Benelli

A history spanning 115 years

Benelli: the little lion of Pesaro, from racing to the six-cylinder engine

It is often forgotten that Benelli is one of the oldest Italian motorcycle makers still in business. It has known moments of glory, heavy crises and several changes of ownership, and each time it has come back with a model that somebody, in some garage, remembers with affection. That stylised little lion you see on the tank today is the same story carrying on.

Six brothers and a widow

The year is 1911 and the place is Pesaro. Teresa Benelli, a widow, invested her savings in the future of her six sons (Giuseppe, Giovanni, Francesco, Filippo, Domenico and Antonio, known as Tonino) and opened a machine workshop with them, Benelli & C. At first they repaired engines and bicycles, then they began to build. The first motorcycle, a 75 cc two-stroke, appeared in 1921. Tonino, the youngest, was also the family’s rider: he won on the track, took the name around Italy and built the company’s sporting reputation.

Racing first

In the 1930s Benelli specialised in refined singles and twins, with excellent results. In 1939 the Englishman Ted Mellors won the Lightweight Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man on a supercharged 250: a rare victory for an Italian maker. After the war the baton passed to Dario Ambrosini, who in 1950 took the 250 world championship and died a few months later during a testing session. In 1969 another Benelli 250, this time a four-cylinder, gave Kel Carruthers the world title. It is a sporting history that has received less attention in Italy than those of Guzzi or MV, but technically it has nothing to envy.

The Leoncino and the small production bikes

On the road, meanwhile, Benelli kept a generation moving with light, well-made motorcycles. The Leoncino of 1951, a four-stroke 125, is the symbol of Italy’s mass motorisation: easy, cheap and good to look at. At the end of the 1940s Giuseppe Benelli left the family firm and founded Motobi, which made its name with the distinctive "egg" engine, and the two firms competed a few miles apart. If you want a classic you can actually use, with character and at a still-human price, this is a good place to look.

De Tomaso and the six cylinders

In 1971 Benelli passed to Alejandro De Tomaso, who two years later would take over Moto Guzzi as well. A surprising period began. The 650 Tornado, a four-stroke twin, the 500 Quattro and above all the 750 Sei arrived, the first production motorcycle with six cylinders in line: a wide, sophisticated engine with six small carburettors and an unmistakable exhaust note. If you see one today, the first question is "who has been maintaining it?". It is a beautiful, heavy bike that is expensive to keep in order, and it tells you a lot about both the ambition and the limits of Benelli in those years.

Difficult years and a new life

The 1980s and 1990s were more uncertain, with changes of ownership and reduced production. In 2005 Benelli passed to the Chinese Qianjiang group, which keeps the design centre in Pesaro while production takes place in China. The previous decades had brought the Tornado Tre and the TNT; the new era includes the TRK models and the Leoncino, a name revived in 2017 for a scrambler-style bike. For anyone looking for a Modern Classic to use every day, the Imperiale 400 of 2019, a plain, unashamedly retro single, is perhaps the most successful model: modest ambitions, good perceived quality and a modest price.

What to look at before buying

The problem with vintage Benelli is simple: spares. Unlike Triumph or BMW there is no reproduction network covering everything, and you often get by with clubs, autojumbles and contacts. For the small capacities (Leoncino, 125, 175) the situation is manageable; for the fours and the sixes you need a mechanic who can balance the carburettors and a healthy wallet.

Before buying it is worth checking the frame and registration papers, the condition of the engine cases and clutch and, on the multi-cylinder bikes, the compression of every cylinder. And if you can, go to a rally: nobody knows better than the old Benelli riders which bike is right for you.