BICYCLES AND A PIERCE 4

Original paint 1911 Pierce 4 to be auctioned

A massive private collection of bicycles from the Pedaling Through History museum in Buffalo, NY, is being liquidated following the death of founder Carl Burgwardt two years ago.  His was the largest bicycle museum in the world, and included a few motorcycles.  The auction on April 19th, the second of three big auctions selling off the bicycles and related parts and ephemera, has over 600 lots of interesting stuff, quite a bit of it related to early motorcycling.

Pierce racing bicycle poster ca.1902 showing the current American champion, Frank Kramer

Star of the show will be a 1911 Pierce 4-cylinder motorcycle in original paint, running condition, which has only seen its tires and handlegrips replaced.  I've seen this bike in person, and its simply fantastic, and in the same condition as the original-paint Pierce 4 which won the Concorso di Villa d'Este two years ago.  Like most early motorcycle makers, Pierce built shaft-drive (and chain-drive) bicycles before building motorcycles of single and four-cylinders, which were distinctive (and well ahead of their time) in using large-diameter frame tubing as fuel and oil tanks, making both a stronger frame and fewer parts to build, repair, or keep from vibrating to bits on the unpaved roads of the early 1900s.  Pierce was 'inspired' by the FN four-cylinder design, and these first American 'fours' (débuted in 1909) have moved slowly into mainstream consciousness as a very important part of Motorcycling history.

1880 Pneumatic Star bicycle produced by the HG Smith Machine Co, Smithville NJ

Check out the Copake Auction website here.

The 1911 Pierce 4 motor and pedaling gear; note shaft drive and flywheel (with clutch, with lever for a two-speed gearbox above)

A remarkable 1898 Cygnet 'Swan' ladies' bicycle built by the Stoddard Mfg Co of Dayton, OH

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BENELLI FOUR-CYLINDER RACERS

The supercharged, water-cooled, four-cylinder Benelli 250cc racer of 1940

As the technological high points of 1920s motorcycle racing began to look, and perform, like the antiques they'd become by the 1930s, the Benelli brothers took stock of the obvious trends of Grand Prix racing; chiefly, more power from multi-cylinder, supercharged engines.  Moto Guzzi, Gilera, BMW, DKW, NSU, and even AJS and Velocette in England were racing or developing such engines by 1938.  As champions in the 250cc racing class, Benelli set about designing a new 250cc racer, with four cylinders, twin overhead camshafts, a supercharger, and watercooling.  Trends in chassis development were also attended, and as sketched, the new machine would retain the hydraulic-damped girder forks and rear swingarm suspension of their singles, plus large-diameter alloy brakes to manage the inevitable blistering speeds to come from such an engine, given Benelli's expertise with tuning small engines, especially in cam design, intake porting, and carburation.

The 1940 Benelli 250-4 as it exists today

The gem of an engine designed by Giovanni Benelli produced in 1939 had a short stroke (42mm stroke x 45mm bore), with 12:1 compression pistons, and spun to 10,000rpm, at which point it cranked out 52.5hp, enough for 146mph on test runs - the fastest 250cc racer by a long shot, fully 16mph faster than their nearest rival, the brilliant supercharged 250cc flat-single from Moto Guzzi.  With such devastating performance (exceeding by 20mph the factory 500s of Norton and Velocette!), Benelli were confident of another European Championship, but the little 'four' wasn't ready for the 1939 racing season.  By the time the 'engine bugs' were sorted, it was 1940, and the competition was no longer playing nice.

The new 250cc double-overhead-camshaft four-cylinder Benelli racing engine, introduced in 1960

Lacking martial confidence in their native Italy, Benelli race chief Vincenzo Clementi stashed the entire racing fleet in rural areas away from Pesaro; purportedly their precious new 250cc 'four' had its engine hidden at the bottom of a dry well, while the chassis slept under a haystack, inside a barn. Their decision proved wise, as during 1940 and '41, Pesaro was bombed heavily; the Benelli factory had been converted to aero engine production (Daimler-Benz and Alfa Romeo types), and when the Allies advanced northward in Italy, all the precision machine tools were moved by the German army to more secure territory inside Austria and Germany.

