The story
Founded by Giuseppe Benelli in 1911, in Pesaro.1
From founding to World War II
Benelli was established in Pesaro, Italy in 1911, which possibly makes it the oldest of Italian motorcycle factories in operation. (Moto Guzzi—the oldest motorcycle factory in non-stop operation—was established in 1921, and Peugeot is the world's oldest and still producing motorcycle factory due to establishing in 1898.)
After losing her husband, the widow Teresa Boni Benelli invested 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"). She also sent Giuseppe and Giovanni to study Engineering in Switzerland. Initially the business had 6 employees in addition to the 5 brothers working (Tonino didn't work because he was too young.)
In the beginning, it was just the Benelli Garage, which repaired bicycles and motorcycles, but was already able to produce all of the spare parts needed for repairs. During World War I, Benelli worked hard fixing parts for the Italian machines in the war and in 1919 the first motorcycle was presented to the public. 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, using their own engine which had by then become a 98 cc model.
But the most successful engine, which made Benelli known in the national and international field, was the 175 cm3 4-stroke with "cascade" distribution and overhead camshaft of 1927, a solution that soon became the "trademark" of the Pesaro house. Giuseppe Benelli was inspired by a theoretical study of an engine by Edward Turner published in 1925 in the French magazine Moto Revue. Giuseppe, in order to beat the competition, did not waste time and completely reinterpreted that project introducing a simple solution to eliminate the negative effects of thermal expansion that afflicted these applications.
The five cylindrical gears with straight teeth of the distribution (one of the crankshaft, three idle, one of the camshaft) were inserted (cascade) in a thin aluminum folder placed on the right side of the engine, on the top of which was mounted the "castelletto" of the distribution with the camshaft and barbells annexed. The whole was fixed to the engine head not rigidly, but leaving the coupling with a degree of freedom. The solution consisted in inserting two screws with the stem partially threaded (columns) in two holes in the castle and screwed on two of the four prisoners of the thermal head. The threaded part joined firmly to the head, while the part of the threaded screw created a free, but very precise coupling with the two holes in the castle. The screws were tightened so as not to "crush" the castle, but so that they could leave a play of a few tenths of a millimeter sufficient to the two "blocks" (folder-castle/ cylinder-head) to flow over each other in the phase of expansion by the effect of heat, without interfering and creating those deformations that would have made the system unreliable. This solution was patented in 1927 and began the commercial and sporting success of Benelli, which lasted until the outbreak of World War II. (Patent No. 255634 of 29 Oct. 1927 "Arrangement for forming and fixing the transmission box for controlling the distribution shaft at the head in combustion engines")
Two years after that, using a version specially designed for competitions, Tonino "the terrible" took to the track. He embarked on a career which confirmed the company's 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 engine single overhead camshaft (SOHC) version, and in 1931 with the double overhead camshaft (DOHC) version. In 1932, a crash in the GP of the Tigullio put an end to his career; on 27 September 1937 Tonino died following a road accident.
As World War II loomed, the Benelli company debuted with a motorcycles with engine four-cylinder in line supercharged 250cc designed for racing with double overhead camshaft, liquid cooled and with a vane compressor, credited with a maximum power of 52 hp at 10,000 rev/min and a maximum speed of 230 km/h. This motorcycle was intended to compete in the 1940 season to try to bissare the Benelli's success in the 1939 Isle of Man TT Lightweight 250 cc race, but the outbreak of the Second World War will frustrate all efforts and this solution (banned in the post-war period) will never be used in official competitions.
After World War II
At the end of the conflict, much of the factory was destroyed, the equipment dispersed or damaged and it took three or four years to restart the business in a situation of precariousness and misery. To replenish the scarce financial resources, the Benelli acquired a thousand motorcycles abandoned by the belligerent armies on the battlefields to refurbish them for civil use.
