Benelli Bikes in India

Benelli is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company founded in 1911, in Pesaro, Italy. The history of this company’s origin is intrinsically tied to one family that operated out of Pesaro. During the spring of 1911, widowed Teresa Benelli invested all the capital of her family to establish a workshop. It was to ensure a stable job for her six sons: Giuseppe, Giovanni, Filippo, Francesco, Domenico, and Antonio “Tonino” Benelli. At first, the company was called Benelli Garage which handled the repair of cars and motorcycles. It could also produce the spare parts needed for those repairs but the Benelli brothers had a much higher ambition. They wanted to build motorcycles and eight years later, their first creation came. In 1919, they created an in-house engine, a two-stroke 75cc configuration applied to a bicycle frame. However, the engine did not produce satisfying results.

In December 1921, the first Benelli motorcycle appeared, titled the Velomotore which featured a 98cc two-stroke engine. It was launched in two variants, namely, the Touring and Sport (125cc). The Velomotore was followed by a 147cc version in 1923 when they got interested in motorsports too. In 1926, Giuseppe Benelli designed the Benelli 175, housing a 175cc 4-stroke engine with an overhead camshaft. It was commanded by an original ‘four-gear train’. After a few years, Tonino became successful in motorsports and riding the Benelli 175. He won the Italian championship in 1927, 1928, 1930 and 1931. Their first prestigious Isle of Man win came in 1939.