The new Benelli '4' racer at the press launch in 1960

While the company returned to single-cylinder racers postwar (netting them a World Championship in 1950), by 1960 Benelli's line of small-capacity motorcycles was selling very well, and funds were allocated for the design of a new four-cylinder racer. Race chief Ing. Savelli and Giovanni Benelli designed an entirely new engine which bore resemblance to the 1938 design, but in truth, by 1960 a DOHC four with gear-driven cams had become the accepted pattern for a racing engine, having been developed by Gilera (from the original CNA/Rondine 'fours' dating back to 1926!), copied by MV Agusta, and then again by Honda, who won the 250cc World Championship title in 1961.  The new 'four' used a short stroke (40.6mm stroke x 44mm bore), a 6-speed gearbox, weighed 264lbs, and gave 40hp at 13,000rpm (oh, how supercharging was missed!  This was 12.6hp less than the blown 1939 design).  The completed machine was revealed with great publicity in June of 1960, but wasn't ready to race until 1962, and Silvio Grassetti had only one 'win' that year, at Cesenatico, but it sounded a bell at Honda, as both Jim Redman and Tom Phillis were bested on their Factory Honda 4s.  MV had withdrawn from 250cc racing the year before, to concentrate on retaining their 350cc and 500cc dominance.

Tarquinio Provini on the 250cc Benelli 4 in 1965; note the 7" dual disc brakes.  These are American Airheart brakes from Go-Kart racers, and were possibly a first in GP racing, but proved inadequate on at 143mph, especially in the wet.  While the concept was sound, the brake pads hadn't yet evolved for serious high-speed use.  Benelli used them only in '65, retreating to reliable racing drums...

Tarquinio Provini, a veteran racing star with two World Championships, joined Benelli in 1963 to develop and race the new 'four'. He shortly increased power to 52hp at 16,000rpm, with a 7-speed gearbox, and 141mph top speed. A new frame lowered the center of gravity and pared weight down to 247lbs.  Years of ignition troubles with the high-revving engine were finally cured by fitting an American racing magneto...from a Mercury two-stroke boat engine. Provini won every race in the Italian championship in '64.  Benelli shocked the world by out-running the Japanese opposition at the super-fast Monza GP in 1965.

Provini hard at it in 1966

By '66, the Four had 8 gears, and a larger version with 322cc was introduced to compete in the 350cc GP events, going head to head with the 'big boys', MV Agusta, Honda, and Yamaha.    Provini had a bad crash at the Isle of Man TT that year, and injured his spine enough to retire from racing.  Benelli had never fielded a 'team' of professional riders who came and went with lucrative contacts; the family business had close bonds with the one or two racers they supported, and Provini's injury took the steam out of Benelli's race dep't for over a year.

The immortal 'Paso'; Renzo Pasolini

Benelli re-entered the racing fray with rider Renzo Pasolini, who won second place in both the 350cc and 250cc classes at the 1968 Isle of Man TTs, and dominated the Italian Championship in both classes the rest of '68, giving Giacomo Agostini and his MV and excellent view of the Benelli's tailpipes all year long.  In 1969, Kel Carruthers joined Pasolini, and the pair made an unbeatable team, each winning three GP victories that year, giving Benelli their second World Championship title.

Pasolini leaping Ballagh Bridge at the 1968 Isle of Man TT

Kel Carruthers joined Yamaha in 1970, but Pasolini took third place in the World Championship that year.  The Benelli family sold the factory and name to Alejandro de Tomaso, more famous for his automotive exploits than two-wheeled savvy, and support for developing the racers waned.  Still, Jarno Saarinen was hired in '72, and won his début races at Pesaro in both 350cc and 500cc classes.

Renzo Pasolini with Kel Carruthers

Both Saarinen and Pasolini left Benelli for '73 (for Yamaha and H-D, respectively), and Walter Villa became their #1 rider.  With horrific irony, Villa's 350cc Benelli was blamed for leaving a trail of oil during his race at Monza, which was then not cleaned up for the 250cc race, in which a multi-machine crash killed both Saarinen and Pasolini.  The details of the accident have been debated ever since, although it seems a catastrophic seizure of Saarinen's Yamaha (not an uncommon occurrence) may have led to the chain-reaction melée.

Kel Carruthers at the 1970 Isle of Man TT

Benellis interest in racing plummeted when new FIM rules limited 250cc racers to two cylinders and six speeds, which guaranteed an unstoppable rise of two-stroke racers, as their double-time combustion could only be opposed by outrageously sophisticated four-stroke engines, such as the Honda 6-cylinder, and the Benelli 250cc V-8 which was under development...which would certainly have put Benelli on par with Moto Guzzi as masterful creators of racing exotica.  The FIM, in their wisdom, preferred the crackle of two-strokes to a technical war of miniaturized-miracle racers, a decision which eventually killed Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and led to the birth of MotoGP.

Jarno Saarinen...with wife Soeli giving pit signals

Bonhams is selling a replica 350cc four-valve Benelli four-cylinder, of the type Kel Carruthers took to the World Championship in 1969, at their Jan 12 sale in Las Vegas.

