Giuseppe, Giovanni, Francesco, Filippo, Domenico and Antonio ("Tonino").

In the beginning, it was just the Benelli Garage, which repaired cars and motorcycles, but was already able to produce all of the spare parts needed for repairs. ^[1]

In 1920 the company built its first complete engine in-house, a single-cylinder two-stroke 75 cc model, immediately adapted to a bicycle frame. A year later in 1921, Benelli built its first motorcycle with its OWN engine which had by then become a 98 cc model.

A Benelli 750 motorcycle customised in 1976 by Dream Machine for Dave Hill of the English Rock Band Slade

Two years after that, using a version specially designed for competitions, Tonino the "terrible" took to the track. He displayed an extraordinary natural talent as a rider and embarked on a very successful career which confirmed the company's exceptional capacity for development and production.

Riding a Benelli 175, Tonino Benelli won four Italian championship titles in five years: in 1927, 1928 and 1930 with the single overhead camshaft version, and in 1931 with the double overhead camshaft version.

Unfortunately, a bad crash during a race in 1932 cut short his brilliant career and on 27 September 1937 Tonino died following a "silly" road accident.

As World war 2 loomed, the Benelli company debuted their four-cylinder supercharged 250cc racing bike. This was intended to compete in the 1940 season, building on Benelli's success in the 1939 Isle of Man TT Lightweight 250 cc race. With the start of the war, the Benelli 4 was limited to competition in a handful of Italian domestic races.

[edit] Beyond World War 2

Wartime destruction caused Benelli to remain out of production until 1949. When production resumed, designs were still largely based on those of the pre-war period. During 1949, Guiseppe Benelli left the family concern to found the Motobi marque.

By 1951 Benelli was offering a range consisting of 98cc and 125cc lightweights (the Leoncino or lion cub) and 350cc and 500cc singles. The Leoncino was available in both two-stroke and four-stroke forms. The need for cheap transport in post-war Italy meant that these lightweight models became immensely successful . Similar models were offered by Moto Guzzi, Ducati and Laverda, and the same economic conditions led to the growth in popularity of Vespa and Lambretta scooters.

In 1962, Benelli and Motobi produced around 300 motorcycles a day and had 550 employees.

[edit] The de Tomaso years

Towards the end of the 1960s, the arrival of Japanese manufacturers caused a crisis in the European motorcycle industry. The original Benelli company was heavily involved in the American motorcycle market, selling motorcycles under 350cc through Montgomery-Ward. The advent of competition from Japan lead to Benelli products (still largely of single cylinder pushrod design) losing popularity as they were perceived as old-fashioned in comparison to Hondas of the era which sported overhead cam engines with electric starters, in much the same way as the British Motorcycle industry was affected in the larger capacity sector.

Benelli changed ownership but despite its continued innovations in the motorcycle sector - for example, the incredible in-line six-cylinder engines introduced in the late-70s - it was still losing important market segments, overwhelmed by Japanese competition. This led to a temporary break in production.

[edit] Renaissance

In 1989 there was hope of a revival with the backing of Pesaro-based manufacturer Giancarlo Selci. But the time still wasn't right for a real comeback.

In 1995 revival of the brand with the glorious history became a real possibility when Andrea Merloni took charge. Results were fast in coming with the launch of the marvellous Tornado 900 Tre super sport bike in 2002 and the current launch of the TNT, the explosive roadster.

Benelli is now part of motor Group Qianjiang, which is a corporation located in southeast China at Wenling. Benelli Q.J.is located in Pesaro where the previous proprietors based the facilities, keeping the whole workforce previously working at Benelli s.p.a.

[edit] Motorcycle Models (incomplete)

650 Tornado
Mini enduro 65cc
65 cogger
50 Cross
125 Tursimo
125 Cross
125 2C
125 2C 4T
250 2C
254
304
354
354 Sport
504
504 Sport
654
Benelli Sei 750
Benelli Sei 900

Cafe 1130 Racer
Titanium
Tornado Naked Tre 1130
Tornado Naked Tre Sport
Tornado Tre 1130
Tornado Tre 900
Tornado Tre 900 RS
Tornado Tre LE
Tre 1130 K

[edit] Scooter Models (incomplete)

Pepe 50
Pepe 50 LX
Velvet 125
Velvet 150
Velvet 250
491 GT
491 RR
491 Army Edition
K2
Adiva

Buzzer 65cc

[edit] Racing

Tonino Benelli was the undisputed protagonist of the early racing successes.

With an extraordinary natural talent for riding, he began a rewarding career that confirmed his exceptional technical skill and innovation within the company.

In the saddle of a Benelli 175, Tonino won the title of Italian Champion in 1927/1928/1930 riding the single shaft version and in 1931 with the dual shaft version.

The numerous victories in the European World Championship were a prelude to one of the most sought after successes of all motorcycle producers: The Tourist Trophy, at that time the most important race in the world.

In 1939, Ted Mellors was victorious, racing in the saddle of the Benelli 250.

In 1950 Dario Ambrosini also won the Tourist Trophy, repeating Mellors’ success and consecrating his title by winning both the Italian and the World Championships.

In the 1960s two extraordinary riders competed in the races: Tarquinio Provini who won the Italian Championship with the 250 in 1965 and Renzo Pasolini who won the Championship with the 250 as well as the 350 in 1968 and 1969.

In 1969, the enormous effort invested in competition was rewarded with the 250 world title thanks to Kel Carruthers, who also again won the Tourist Trophy in the same year.

Many of the most famous riders in the history of motorcycling raced with Benelli bikes, from Mike Hailwood to Jarno Saarinen, and the last victory in 1990 was the merit of Antonio Rossi.

Former Australian Superbike champion Peter Goddard signed with Benelli in 2001 to accelerate the development of the Tornado Tre 900.