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Giuseppe Benelli, after irreconcilable disputes with his brothers about productive strategies, split from the company to found first the BBC Automobili in 1946 and after MotoBi in 1952. The management of Benelli factory will pass to the second brother Giovanni who, although not having the design talents of his older brother, had great organizational skills having always managed the productive apparatus of the company. Under his direction Giovanni provides designers with the guidelines of the model of rebirth: the new motorcycle must be light, reliable and cheap. This is how the Letizia model was born, equipped with a two-stroke engine (cheaper than 4-stroke) of 98 cm3 with four bench bearings, mounted on an essential frame, but elastic on both axes. ″Letizia″ will be the motorcycle forerunner of the most famous model of the Benelli postwar: the ″Leoncino″ (little lion). It was produced from 1950 to 1960 in about 45,000 units, the most common motorization was the 125 cm3 2 stroke, but also 150 cm3 for the version "three wheel" and 125 cm3 4 stroke with distribution to "cascade of gears", immediately abandoned solution for reliability problems.
Since the 1960s, at a time of major market crisis in Italy, Benelli has been saving its balance with exports to the US. In the sixties he chose two different routes to sell overseas: via the importer Cosmopolitan and with the Montgomery Ward and presented the following models:
Tornado 650: the twin-cylinder maxi was marketed first in the US and then in Europe. The superstructures are completely different, but the peculiarity is the chassis type Metisse, wanted by Steve McQueen. The actor was the image of the importer Cosmopolitan and Montgomery Ward. The ″Tornado″ earned a reputation for reliability and high performance, despite its somewhat hefty weight at 480 pounds (220 kg). Benelli claimed at the time of launch that the Tornado was capable of 57 hp at 7,400rpm for a top speed of 117 mph. The Tornado (later the Tornado S) was discontinued after 1974, when Benelli introduced a series of "multis" intended to compete with Japanese triples and fours.
Mojave 260/360: used the chassis and superstructures of the Tornado while the 4-stroke engine was an increase of 175 cc. The motorbike, proposed also in preparation Scrambler, could be bought in store.
Buzzer/Hurricane/Dynamo/Hornet: small wheeled scooter with 65 cc engine (instead of 50 cc sold in Italy). Compared to the models sold in Italy, the names and some details changed.
Volcano: low-wheeled "scooter" derived from the Mini Cross but with a displacement of 180 cc.
The management of Alejandro de Tomaso
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 led 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 manufacturers such as Norton, BSA and Triumph were affected in the larger capacity sector.
The Benelli, in obvious economic difficulty, will be purchased by the Italian-Argentine industrialist Alejandro de Tomaso, who was undoubtedly one of the most discussed and powerful figures in Italy in the '60s, '70s and '80s. In 1959 he founded De Tomaso automobili in Modena and made his own series of road and racing cars. He then acquired a number of Italian companies such as Maserati, Innocenti, Ghia and Vignale and then, in 1971, Benelli and the competitor Moto Guzzi in 1973. De Tomaso therefore had many diversified interests, acquired companies in difficulty and then restructured them and tried to sell them back, pocketing the capital gains. His approach evidently had no forward-looking industrial continuity, so that in his acquisitions there were more "shadows" than "lights". Benelli is no exception, which will live the most troubled period of its centenary history.
The Italian-Argentine manager, in order to challenge the Japanese manufacturers, immediately asks the designers to copy a Honda CB500 Four engine to save time and money. Thus was born the 500 Quattro (1974) which will be the basis of the 750 Sei with its six-cylinder engine in line, first in the world on a road motorcycle. Experts in the field judged the 750 Sei an easy-to-ride motorcycles, with good engine elasticity, exceptional roadholding and excellent brakes. The only downside was the ignition that had to bring the power at the right time to the candles. In 1974 it became "Moto dell'anno" and in 1975 there were the first deliveries. It had a top speed of 200 km/h, 75 hp at 9500 rpm and was produced in 3200 units until 1977. This industrial policy, combined with little investment in plant and research, with a quality of materials that is not up to the competition, with a lack of distribution and after-sales network, will soon prove to be harmful. Then, the final blow, will be caused by the merger with the acerrima and historical rival (in racing) Moto Guzzi in the Guzzi-Benelli Moto (G.B.M. S.p.a.) that will transform the Benelli in an empty box.
Benelli motorcycles from the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the 750 Sei, often command higher prices than their contemporaries on the secondhand market.
