Benelli 250 Quattro
Benelli 250 Quattro
. .In a completely different sector of the marketto its two-stroke stablemate is the Benelli 250/4 which is, as its namesuggests, a four-cylinder bike of approximately 250cc. Like the largersix-cylinder 750 Sei, the 250/4 is an undeniably extravagant bike and that issomething which is reflected in its astronomical price, a figure which is almosttwice that asked for the CE Benelli. It is not in performance where thefour-stroke four has an advantage for, with 26.5 bhp and a top speed of just on90mph, the CE gives nothing away at all. What is interesting is that thefour-cylinder 250 is almost 50 lb lighter than the CE and in every dimension is avery small bike indeed.
The heart of the bike is an overhead-camshaftengine which looks something like a miniature 500 Honda unit and is, in fact, ofbasically the same design. Maximum power is produced at 10 500 rpm but the engineis safe to over 11,000 where it makes a sound like a noisy sewing machine. Ifthe engine is not revved to its full potential, the fuel economy is excellentand far better than anything possible with an engine of two-stroke design.Apart from the engine, most other parts of the bike are of conventional designwith a front disc, rear drum and standard oil fork dampers and swinging arm. Thedesigners have, however, made the small Benelli appear as modern as possiblewith a one-piece tank/seat/rear fairing unit. Set in a panel in the front of thetank unit is the instrument nacelle with a tachometer and speedometer.Unfortunately, however neat it looks, the dials are hard to see and take onesattention away from the road.
To finish the modern appearance there arecast-alloy three-spoke wheels which look a little odd but are strong and easy toclean. As with the CE, a Moto Guzzi version of this bike is available, calledthe 254. Its styling is a little different but again is merely badgeengineering. The company did experiment with a bike powered by two of thelittle 'fours' mounted together to make a 500 V8, but the costs wereprohibitive, while a 125cc 'four' developed at the same time as the 250 wasthought to be just too extravagant.