Benelli building bikes again

[teerex51]

Just a few months after Chinese concern Quianjiang bought out the ailing motorbike manufacturer, bikes are once more coming off the assembly line in Pesaro, Central Italy.

The new 3-cylinder Benelli TnT is currently being produced and its 125HP motor will also power a new bike, the Tre-k.

The Chinese owner plans to roll out some 3,000 bikes in the first year of the new operation, none of them incorporating Chinese-made parts.

The historic Italian bike manufacturer (est. 1911) now employing no more than 50 people in its Pesaro factory, was going belly up at the end of 2005 when the Chinese marched in.

Benelli (that was once briefly merged with MotoGuzzi at the end of the '80s) has produced some very handsome bikes in its long history and employed up to 550 workers in the '60s.

Some will remember the 6-cyl. Benelli 6 (750cc) from the late Seventies.

The new parent company churns out 1,2-million small bikes a year from its factory in Zhejiang, SE China. Whether the deep pockets of its new owners will steer Benelly back onto a profit-making track remains to be seen.

Stef

 

[radman]

Few know Benelli made Montgomery Wards Riverside Motorcycles way back when-I memorized the model lineup when I wasn't lookin' at the bra and underwear pages............. I think Bridgestone made the 2 strokes.

 

[TheAxeman]

Rad, your pics brought back some fond (but painful) memories of a friend of mine from years ago....We were about 15 years old and we were out riding on local trails and powerlines. A couple of us on Yamaha 100 and 250 enduros, one on a Honda SL-70, one on a Hodaka Super Rat and of course a buddy on a Benelli. Well, long story short we started being chased by a hound and in my Benelli friends effort not to have his left leg chewed off, he neglected to see the monster pothole which consumed his front tire and snapped both front shocks like they were twigs. That was the first and last time I saw a bike flip perfectly end over end and the only time I have ever seen someone actually wearing a helmet sideways....lol....Its funny now, but not to humorous then. After he finally got his helmet dislodged and was able to see again, he was staring straight into the beady, bottomless eyes of a drooling German Shepherd. Us being the buddies that we were watched from a safe distance to make sure he was O.K......Your pic shows the identical bike he was riding, color and all.....In retrospect, we always wondered what that oozing liquid running down his front shocks was.....

 

[Centerline]

Few know Benelli made Montgomery Wards Riverside Motorcycles way back when-I memorized the model lineup when I wasn't lookin' at the bra and underwear pages............. I think Bridgestone made the 2 strokes.

I knew it. Had one back in 1968, the Wards Riverside 250 in blue, (go figure) was my first motorcycle. Sent to Benelli in Pesaro and requested a maintenance manual. They sent me a manual and some REALLY cool and pretty Benelli emblems for my gas tank.

 

[garylspolar]

Just a few months after Chinese concern Quianjiang bought out the ailing motorbike manufacturer,

Will we now have to pronounce the company name, "Binerri"?

 

[teerex51]

yes, woudyoupreez?

 

[Scab]

Hey, my first bike! The dreaded Montgomery-Ward 250! I didn't know it was made by Benelli. Dang, that bike was heavy when I was 12 and pushing it, which was most of the time.

The bikes demise? We moved to a house with 2 1/2 acres of grass to mow. I quickly traded it for my first riding lawn mower (since I was the grass cutter). It was not a Montgomery-Ward, but close...Sears Craftsman.

 

[Stu64]

I remember they built some little trail bikes in the early 70's and sold them at JC penney's auto outlets here in Wisconsin, i always wanted one but they were to expensive,but my dad worked hard to support the family and still managed to get me a mini-bike for Christmas when i was 6. It wasn't a Benelli but it was still so cool!

 

[Luke]

If Benelli makes their bikes as well as they make shotguns, then they have to be fantastic!

 

[Carnifex]

Will we now have to pronounce the company name, "Binerri"?

:haha: :clap: