Everyone knows about Benelli’s stunning six-cylinder superbikes, but the company also broke ground with De Tomaso’s flash 250. Nolan Woodbury meets a lively lightweight…
Everyone knows about Benelli’s stunning six-cylinder superbikes, but the company also broke ground with De Tomaso’s flash 250. Nolan Woodbury meets a lively lightweight…
Motorcycling, like life, is shaped by culture. Registered as a 1980 machine, the Benelli 254 displayed here was first introduced as a sports pocket rocket in Milan around 1975, then left to languish in a displacement class which was twenty years past its prime. This might explain why Benelli’s 250 four is well known, yet very rare on the ground.
As envisioned by Alejandro De Tomaso, a wave of new multi-cylinder machines emerged from Pesaro from 1974, our feature bike being the smallest of a line leading up to the range-topping Benelli 900 six. All except the 254 drew heavily upon pre-existing designs from Honda, possibly explaining why some consider it the best of the bunch. One glance at its flash, angular styling and red/orange colour scheme dates the 254 instantly: definitely a bike of its time.
Logic and reason were optional on most Italian motorcycles of this era, and this remains true to the present day – as demonstrated when American enthusiast Shane Leathers spied this barely-used example of De Tomaso’s handiwork, original down to its M38 Michelin tyres and showing just 3000 miles.
‘A price was paid,’ says Shane’s dad Mike, who collected the 254 last year. ‘ The costs for bringing it over from England just snowballed,’ There’s no regrets now, because Shane viewed the purchase of the 250 (initially called the Quattro, later re-branded as the 254) as a genuine opportunity to acquire a factory-spec machine. Willing to invest, Mike trucked the tiny Benelli down to the warm west where it was cleaned but otherwise untouched for these photos. ‘It’s a fascinating bike to spend time with. Smaller than any modern 250 but a real motorcycle, from front to back. For such an odd machine it’s surprising how many people know exactly what it is. It’s the first one I’ve seen, but I’m told the 254s are sought after now.’
Not counting a vast segment of dirt riders, when the 254 was new its 250cc displacement class rang hollow to US riders weaned on 750cc roadsters. Yet these quarter-litre machines can hold their own against the big boys. I’ve seen it myself, and experienced true amazement on a cross country trip when a friend’s RD250 Yammie matched my twin-cam Honda mile for mile. Despite my best attempts. So you can count me among the believers: with proper tuning, a 250cc anything is more than enough for a reasonably sized adult, and the lack of mass is the hidden magic you’ll appreciate most.
When 250s were the standard size of learner / beginner bikes, and attracted favourable licensing and other discounts, every major player kept a 250 on the docket. Benelli hoped that De Tomaso’s 254 would lead a renaissance back to those traditional sporting roots. One dash through Italy’s open countryside shows the appeal of this size of bike in its natural environment, through quaint mountain villages connected by short, winding roads that circle fields, orchards and cattle. This is the heritage De Tomaso attached to his 254, and calling it a ‘clone’ rudely misdirects what is actually a sporty exotic for the classically trained.
This bike came with a complete set of manuals and the original rider handbook, so correctly listing the 254’s specification is made easier. Pity the same can’t be said of its actual designer, where varying opinions exist. Research from 2002 says family members Marko and Luigi Benelli, along with Ing Piero Prampolini (who created the Tornado 650) had already begun work on new multicylinder projects (perhaps an offshoot of the four-cylinder works racers?) when De Tomaso bought out Benelli in 1971. Later info pointed to Ing Aurelio Bertocchi (son of Guerrino, a former GP mechanic at Maserati in the 1950s) who was credited with the entire multi cylinder engine group. Still others say Lino Tonti. The timeline points to Bertocchi as the most likely driving force behind the 254. Bertocchi managed several successful projects when De Tomaso directed Maserati, but little behind the scenes info has been given to this aspect of Benelli’s Pesaro works. There’s little doubt that De Tomaso’s industrial-sized cloak hid many more secrets…
Acknowledging the heritage of those mighty Italian fours, De Tomaso spun a surprisingly vast array of CB500-inspired Benelli and Benelli-badged Moto Guzzi inline engines. We’ll lump the 350, 400, 500 and 650cc variants together as most of them shared Benelli’s cradle chassis and basic cycle parts, but a clean sheet was needed for the Quattro. Actually 231cc, the air-cooled, SOHC engine used the angular finning and square motif which befitted a De Tomaso original.
Holding the unit is a steel tube semispine frame, to which was added De Tomaso’s corporate suspension, brakes and other components easily recognised from Guzzi’s small block twins. Laid over the 250 Quattro were sweeping panels of reinforced plastic/nylon, an extended saddle, and a plunging spear along the profile not unlike that which appeared on the 900 SEI. Guzzi’s 254 version was drawn with a more traditional beltline, retaining
the tank-top instruments and identical in specification. There’s more, as it seems a few unscripted 254s also wore the MotoBi badge, possibly to maintain long term ties with importers/dealers in Singapore, South America and no doubt places in between.
