Benelli - Original Italian Design...

[eisfeld]

... or Chinese Copycat?

 

Below the new 752S and 402S. You decide!

 

[OmegaRacer]

Sure there are similarities, especially with the Diavel. But since they presented the Leoncino they seem to go in the right direction, without copying other bikes.

I still give them a thumbs up.

[CMKiwi]

I think the Chinese are masters at replication (Copying). I remember a few years back seeing a car show room in Chiang Mai some of these Chinese cars.  Some looked like early Jaguars, Morgan Plus 8 and even a London Taxi.  

 

Very smart people but I dont think they have yet mastered quality control or decent engine specs.  Give them time and they may just get there.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Just out of curiosity, how does the Chinese brand compare in price to the Ducati?

[VocalNeal]

Quote

Benelli Q.J. is located in Pesaro, with the same workforce in the same premises as previous proprietor Benelli S.p.A.

So it follows that Benelli may indeed be designed and even built in Italy.  Where each bike is manufactured may be determined by the location of the purchaser. So if you buy one in Italy?

 

The Cadillac ATS ( based on an Opel platform) is a copy of, and arguably better than, a BMW 3 series. Everyone copies everyone else so if ones target market is Ducati owners then it makes sense to make the bike like a Ducati. Except that in the pictures it doesn't look like the engine on the Benelli is a stressed member.

 

Other Benilli bikes had/have a trellis frame. 

 

[eisfeld]

3 hours ago, OmegaRacer said:

Sure there are similarities, especially with the Diavel. But since they presented the Leoncino they seem to go in the right direction, without copying other bikes.

I still give them a thumbs up.

Below the Leoncino

 

[OmegaRacer]

47 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

Below the Leoncino

 

Lol seriously? 

Yes, they are both red and have 2 wheels, both are scramblers. Other than that, they don't look similar at all to me.

[CMKiwi]

Its a nice looking bike....whats the cost like? Maintainence programme? Servicing and backup?  Cant be hard to beat Ducati in a lot of these areas from what Ive read!  

 

Still its gonna take some time to convince me that the Chinese made bikes are up to scratch.

[VocalNeal]

On 11/11/2017 at 11:47 AM, OmegaRacer said:

both are scramblers.

 

Has everyone forgotten that a "scrambler" was the forerunner of motocross. These two look very unlike a MotoX bike!  

 

[OmegaRacer]

So do all the new pseudo cafe racers, but that's what they call them now.

[VocalNeal]

I think maybe it started with Metisse and everyone fancies themselves as a wannabe Steve McQueen

[JonnyF]

Clearly the Chinese are copying Ducati designs, the Diavel is the most obvious example. I'm not sure how they get away with it to be honest but hopefully it's not successful as it's pretty unethical to do this.

[VocalNeal]

If Benelli is Chinese then by definition Ducati is German. Ja? 

[VocalNeal]

Duplicate not sure if my PC my wireless keyboard or the ISP

 

[JonnyF]

9 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

If Benelli is Chinese then by definition Ducati is German. Ja? 

You could make a reasonably strong argument for that. Ducati has certainly upped it's game in terms of reliability and build quality since being taken over. Similarly Benelli have started blatantly copying other companies designs so you can see the influence of a change of ownership in both cases.

[ktm jeff]

13 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Clearly the Chinese are copying Ducati designs, the Diavel is the most obvious example. I'm not sure how they get away with it to be honest but hopefully it's not successful as it's pretty unethical to do this.

What are you talking about - Chinese.   Benelli is as Italian as Ducati.  The background owner of the company makes very little difference , its still an Italian designed / built , Italian bike.

[JonnyF]

8 hours ago, ktm jeff said:

What are you talking about - Chinese.   Benelli is as Italian as Ducati.  The background owner of the company makes very little difference , its still an Italian designed / built , Italian bike.

Well the latest Benelli models are certainly designed by Italians.

 

The Italians at Ducati.

[ktm jeff]

13 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Well the latest Benelli models are certainly designed by Italians.

 

The Italians at Ducati.

Ha Ha . There is a likeness , true. I think its difficult to design a super-sport style or  cafe racer style , etc etc , of bike without having some similar styling cues from other , similar , bikes. This is why i like Italian bikes. Their style stands out over the same type of Japanese bikes. 

[paz]

On 11/13/2017 at 5:27 PM, ktm jeff said:

What are you talking about - Chinese.   Benelli is as Italian as Ducati.  The background owner of the company makes very little difference , its still an Italian designed / built , Italian bike.

What are YOU talking about ?!? It's a 100% Chinese brand. And if by "design" you mean drafting some horrible tank, seat, and selection semi-junk components all across, it's possible they have hired desperate Italian designers as well any other nationality for the (poor) job.

 

If you name Benelli in Italy you will be told glorious stories which last, say until early eighties. After which, it folded, got off the shops and the roads - for good.

 

If you want a real Italian niche bike, with a troubled history, many World championship wins, one of the few that can kick Japs and Ducati's ass, that's MV Augusta.

 

 

[OmegaRacer]

Or a Moto Guzzi! 

[JaseTheBass]

On 11/11/2017 at 8:27 AM, CMKiwi said:

I think the Chinese are masters at replication (Copying). I remember a few years back seeing a car show room in Chiang Mai some of these Chinese cars.  Some looked like early Jaguars, Morgan Plus 8 and even a London Taxi.  

 

Very smart people but I dont think they have yet mastered quality control or decent engine specs.  Give them time and they may just get there.

Hardly masters. Those cars looked like what would happen if a 12 year old kid tried to copy one of the classic cars they were based on. All the proportions were totally wrong.

[JonnyF]

The Benelli Multistrada TRK502 reminds me of something as well. Can't quite put my finger on it though.

 

It's also pretty awful to ride by the sounds of it though. Cheap though at just over 200k Baht.

 

Quoting from the MCN review below...

 

The main limitation is the lack of power from the 500cc parallel twin and the colossal weight. 235kg, just 9kg less than the top spec BMW R1200GS Exclusive TE.

The TRK has the weight of Butterbean and the punching power of a small dog.

 

Try coming to a stop and you’ll almost be thankful for the lack of power. The two 320mm front discs feel dated. Very dated. They feel incredibly spongey for most of the travel on the front ever, only biting when the lever is almost touching my other knuckles. The brake lever is span adjustable, but I found it almost impossible to feel any difference between the four settings.

The handling also fails to impress. Granted the incredibly bumpy and inconsistently surfaced roads we tested the bike on in northern Italy would put most suspension through its paces, but I’d like to know what the front end was doing while cornering. As we rode the bikes, I never had any idea what was going on – the front end felt distant and failed to instill any confidence.

It’s a nice seat to spend a day in, but with a gutless engine, heavy weight, vague front end and inconsistent brakes, it’s not anywhere I’d want to be.

 

 

[AllanB]

I think we are going have to realise that the gap is closing, twix Japan and China and  to me that is borne out in my recent B130k CRF purchase, two years after buying a B48k Lifan. 

 

The main difference now is that the Chinese have discovered that "fun" is a big selling point and I see it every day in KK in the form of dozens of Stallion riders.