Benelli 175 Enduro
Benelli 175 Enduro
. .It seems the Italians have their own special wayof making motorcycles. They all seem to be short, very rigid, and about a decadebehind the rest of the industry. In some cases Italian machines have pioneeredcertain aspects of motorcycling, Ceriani-styled forks and handlebars withcrosspieces are a good example.
Enduro bikes are an offshoot of machinery builtfor International Six Days Trial type competition. They are dual-purposemachines and Italy has had her share of wins in these International events withtheir own products. Road racing is another story and Italy's dominance in theWorld Classics during the last three decades speak for itself.
The Benelli 175 Enduro is a curious motorcycle.It is short, 50 inches axle to axle. Tall, 32-inch seat height. And has smallishcross section tires for the intended use of this bike; 2.75 front and 3.00 rearby 19-inch diameter tires are very much out of place compared to what you see onthe market these days.
Yet, they build a functional piece of machinery,one that will do the job. The double steel tube cradle-type frame assembly isvery rigid, partially due to its shortness and partially due to its all weldedconstruction. Ground Clearance at its lowest point is 91/4 inches, that's wherethe side stand juts out. It has a closer to an 11-inch clearance factor to theskid plate which protects the bottom of the engine. Coupled to this shortwheelbase, that's more than enough for bumping over all but the largest fallentimbers.
The Benelli is fitted with a pair of fenders thatdon't do much other than keeping a vertical spray off your goggles if youventure into wet places. The front one is high mounted and very small to allowmaximum cooling to the cylinder. The rear fender is quite flat also, .but servesits purpose as a place to fasten a taillight. Both are nicely finished withrolled edges and polished chromium plating.
The 2 1/4-gallon fuel tank is another classicItalian innovation. This one has a tool compartment. Four loops are also weldedto the top of the fuel tank so you can fasten something, Lord knows what. Asingle, hard to find shut-off valve feeds the carburetor, and there is nocrossover tube to connect the two panniers of the tank. I for one like thisbecause it makes the chore of removing the tank a not so messy job. Actually,the fuel tank is practically level at the rear and a crossover tube isn'tnecessary.
A 6-volt battery lives under the seat and ishidden on both sides by a pair of number plates. This racy innovation does servea purpose in hiding a bunch of electrics. The seat itself is one of the nicerfeatures of the bike. Unlike early Italian breadboards this one is soft and wellproportioned.
The Benelli's seating position is also fairlynice. The handlebars are not overly wide and the footrests are located justahead of the nose of the seat where they should be. Their proximity to the brakepedal and shift lever is also very good. Passenger footrests come on the 175Enduro, and it will carry two. Another added feature is a small luggage rack'behind the seat, about right for carrying one six-pack.
The bike has a front wheel drive speedo and ahigh mounted exhaust pipe, but that's about as far as it goes towards being aserious enduro machine. The speedo does not have a resetable odometer and theupswept exhaust pipe simply is in the way. It has some shielding on it but eventhat got hot enough for our 'test staff to feel during short rides.
The 40-tooth rear sprocket is fitted with a60-tooth overlay to gear it down. With trail gearing the most we could wind theBenelli out to 50 mph. This machine has a strong and predictable powercurve, and in conjunction with a wide ratio gearbox, the bike propels itself outin the boonies fairly well. Super speed shifts from first to second just gets alittle wheelie but the bike does go forward.
The Benelli seems to be at its best in the choppystuff where a combination of the long travel suspension, short wheelbase, andsmooth power flow makes the bike behave nicely. The forks could use a littlemore cross up. We took it on some 'tight mountain trails and found it difficultin the turns although it didn't have any problems from lack of power .
The Benelli engine is a simple piston controlled2-stroke. It's fitted with a 22mm Dellorto center float carburetor that featuresa square slide. These carburetors are unique in themselves because thedownstream side of the slide is forced against the carburetor body by thethrottle return spring and makes an air tight seal. These center float units aredesigned to operate in positions up to 45 degrees from level. Air filtration ishandled through a wire mesh-type element that relies on carburetor spit back tokeep it wet. Although crude, this system has proven very effective in all butthe most severe dust conditions.
It uses a two ring aluminum piston with windowsat the transfer ports. There is also a slight cut-away on the inlet side of thepiston skirt to increase inlet duration. The little end of the connecting rodhas a bushing and the big end is fitted with rollers. The crankshaft is carriedin ball bearings at both ends. Drive to the clutch is by gear with a multi-plateclutch assembly transmitting the power to the transmission. It has a four-speedsliding gear transmission that is indexed with shifting forks. Very simple, veryfunctional.
Cold, the machine starts up on first kick usingthe richening device fitted to the Del Porto. It takes a little while for theengine to warm up, probably due to the slow heating characteristics of its castiron cylinder.
A flywheel magneto generates the Benelli'selectrical supply. The unit uses a battery for horn and stoplight but will workwithout. The magneto has a primary coil to feed a secondary coil mounted on theframe. The generator part of the flywheel magneto keeps the battery charged andhandles the rest of the lighting chores. And the lights aren't half bad either,you can see quite a ways with them on a dark night.
Marzocchi makes the forks and rear shocks fittedto this Benelli. Both units have good dampening control and produce a smoothride that is predictable and controllable. The rear shock units are adjustablewith a lever attached to the bottom. The front forks showed a slight amount ofoil seepage past the seals but this is nothing to worry about.
The alloy control levers on the handlebars arevery nice as is their positioning. The Marzocchi throttle is a feature that isdestined to be copied. By using a cam arrangement the throttle pulls the cablein a straight line rather than around a drum. This simple system will more thandouble the life of an average throttle cable.
A cable also operates the rear brake. Throughexperience our test staff is skeptical of cable operated brakes. It seems toomuch energy is lost within the cables. On the plus side, the swing arm can moveup and down and not affect the braking feel. We found these brakes, both frontand rear, to be especially good for an off-road machine.
The overall finish of the Benelli Enduro is nicewith generous amounts of polished chrome. The white stripe on the gas tank isreal paint, not a stick-on as found on many motorcycles sold today. The littleBenelli is a serious motorcycle, one you can have a lot of fun with both on theroad and off
Source Modern Cycle