1965 Benelli / Motobi 200 Sprite

[Canuck750]

I am slowly gathering up enough parts to build a 200 Sprite, I plan on using the Motobi decals and rubber bits rather than the Benelli markings, all of the Sprite frames are actually stamped MOTOBI and in Europe I think the egg motor bikes were sold as Motobi's whereas Cosmopolitan had the bikes they imported marked as Benelli.

This is a Benelli Sprite, a 200 I think, a 4 speed 4 stroke single (5 speeds were also available)



In a typical moment of weakness I fell for an Ebay add listing an 'almost complete' Benelli 250 Baraccuda, after a lot of back and forth a crate came in the summer



After sorting and cleaning I found that quite a bit is missing or not correct and the bike is not a 250 Barrcuda, it is a 4 speed 200 Sprite.
Missing from the engine was the transmission shift drum and related bits, the rocker cover was damaged, the cylinder appears to be for a 250 but is overbored beyond spec. The front fender is wrong, the left side cover and chain guard are from different models. Missing a piston, exhaust and tail light, headlamp and trim ring and much more.



I sent the frame and metal parts off to get blasted and coated with powder primer. I found what I think is the correct front fender



I am starting to put it together as a dry build to determine what I have to find



I had a complete rear tail light bracket and made up a tail light form parts I had on hand



I found a seat cover in Italy (I think) and I have rounded up the MOTOBI stamped foot peg rubbers, my box of parts had a headlight and a

The head spark plug hole is stripped, used a steel rod to set up the compound angle on the milling machine, I drilled out the hole and fittd a new steel threaded insert



123 Bearings in the UK has provided all the ball bearings for the engine cases, great service, very fast shipping!

Mac Dennis in the USA has been a great help tracking down parts for me!

The rear hub is missmatched, I think some of it is for a 5 speed model and some for a 4 seed model, Mac is looking for the correct parts for me



Ebay has been a great source of NOS Benelli / Motobi parts, Santo-Di Moto-Cicli has a lot of the smaller parts, all NOS

Tracking down parts, especialy from Italy is a long slow process so I have multiple 'projects' on the go, all waiting for parts, I hope to track down the rest of the pieces over the winter and plan on getting it running then strip it down and get the painting and plating done.

[cliffrod]

I'll be anxious to hear your perspective comparing this bike to your Aermacchi Ala Verde bike.  I've never had a Benelli/Motobi single (missed a chance to get two of them long ago) and always wondered how diferent or similar they are to ride.  Back then, I basically equated the two engines so getting those two Benellis wasn't a huge priority.

And I really admire your focus, Jim.  If I had 2-3 bike builds happening at once, nothing would ever get done..

[Canuck750]

I'll be anxious to hear your perspective comparing this bike to your Aermacchi Ala Verde bike.  I've never had a Benelli/Motobi single (missed a chance to get two of them long ago) and always wondered how diferent or similar they are to ride.  Back then, I basically equated the two engines so getting those two Benellis wasn't a huge priority.

And I really admire your focus, Jim.  If I had 2-3 bike builds happening at once, nothing would ever get done..

What I can tell so far is the Benelli motor appears to be over engineered, I found the same to be true when I rebuilt the Benelli 650 Tornado. Example; the crank shaft is supported with two ball bearings on each end, one a single row ball bearing the other a close spaced double row ball bearing. All the other engine shafts run in ball bearings and the oil pump design appears to be very robust. The frame on the egg motor bikes is a welded up box section affair, very rigid as is the case with the 650 as well.
On the other hand the Aermacchi engine is known to have received constant improvements over the years, first introduced on the Ala d’Oro GoldWing race bikes then trickling down to the street models. I don’t think Benelli/ Motobi ever developed the egg motors to the race level of Aermacchi. I personally think the Benelli is a more attractive package but the Ala Verde bikes are almost an equal.

[Canuck750]

I got a nice box of used Benelli 200 Sprite parts in the mail today, just in need of a good cleaning



Going back and forth between the ultrsonic cleaner with a heated mixture of Simple Green / water (to lift the grease and sludge) and the vapour blast cabinet, the parts all cleaned up real nice



I was lucky to find the correct left hand side cover on EBay yesterday for a very good price, slowly the parts needed list is getting smaller

[Michael Moore]

I had an assortment of Motobi stuff with the intention of building a 200GP AHRMA racer.  That's all been cleared out and some of the bikes have been built up and are used for NorCal Giro events.

The street Motobi engines are a LOT different from the Sei Tiranti factory replica race engines that the Zanzanis are still making and selling.  Most every set of crankcases I had were cracked, and the 5 speeds are less strong than the 4 speed cases.  My Benelli-Motobi email list is still active at micapeak.com, and Mac has been on it a long time, it might help you source more parts from around the world.

Cool engines, and I got to meet the Zanzanis when I went to Italy to go to the Mostro Scambio at Imola, but for a race project I would have been better off starting with an Aermacchi -- the street engines were beefier and much closer to the race engines.  Just about everything in a Sei Tiranti engine is different from the street bikes.

Here's a photo of Primo Zanzani building up an engine





and a crank case being machined in their shop




classic langston hughes poem 4 letters


cheers,
Michael

[Canuck750]

Here's a photo of Primo Zanzani building up an engine





and a crank case being machined in their shop




classic langston hughes poem 4 letters


cheers,
Michael

Very cool!

[Canuck750]

I stripped down the headlight bucket that came with the project, its a typical CEV all in one unit, 6 volts; headlight, ignition cut out key, headlight switch, headlight running light, speedometer, and inside the shell the electrical junction panel, regulator and rectifier. I had a NOS headlight trim ring and headlight in my parts stash to fit this shell.



