Benelli

About Benelli

FROM HISTORY TO THE LEGEND

As often happens, the history of great industries is born in garages. In our case this is the Benelli Garage”, Where, in 1911, the 6 Benelli brothers Giuseppe, Giovanni, Francesco, Filippo, Domenico and Antonio, known as "Tonino”, repaired and manufactured motorcycle parts. In 1921 the 'Velomotore' was created: a single cylinder two stroke 75cc bike adapted to a bicycle frame and the following year it was the turn of the 98cc 'Motoleggera', immediately appreciated by the public of that time. The first real Benelli motorcycle, a 175cc model, ridden by Tonino, proved immediately to be a winner in the world of competition. Here began a long list of glorious moments, with more than 1000 victories in the Italian and European Championships and two World Titles won in 1950 and 1969. Many legendary riders have ridden Benelli motorcycles. Besides Tonino, the owner of the company, the Italian riders Ambrosini, Grassetti, Campanelli, Provini, Pasohni, Villa and the internationals Saarinen, Hailwood and Carruthers.

At the end of the 60's the last motorcycle of the family owned company was born; the Tornado 650 which developed 50 hp at 7000 rpm, and easily surpassed 170 km/h. Later the first ownership change took place, but motorcycle production continued in Pesaro with the ground breaking in line 6 cylinder 750 and 900cc Sei’s which were manufactured up until the early 1980's. In 2001 the production of the first all new in-line triple powered range began, with the fully faired supersport Tornado 899cc Limited Edition. The addition of the Tornado Naked Tre or TNT for short, and subsequently the Tre-K in both 899 and 1131 cc variants meant that Benelli was truly back in the market of large capacity sports motorcycles. Today Benelli is part of the Qianjiang (QJ) Group, a corporation which produces more than 1.2 million two wheelers per annum. QJ, wishing to respect the tradition of passion which has always guided the history of the Italian brand, will continue manufacturing bikes in Pesaro, the traditional home of Benelli Motorcycles.