With bore and stroke dimensions of 44 x 38mm, the engine’s miniature size is emphasised by a crankshaft that’s less than ten inches wide. The rest follows in a conventional pattern, with horizontally split seams for the 2.3 quart sump, crankcase, cylinder block, one piece cylinder head, and its cover. Riding on three plain bearings inboard and two on the ends, the crankshaft is made of two pieces, joined with a pinned coupler in the middle that holds the camshaft and primary drive sprockets. Sparks arrive from an alternator driven off the left-side taper, the ignition’s points plate is situated to the right.
Most sources suggest a rev ceiling around 12,000 (max power at 10.500rpm), which makes you consider those ordinary-looking big ends with plain bearing inserts, and those tiny 10.5:1 pistons, The top end is also conventional with a chain-driven overhead cam, with two valves per cylinder. The followers use locknuts for adjustment. Fuelling is accomplished by an 18mm Dell’Orto carb per cylinder, these hooked to a single-cable bellcrank and individual snorkels leading to the three-piece airbox. The exhaust headers are little bigger than the average garden hose, and feed into a twin muffler system. As per usual, the Benelli’s five-speed gearbox and multiplate clutch share the engine oil. Hiding under a cover, the splines for a kickstart lever might be useful if the button/starter combo doesn’t work. Final drive is by a 400-series chain.
The engineers at Pesaro fit an equally compact frame over the 254 engine, with just 50 inches between its axles. Rear engine mounting is above and below the transmission case, with cast-in bosses attaching a tube for the swinging arm pivot through welded plates on the frame. A spanner nut is used for adjustment, and the arm itself has a lateral brace. Hiding behind the exhausts, a chrome plated strut begins at the base of the stem to reach another cast-in boss on front of the crankcase. Steering angle is a rakish 27 degrees. Tall (18”) and skinny (2.75 / 3.00), the straight spoke wheels are likely from Bezzi, but the 254’s yokes and 32mm forks look as if they were lifted directly from Guzzi’s bin.
This, in reality is what makes the Benelli work: except for size, all its vital components mimic big-bike practice. Braking is trusted to a single front 266mm Brembo and 165mm rear drum. More Guzzi radar says the adjustable twin shocks are from Lispa, but there’s Mandello overlap everywhere; controls, switches and clocks, flush-mounted on the 254’s tank. In a pre-release exclusive for Motorcycle
News, journo Brian Tarbox penned a favourable report on the 254 after sampling Guzzi’s version at the Mandello factory. Dated from 1977, this is the earliest coverage I found, which points to motorcycles actually arriving in UK showrooms in early 1978. Tarbox remarked on fuel capacity (only 2.2 gallons) and the plastic fuel cell reasons for rejection by UK importers, but these niggles
were clearly remedied on later machines which include our feature bike. As the model gained traction with the press and public, so positive ink for the 254 / Quattro flowed with 14-second quarter mile times, tales of remarkable handling, and speeds approaching the ton. In every report a clear point was made of the 254’s excellence, citing confidence in the roadholding, brakes, even its relative ease of maintenance. True, it was no match for the RD 250 twin, but much entertainment was gained whizzing the engine into the stratosphere and effortlessly sailing past larger, more powerful machines in the bends. Made until 1988 in 305 form, the sprint times gradually declined until interest dried completely. Still, the praise as a stable, easy to ride roadster never waned, and top speeds remained at or near 90mph.
By far the most criticised aspect of all versions was the Benelli’s snap-together thermoplastic panels (very likely to be brittle these days, so handle with care), and the lines they were styled in. Still, the heavy use of plastic and aluminium is what kept weight at a remarkably svelte – and performance boosting – 257lb. In the top compartment lives the fuel filler, tools and brake reservoir. The master cylinder hidden below connects a cable to the brake lever. Study the production stats and you’ll see variance in spec over time: Leathers’ 1980 Benelli wears the original Guzzi plastic decorated with a rainbow of sweeping spears. The fairing is shared with the period 900 SEI.
Be it fair comment or otherwise, the mix of Japanese-type engine and Italian motorcycle didn’t work for anyone but Bimota, and it all ended quietly for Benelli in 1988 when the coastal factory in Pesaro closed. The marque’s six-cylinder machines are adored and everyone understands why, and much the
mh l r for the 254.
Oddly, few hold De Tomaso responsible for the failed ideas, at least those familiar with history and Italy’s glorious heritage of inline engines. For the 254 owner it’s good luck and hearty handshakes when looking for parts, even with the Honda overlap. But that’s expected. Nearly double the price of a 250cc contemporary from Asia, the Quattro was a jewel-like bike toy, but one with real sporting substance and an incredible soundtrack. Italy has a long, distinguished line of small motorcycles categorised under that same exact description. Benelli’s 254 Quattro adds one more to the list.