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FRATELLI BENELLI RACING

Fratelli Benelli: Antonio ('Tonino'), Francesco, Giovanni, Guiseppe, Filippo, Domenico

While glamorous rivals captured collective racing memory, the Benelli firm has a sterling history of race successes dating back to the 1920s, and a family of rider/manufacturer/racers who catapulted the little factory to the top echelons of racing.  Now known more for its bicycles (due to on again/off again production of motorcycles in recent years), there was a time when Benelli was synonymous with racing and World Championships, and that special Italian devotion to supercharged multi-cylinder racing exotica immediately prior to WW2.

The first Benelli of 1920, a 98cc two-stroke engine mounted at the rear of a bicycle

The factory's story begins with Teresa Benelli, recently widowed in 1911, who sold a bit of family property and invested the proceeds in machine tools, establishing a business at which her 6 sons could make a living. The Benelli Garage of Pesaro employed 5 of the 6 boys, who repaired guns, cars, and motorcycles; while the youngest, Antonio ('Tonino') was too young to work, his impact would perhaps be greatest of all, as a championship rider for the family business. At this early date, factory spares for cars and motorcycles could be difficult to obtain quickly, and the Garage was fully equipped to fabricate any parts necessary for repairs.

Tonino Benelli, four time Italian 175cc Champion, on one of the early 175cc OHC racers, in a beautiful period portrait

By 1918, the brothers' facility at making parts begged the question - why not make our own motorcycle? - and in 1919 they indeed built a 75cc two-stroke single-cylinder engine for attachment to a bicycle.  By 1920 they built the first motorcycle, with a larger 98cc engine attached by outrigger tubes to the rear of a bicycle.  The awkward engine position equated to poor handling, and the first machine wasn't a success, so by 1921 the engine was moved to the 'normal' position within the frame, and the engine capacity increased gradually to 150cc, with a two-speed gearbox and all-chain drive.

Tonino in 1924 on the 175cc two-stroke racer, at Pesaro's Foglia track

Young Tonino 'The Terror' pressured his brothers for more power, with the intention of racing. They obliged, and in his very first race, Tonino placed second Gino Moretti riding a 500cc Moto Guzzi, proving both his skill, and the potential of the little machine.  The little Benelli failed to win a race in 1922 or '23, but Tonino honed his skills as a rider, while his brothers learned valuable lessons from breakage and failure.  Wins began in 1924, and continued, while the Italian public took note of the little machine; the increased sales meant the brothers could buy new machine tools to create a new motorcycle - a four stroke of advanced specification.

Tonino Benelli on the new 175cc OHC racer, in 1927

Giuseppi Benelli designed a new machine of 175cc for 1927, with a stack of delicate gears driving an overhead camshaft; it was an impressive lightweight roadster, and a natural candidate for the race track. The overhead camshaft engine proved reliable and fast, and Tonino gathered a string of wins, including Benelli's first 'international' win at the Monza GP, culminating in the Italian 175cc Championship in both '27 and '28.  Now with a proper racing team, Benelli continued to rack up wins in 1929, and Tonino won the Italian Championship again in 1930. 

The factory team of double-OHC racers, in 1934

In the search for more power, another camshaft was added 'up top', and the new double-overhead-camshaft 175cc racer debuted in 1931, a very advanced machine and the technical equal of any racer of the day.  The engine still had an iron cylinder head and barrel, and initially a hand-shift with 3-speed gearbox, but by '32 a four-speed 'box with footshift brought the little Benelli bang up to date.  The Benelli race team ventured across Europe in a bid for increased export sales, winning GPs in France, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland, effectively dominating the 175cc class through 1934 with their cracking little double-knocker lightweight.

The last (1934) version of the 'iron' engine, with an oil radiator built into the oil tank

The FIM abolished the 175cc racing class in 1934, and suddenly Benelli had racers without a category. Rather than immediately enlarge their racer to the 250cc class, they spent the next few years consolidating their roadsters, and capitalizing on their new visibility across Europe.  By 1936 their model range were all single-cylinder, overhead-camshaft machines of 175cc, 250cc, and 500cc.  These roadsters were all fast, reliable, and popular, and Benelli became the fifth-largest motorcycle manufacturer in Italy.  By 1938, their '250 Sport S' roadster was good for 93mph, a figure not bettered by a production '250' until the 1960s.

The '500 Sport' roadster of 1936

But racing beckoned; Benelli could not rest on its laurels forever, and while the production range was consolidated, the race shop designed a completely new 250cc racing engine in 1938, again DOHC, but all-alloy, and with rear suspsension (a swingarm with plunger springboxes, and friction damping).  The new engine could be revved to 9000rpm, and proved nearly bomb-proof, even at 110mph.  The competition had changed dramatically though, as GP racing gained international sporting significance, and much larger companies were prepared to invest heavily in new technology and very advanced racing machines.  In the 250cc field, Benelli's most significant competition came from Moto Guzzi, with their supercharged flat single, and DKW, with their supercharged two-stroke.  Even with their blowers, these machines had trouble shaking off the solid and good-handling Benelli, which could be every bit as fast as its rivals, and definitely more reliable.

