The rediscovery of a classic Italian motorcycle company.
Tags: Motorcycle, Benelli, Reflections, Beginning, Italy

The rediscovery of a classic Italian motorcycle company.

Born in Italy under the stoic gaze of the San Bartolo mountain and caressing waves of the Adriatic sea six brothers began a journey to realise their ambition in the city of Pesaro. Supported by a mothers love and faith in her children, widower, Teresa Benelli invested all the capital of her family into establishing a workshop for her sons and so began a company rich in achievements, ingenuity, trials, heart break, tribulations and success. I will dispense with an in depth history of Benelli for another time, but for now the scene is set.

Having been bought by the Chinese company “Qianjiang group” in 2005 Benelli have been pretty quiet on the OEM scene. I remember all those years ago being Initially concerned, yet another great historical motorcycling company sold off, forever lost and after a while I had resigned the name to past glories of Italian motorcycling history….. then a perchance visit, between national lockdowns, to one of my local motorcycle dealers (jeezs talk about sounding seedy lol) I happened upon a couple of Benelli bikes new in, on display. Naturally I had to have a look and with a judging eye I glanced over a rather large looking bike identifying itself as a TRK502X and with such an imaginative name, already I could feel, the skepticism building inside of me.

With cheap Chinese bikes comes great responsibility and poor reliability… until now, I think.

At a glance this is no mere chinesium rust bucket that has graced our roads for so long, the design is strikingly Italian, well proportioned and would fit a rider of 5ft 8in (172cm) with very little if not no adjustment at all. The upside down forks, trellis frame with a stressed member, 2 cylinder, engine and a matching tubular swing arm all well proportioned and aesthetically screams Italia. Obviously I had to get my leg over and feel what it was like to sit on and with that thought I’d popped myself down comfortably ready to lift her off of the side stand. Yep at a glance you would be right in thinking “Damn this bike looks heavy” but with a twist of the handlebars and a roll to the vertical she moved into a relaxed upright stationary position really well, She may look Italian but is she Italian quality? and so the scrutinising began.

Whilst sitting there upon my imperial throne of the road, I gazed around at the bikes which surrounded me. There where different styles and engine capacities from humble 125cc bikes up to the 750cc mean street machine, all proudly displaying the Benelli badge and upon reflection there was no way I could write a singular blog including each of these machines. To do them justice, and respect your time in this busy world, I’ve decided to split this into a series of blogs dedicated to each model but I will tell you this, for pricing and what you appear to get…. there’s some gold in the budget bike scene for for sure, this TRK502X that caught my eye was advertised for sale at £5300, brand new and A2 license ready. That’s a lot of bike for the price with a 2 year warranty to boot. There are a plethora of YouTube reviews available to watch and enjoy coving the full range of bikes available from across the world (how have I missed this🤦‍♂️) and, to be honest, I’m really excited then on seeing some of the expansion to the range, new model updates and improvements hitting the market in 2021 I knew I had to stop anoraking family and friends ears off and put pen to paper instead, figuratively speaking.

I must hand it to Qianjiang I feared the worst but was pleasantly surprised, they have remained dedicated to the Italian spirit whilst bringing to the brand their manufacturing capability, many of you may remember what happened to the British motorcycle industry and the gradual disappearance of some great companies and heritage. Here I have hope, just like when Polaris bought Indian motorcycles, could this be the return of another Great Italian motorcycle company, I truly hope so.

As restrictions are in place at this time, locally with lockdown in effect, I can’t wait for the next ease so I can pop down to see about a test ride to feel the bikes in action. Then I can add to this series not only my observations and research but also my thoughts about how they ride because its one thing to have all the bells and whistles but if the ride is drab or excessively hard work well that just kills the fun of riding motorbikes, fingers crossed they’re peppy and full of life like some of the other great Italian motorcycles out there.

Until next time, Keep Safe & Stay Awesome. 🔥🤘😎👍🔥

♠️Pipes♠️