THE mini MULTI
Motorcycling, like life, is shaped by culture. Registered as a 1980 machine, the Benelli 254 displayed here was first introduced as a sports pocket rocket in Milan around 1975, then left to languish in a displacement class which was twenty years past its prime. This might explain why Benelli’s 250 four is well known, yet very rare on the ground.
As envisioned by Alejandro De Tomaso, a wave of new multi-cylinder machines emerged from Pesaro from 1974, our feature bike being the smallest of a line leading up to the range-topping Benelli 900 six. All except the 254 drew heavily upon pre-existing designs from Honda, possibly explaining why some consider it the best of the bunch. One glance at its flash, angular styling and red/orange colour scheme dates the 254 instantly: definitely a bike of its time.
Logic and reason were optional on most Italian motorcycles of this era, and this remains true to the present day – as demonstrated when American enthusiast Shane Leathers spied this barely-used example of De Tomaso’s
