Benelli, 1972, Tornado 650 S

Benelli "Tornado 650 S", 1972, Italy

The 60s and 70s marked a golden era for the motorbike world: the race to higher displacement and power figures is on and Italy participates to the challenge. In this context, Benelli unveiled its new 650cc twin-cylinder bike in 1968: the Tornado.
The newborn of the brand from Pesaro is not free from problems though: the engine tends to vibrate a lot and the bike has no electric starter.
Delays in the production will move the first deliveries in the USA to 1970 and the next year in Europe, losing the initial head start to the new fierce japanese competition that already counted on bikes like the Honda 750 Four and the Kawasaki 500 Mach III;
The technical problems will be solved with the new 650 S, launched in 1972 under the new management of the Argentinian racing driver Alejandro De Tomaso, who will dust off the name of the brand with new ambitious projects.
The Tornado will be discontinued in 1975, after another update in 1972 with the S2 version and about 2000 bikes made.