Benelli 654 Sport
Benelli 654 Sport
. .The 654's a handsome devil in the classic mould.A four cylinder machine with a passing resemblance to the CB650, an interestingbit of reverse engineering insofar as the Jap's got going in the sixties bycopying the Wop's. They are now sadly rare in the UK, but their reputation issuch that they don't fetch much dosh. £600 for a clean 1978 example seemed likebargain time to me. Rewired, fitted with Honda switches and repainted, it wasn'tin bad nick for a 32000 miler.
Buy it, a little voice in my head said after aquick blast. The motor, if truth be told, was a bit gutless but the suspensionwas still taut and it handled with unexpected precision. The Wop's could alwaysmake the most unlikely concoctions handle. There was rust on the exhaust,headlamp rim, frame and shock springs but it wasn't beyond hope. I rode home ina high mood.
My friends laughed at me and the bike. Said I wasa fool to trust such an old Italian motorcycle. Bound to blow up or break down,said they. I waited for the inevitable but for the first six months all wasjolly good fun. Part of that was down to only running around town, mostlystringing the old dear along in second or third when she screamed out of thefour into two.
Steering geometry was too staid to allowwheelies, but I could get the back tyre to smoke when the boredom became toomuch, although the clutch would rattle away merrily for the next few days!Petrol was bad at 35mpg and I had to keep an eye on the oil level; it bothleaked and smoked quite heavily above 9000 revs. Er, sorry, didn't know youweren't supposed to rev that high.
Vibration above 7000 revs rattled the bars andpegs but it was okay for short bursts of acceleration. The chain, unless set upto perfection, rattled alarmingly below 2000 revs. The best power was in the5000 to 9000rpm range in second and third, though taller gears wouldn't pullmore than 8500 revs. Gearing was taller than stock, due to a bigger gearboxsprocket, take-offs needed some clutch slip.
When I started to use the bike for long distancetouring after six months of happy ownership, due to a change of work, I foundthat the gearbox tended to seize up in the upper ratios. Needed a really strongboot to free it off. Complicated by the gearchange lever coming loose every 100miles, or so, due to the vibes. In the end it needed massive force to stop itslipping on the shaft.
The first time it came loose, I didn't realise,thought the gearbox had given up completely. Left me stuck in fourth for tenmiles. The smell of burnt clutch plates hung in the air when I got home, butdespite loads of abuse it never went down completely. The bike didn't run verycleanly in fourth gear at low speeds, the complete absence of any torque broughthome to me.
Why should such a decent sized four be so revhappy yet not produce any real hard power. Top speed was 120mph - checkedagainst a friend's machine as the stock speedo wavered madly above 60mph! Whilstthis sounds reasonable enough, strong headwinds or hills had that down to about95mph. Pretty pathetic for a 650. Fuel could dive down to an incredible 25mpg ifdistance needed to be covered in a desperate hurry. An expensive old tank!
Not that high speed could be held for any lengthof time. The secondary vibes were fierce, as if no-one had taken the time andtrouble to match the frame to the engine's dynamics, which was odd as it lookedpretty similar to the much smoother efforts employed by Honda. 'Course, theframe was made out of better metal, welded neatly and combined with goodsuspension. A trick it took the Jap's a while to comprehend.
As a wide four it was still a bit top-heavy andunwieldy for throwing through the bends but there was no nastiness hidden withinthe chassis. Basically, it was all down to the rider and how brave he wanted tobe. A few times I dived inside my mate's GS750, leaving him gob-smacked with mysuperior line. But even winding the Benelli up to the redline failed to keep himfrom coming streaming past on the next straight.
The brakes were also superior to Jap stuff ofthat era, though not up to modern standards. A fistful of lever was needed toget the twin front discs working hard, and they could be a bit lacking infeedback, but it was the kind of stuff that you adapt to and learn how to use tothe maximum. Safe handling and strong braking often made up for the lack ofoutright power.
How fast was fast? Well, on nicely curvingA-roads the bike could keep up with Jap 750s of a similar type (GS750, GT750,CB750F, etc), at the price of screaming the engine until both my hearing andsight were threatening to give up the ghost. I could keep it up for about halfan hour; after that I let the buggers go and went into laid back mode at 75 to85mph.
On motorways or fast A-roads the bike was only asgood as things like GS550's. It could go faster but the main limitation wasvibration. If I wanted to cruise for a couple of hours it was 80mph maximum -almost everyone I knows cruises the motorway at 90mph plus, so I was a bit of alaughing stock again.
Another limiting factor was that the Benellididn't like the rain. The engine chimed on to two or three cylinders, not a niceexperience when it comes back on to power on wet roads. The otherwise excellentPirelli's tried to skid off the tarmac. The bike also felt a bit squeamish onwet roads, losing its stuck to the tarmac feel. I wasn't a happy man!
The other problem with the rain was that itbrought out all the rust. Once, I left the bike out overnight, came down thenext day and could barely recognize the machine. Covered in crud, rust and alloycorrosion. It seems to suck water out of the atmosphere.
It cleaned up after a couple of hours worth ofelbow grease but every time the rain came the corrosion returned. More seriouswas the way the guts of the silencers were spat out, the straight through systemturning the power delivery truculent. The only cheap solution was a pair ofuniversal cans, which apart from a stutter around 2500 revs didn't harm powerdelivery and gave my ears a much easier time. A week after I fitted them theirchrome was speckled with rust. It must be contagious!
Often, the downpipe's collets came loose, causingmassive backfiring. Engine bolts needed a weekly going over. After just over ayear the generator started playing up, the battery going dead. Down to thewiring falling apart, anything serious and I would probably have dumped themachine.
By then I wasn't too impressed with itsengineering or power. The chassis was sufficiently useful to take anotherengine, apart from the way all the metal spat out the rust! I didn't bothertrying to fit another motor, it was easier to look around for a new bike and putthe Benelli up for sale.
I wanted something a little bit different, endedup on a Ducati 500 Desmo vertical twin, nice nick, mine for £400 plus the 654. Ithought I was used to vibration until I pushed the Duke into the red - a bloodypile-driver. I don't half buy 'em.
The Benelli's new owner phoned me up five weekslater, complaining that the engine had seized up solid. Nothing to do with me,mate, I opined. His tame mechanic reckoned I'd revved the balls off it withoutmuch oil in the sump. Well, it did lose most of its lubricant on a long run, butit never seemed to do any real harm. I offered to buy it back for £100. I hadthe phone slammed down on me.
Keith Williams