The management of Andrea Merloni
After a failed attempt of rebirth in 1989 supported by the Pesaro industrialist Giancarlo Selci, operating in the field of woodworking machinery and ex machine operator in the Benelli factory, in December 1995 there was the decisive turning point: 28-year-old Andrea Merloni, passionate motorcyclist and scion of the family of the Marche household appliance dynasty, decided to take over the Benelli brand. The first step was opening the current factory at Strada della Fornace Vecchia. Merloni then launched a series of scooters and maximoto to give immediate oxygen to the crates and organize the sales network.
In just over a year from the acquisition, the first new products were placed on the market such as models Adiva (in the displacement 125 and 150) equipped with rigid canopy foldable in the trunk (first scooter in the world to be equipped with this mechanism, then copied by the competition), the Velvet (in the displacement 125, 150, 250, 400) which remained in the list until 2012, the 491, popular among fourteen-year-olds of the time, that mounted a horizontal Morini engine of 50 cm3 at 2 times with liquid cooling and that made it one of the most performing of the lot, the K2 (50 and 100 cm3) and the Pepe (of 50 cm3); the latter, powered by a Minarelli engine, had commercial success.
In 1999, the technician Riccardo Rosa (ex Cagiva) was hired and was then presented the new Tornado Tre, a sports bike (900 cm3, then brought to 1130 cm3), with interesting technological innovations. It was in fact a pure sports bike, equipped with a 3-cylinder engine in-line that presented a new arrangement of the cooling radiator positioned under the rear tail and equipped with two forced air extraction fans of spectacular effect and a new "mixed" frame consists of a die-cast aluminium and steel tubes joined with a technology of aeronautical origin.
The Tornado Tre 900 super sport bike was launched in 2002, and the TNT, roadster some years later.
"The races improve the breed" and Merloni, a former driver, knew it well so the next step was to prepare the new Tornado for the races. As per his style, Merloni immediately began to run in 2001 and 2002 in the World Superbike Championship with the Australian rider Peter Goddard, who with his long experience has been able to give directions to improve the bike and consequently also the series. Given that the team was at the start and fierce competition, the results were higher than expected with a 36th place in the final classification in 2001 (with 7 points) and a 22nd place in 2002 (with 23 points). A limited version of the Tornado (named the Tornado LE, where LE stands for Limited Edition) was built.
The results of the new Benelli are encouraging but the strong investments for the Tornado are not compensated by sales and even Andrea Merloni decides to stop.
Current Qianjiang ownership
In 2005, Benelli was acquired by Qianjiang Motor Group, a Chinese company which has been controlled by the Geely Holding Group since 2015.
The Qianjiang Group is a Chinese manufacturer of small motorcycles and engines, which already owns the Keeway and Generic brands. Qianjiang decided to maintain production and engineering in Pesaro, entrusting the company to sole administrator Yan Haimei. The production of motorcycles started almost immediately with the assembly of 3-cylinder engines (previously performed by Franco Morini Motori) brought back to the marque. The scooter range also restarted with engines of Chinese origin.
For 12 years Benelli QJ carried out the projects and production of the previous management. 2016 was a breakthrough year, with coincided with the acquisition of Qianjiang Group by the Geely Holding Group. The Leoncino 500 and the TRK 500 are made in Wenling, China. Both motorcycles have the same 500 cc twin-cylinder 4 valve, double camshaft engine. The Leoncino is a "naked" bike with historic reference to past models. It comes in two versions, a roadster with 17" cast wheels, and a scrambler with longer suspension and spoked wheels. The TRK 500 is an "Adventure Bike" made for long-distance touring. It also comes in two models, the base model with cast 17" rims is a road touring machine, and the TRK502X is a more dirt-oriented machine. It has more suspension travel, spoked wheels, and a 2" higher seat height. In general, the success of TRK has been overwhelming. In 2020 it was by far the best-selling model in Italy. Benelli currently offers a very wide range of models from 125 single cylinder (135cc in some markets) to 300, 500, 750 twin cylinder and 600 four cylinder models.
From Wikipedia’s article on Benelli (motorcycles), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3