2014 Benelli Vintage Tour

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Benelli Vintage Tour participants lined up for a group photo in the center of Urbania, Italy.
Benelli Vintage Tour participants lined up for a group photo in the center of Urbania, Italy.
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The view of the Adriatic from our hotel.
The view of the Adriatic from our hotel.
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Ham Busack and Sheila Ranger wait for the group outside the Benelli club — the lions are from the original Benelli headquarters.
Ham Busack and Sheila Ranger wait for the group outside the Benelli club — the lions are from the original Benelli headquarters.
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The Urbino Cathedral.
The Urbino Cathedral.
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Marc Rosenfeld goes googly-eyed on a Bimota Tesi.
Marc Rosenfeld goes googly-eyed on a Bimota Tesi.
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Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, Italians eat well.
Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, Italians eat well.
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Just one of the rows of vintage bikes at the Morbidelli Museum.
Just one of the rows of vintage bikes at the Morbidelli Museum.
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Tour guide “Super Mario” scrapes the exhaust on his Benelli 900 Sei going up Monte Nerone.
Tour guide “Super Mario” scrapes the exhaust on his Benelli 900 Sei going up Monte Nerone.
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Giancarlo Morbidelli’s latest masterpiece, a beautiful V-12 designed for motorcycle use.
Giancarlo Morbidelli’s latest masterpiece, a beautiful V-12 designed for motorcycle use.
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Simply spectacular: The view from San Marino.
Simply spectacular: The view from San Marino.
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A lunch stop at the Battisti Benelli collection; the black No. 5 bike was once raced by Jarno Saarinen.
A lunch stop at the Battisti Benelli collection; the black No. 5 bike was once raced by Jarno Saarinen.
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Eugenio Lazzarini with one of his 2-stroke Piovaticci race bikes.
Eugenio Lazzarini with one of his 2-stroke Piovaticci race bikes.
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Heaven on two wheels: The road to Monte Nerone was one of the highlights of the tour, with not a car in sight.
Heaven on two wheels: The road to Monte Nerone was one of the highlights of the tour, with not a car in sight.
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The amazing crew at the Benelli club provided bikes, ride support and great hospitality.
The amazing crew at the Benelli club provided bikes, ride support and great hospitality.
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A typical barn-find MV Agusta 175 at the Imola swap meet.
A typical barn-find MV Agusta 175 at the Imola swap meet.

A typical motorcycle tour goes from A to B, and in between is the territory you cover, whizzing past you then quickly receding in your rearview mirror. It’s a familiar recipe, but it doesn’t leave much opportunity to be a tourist, to really get familiar with an area, which is exactly why Eligio Arturi put together the Benelli Vintage Tour.

A native Italian, Arturi ran sailing trips in the Mediterranean and Land Rover expeditions across North Africa before BMW hired him to lead adventure motorcycle tours in the early 1990s. The BMW linkup inspired Arturi, an avid motorcyclist, to focus on motorcycle tours, and since forming MotoTouring in 1994 he’s led rides across South Africa, Morocco, New Zealand, South America, Japan, Singapore and more.

A vintage bike fan, Arturi decided to tailor a tour of Italy for the vintage crowd, combining classic Italian bikes with classic Italian countryside. For bikes, he turned to the Registro Storico Benelli, literally “Register Historical Benelli.” It’s the official Benelli club, located in the sole surviving workshop of the original Benelli factory in Pesaro, Italy. Club members agreed to provide machines, and in 2013 Arturi held the first Benelli Vintage Tour.

That first tour’s success prompted a second, and when former Lotus Tours operator Burt Richmond got involved he convinced me — and by extension another 14 enthusiasts and Motorcycle Classics readers — to fly to Italy to ride vintage Benellis.

Getting acquainted

  • Published on Dec 11, 2014
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