The new 250cc racer with swingarm rear suspension and huge brakes

 A 1-2-3 at the 1938 Italian GP was an eye-opener for all concerned, especially riders in the 350cc class, whose race averages were slower than the winning 250!  Englishman Ted Mellors took note, as his own 350cc Velocette MkVIII KTT had been outclassed by the winning Benelli of Francisci Bruno.  Mellors approached Benelli about a ride for the 1939 Isle of Man Lightweight TT; this was an excellent opportunity for the factory; an experienced and successful Island rider riding -free!- for the most difficult and prestigious road race in the world. 

Ted Mellors at the 1939 Isle of Man Lightweight TT (note bronze-head Velo mk4KTT in the background, in road trim)

In that tense year of 1939, great forces stood poised on the brink of armed conflict, and every international sporting contest became a proxy war between nations.  The Isle of Man TT had been the private playground of English motorcycle companies since the wakeup of a 1-2-3 Indian victory of 1911, with only occasional losses to the 'foreign menace'.  The lineup of racers at the 1939 TT showed a glaring technological gap between Continental and English machines, as well-developed supercharged, multi-cylinder bikes from Europe had become reliable enough to seriously challenge the solid, good-handling English single-cylinders.  In the 250cc race, the blown Moto Guzzis and DKWs were fastest, but the Benelli was no slouch, and its reliability proved the decisive asset which assured a win for Ted Mellors.

Mellors in '39; wet conditions at the Isle of Man dampened speeds

Benelli had seen the future in 1938, and begun experimenting with a supercharger on their 250cc single, which gave 45hp and 125mph.  This was good, but better would be a four-cylinder engine of their own; a 250cc with a supercharger and twin overhead cams.  Giovanni Benelli designed the new 'four' in 1938, it was built in '39, proving incredibly fast; pumping out 52.5hp at 10,000rpm, it rocketed to 146mph; 16mph faster than their nearest rival, the Moto Guzzi.  The machine was ready by 1940, but international racing was strictly between bullets by then, and the brothers Benelli, fearing the worst, hid their four-cylinder engine in a dry well in the countryside, and scattered their racing singles in barns and cellar across northern Italy.

The incredibly fast 250cc four-cylinder supercharged Benelli racer of 1940...146mph!

The factory was completely destroyed in the war, and their machine tools stolen by retreating German forces.  When the smoke cleared, it was the sons of fratelli Benelli who had the energy to begin again, tracked down some of their tooling in Germany and Austria.  Their first post-war machines were modified ex-military Harleys, Matchlesses, and BSAs, to which they fit swingarm rear suspension.  Within two years, Benelli were again making their own motorcycles, mostly utilitarian lightweights.  And racing!  Enough of their prewar racing singles survived to form a Works team, and rider Dario Ambrosini chalked up win after win in 1948 and '49.  The FIM created the first World Championship series in 1949, and Benelli decided to invest in a bid to win for 1950, sending Ambrosini abroad to battle rival Moto Guzzi, who shared their ambition.

Dario Ambrosini on the 1950 version of the Benelli 250cc single cylinder racer

Dario Ambrosini had never raced at the Isle of Man TT, but proved a fast learner, shaving 66 seconds from his lap time between rounds 2 and 3, during the race!  His win at the 1950 Lightweight, plus Monza and the Swiss GP, gave Benelli their first World Championship.  Hopes for a repeat in '51 were dashed when Ambrosini was killed during practice at the Albi GP in France.  Stunned by their victor's death, and with no other rider in their team, Benelli withdrew from racing for a few years.

Dario Ambrosini's 1951 250cc machine, now with telescopic front forks and a swingarm rear suspension

They returned to racing in 1959, building just four machines, a fresh design of unit construction short-stroke 250cc DOHC singles.  Benelli's rivals, Ducati and MV Agusta, used high-revving twin-cylinder racers in the 250cc class, and while Geoff Duke won the Swiss GP in '59, his was the only victory for these last single-cylinder racers.  [One of these four machines, serial # GPX1003, is coming up for auction at the Bonhams Las Vegas sale].  The new racer was fast and reliable, but as with 1939, it was clear more cylinders held the key to GP victory, and having once tasted a World Championship, Benelli was in it for the big prize.

Beauty is as beauty does; the sculptural timing gear case is indeed a thing to behold.

In 1960, Benelli's Ingeniere Savelli took inspiration from the 1940 four-cylinder racer, and created a new 250cc 'four'.  More about these in the next post....

The 1959 250cc last-series Benelli racer at the Team Obsolete HQ; this machine is now in England - a friend bought it!

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