Benelli is very much the forgotten Italian marque in the motorcycle industry, with Ducati, MV Agusta, and Aprilia (in that order, perhaps) taking most of the attention when it comes to motorcycle that hail from a country shaped like a boot.
The brand has made some fantastic modern models, like the Tornado, TnT, and Tre, and of course Benelli is steeped in a rich history that has some classic motorcycles. Those are the elements that have always attracted us to the brand, and what keeps us longing for more from Benelli.
However, ownership under the Qianjiang Group has proved difficult for motorcycle enthusiasts, with the company’s sexy Italian-designed motorcycles giving way to practical simple people movers. The Benelli TnT25 proves that point.
It seems though that things are slowly coming around for Benelli and its Chinese owners though, with the Italian-born brand sending the above teaser with the message “The Legend is back…” So we dug a little deeper.
It is hard to say what legend Benelli is referring to, though a little work in Photoshop reveals that Benelli has some sort of modern-looking scrambler / off-roader / adventure bike in the works for us.
As you can see in the enhanced image below, Benelli is teasing a motorcycle with spoked wheels, which is also complete with fairly knobby tires (Continental TKC80s, from the looks of it).
We are not sure what name Benelli plans to release this model under, though one would believe it’s a name from Benelli’s long history, but the idea of a scrambler-styled off-road is certainly appealing.
Certainly Benelli is selling the Ducati Scrambler fly off the dealership floors, with plenty of new riders coming into the lurid membership that is Ducati ownership. We have no doubts that the Pesaro brand is keen to get in on that action.
We’ll have to wait for the full-monty at the EICMA show of this legend…what for it…dary motorcycle, but keep checking back to Asphalt & Rubber for the latest news on the new model releases.
Source: Benelli
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