Vapour blasted the shell, wiped it down with metal etch, then a wipe of acetone and powder coated it satin black.



I stripped down all of the components, the cut out switch was seized, its a very simple design, inserting the key and twisting it depresses a plunger that meets a contact that completes the circuit. By soaking the bucket with the switch intact in muriatic acid the rust bubbled out of the components and I was able to unscrew the switch from the shell then get the plunger freed up.



I had new plated screws in my stash that secures the regulator and rectifier, the light switch bakelight handle polished up a bit, same for the running light plastic lens

I bought a trio of small size speedometers a couple years back thinking one day they would come in handy, one of them is a perfect match



all done, I had to trim down the inner flange of the headlight trim ring to fit properly over the shell lip



back on the forks for now



I also stripped down the seat and vapour balsted the sprung seat frame



painted it with POR-15 satin black, this stuff is sprayed direct to metal and once cured is almost as tough as powder coat (my oven is too small to fit the seat frame in)



I found a supplier in Italy for reproduction seat covers, they have none in stock for this particular seat but told me to ship him my seat frame and original cover and they will make a reproduction for me. I have bought seat covers for other small displacement Italian bikes in the past and the quality is excellent

[berniebee]

Very cool little Benelli. Amazingly long hanger for the muffler. Looking forward to see it come together!

Will you do the blue/silver-grey colour combo?

[Canuck750]

Very cool little Benelli. Amazingly long hanger for the muffler. Looking forward to see it come together!

Will you do the blue/silver-grey colour combo?

I am leaning to the blue / silver scheme, going to put the Motobi decals on it, all the Sprite frames are stamped Motobi, I think Cosmopolitan had all the Sprites they imported badged Benelli as that was the line they were marketing, by this time Motobi had been reabsorbed into the Benelli fold and the Motobi branded bikes were limited to Europe. I like the red and silver as well but I already have a few red bikes. I like the Motobi decal design better😉

[riguzzi]

I had a 250 when I was a young fellow in New Zealand. With a few minor tweaks it was a great bike that could lean over unbelievably far. I eventually put a different seat, clipons, megaphone, carb and raced it with some success, but the crankpin was very weak. I ended up rebuilding the crank every few races.

[Canuck750]

my super cheap wheel building jig!



A gallon paint can and a couple quart cans blocked up with wood scraps, works great for fitting spokes, I got a new set of stainless steel spokes and nipples from Buchanans, I am amazed the catalogue of specifications they have on file, I called them and asked for a rear set of spokes for a 1965 Benelli 200 Sprite, not a probelm they said, have the full specs for length and gauge, they fit perfect and cost about $110.00 and come with the assembly grease to keep the stainless nipple seizing on the stainless spoke.

Buchanans even had the specs for the 1961 Aermacchi with 17" rims (one year only).

True the rims up on a cheap balance stand and a dial gauge,



A new pair of Duro tires and this 1965 will be back on two wheels after a very long slumber resting in peices.

Long time Benelli / Motobi Ebay parts seller "santo_di_motocicli" came up with a NOS rear wheel hub with brake plate and sprocket plate, amazing what still come up for sale

[Canuck750]

I had a 250 when I was a young fellow in New Zealand. With a few minor tweaks it was a great bike that could lean over unbelievably far. I eventually put a different seat, clipons, megaphone, carb and raced it with some success, but the crankpin was very weak. I ended up rebuilding the crank every few races.

Any pictures of your race bike?

[Scout63]

my super cheap wheel building jig!



A gallon paint can and a couple quart cans blocked up with wood scraps, works great for fitting spokes, I got a new set of stainless steel spokes and nipples from Buchanans, I am amazed the catalogue of specifications they have on file, I called them and asked for a rear set of spokes for a 1965 Benelli 200 Sprite, not a probelm they said, have the full specs for length and gauge, they fit perfect and cost about $110.00 and come with the assembly grease to keep the stainless nipple seizing on the stainless spoke.

Buchanans even had the specs for the 1961 Aermacchi with 17" rims (one year only).

True the rims up on a cheap balance stand and a dial gauge,



A new pair of Duro tires and this 1965 will be back on two wheels after a very long slumber resting in peices.

Long time Benelli / Motobi Ebay parts seller "santo_di_motocicli" came up with a NOS rear wheel hub with brake plate and sprocket plate, amazing what still come up for sale

Just found this thread on the bump.  Great pictures and wonderful work.

[Canuck750]

Just found this thread on the bump.  Great pictures and wonderful work.

Thanks! It’s just a cheap little 4 stroke single but I have a soft spot for the Benelli / Motobi brand, they had a wide range of bikes that get little coverage these days.

[Canuck750]

I got my Benelli / Motobi seat back from Italy today, less then three months turn around, even though I had cheaped out and shipped the frame and old cover by surface to the upholstery shop.

They did a fantastic job copying the old seat pattern, mounting to the frame and adding the grab strap.





they remounted the original name plate, I had asked if they could find a Motobi emblem but no luck, cocst me just over 100 Euro plus shipping there and back

[Canuck750]

I have been making some progress of late on the Benelli 200 Sprite, I think I may have sourced all the missing engine / transmission parts,



All new case bearings from 123 Bearings  https://www.123bearing.com/
 
missing transmission and engine parts from Mac Dennis  - (New York State) Moto Spares LLC  - Motospares@fastmail.net / Detlef Burian (Germany) Benelliparts.de / William Kuehn - Santo Di Motocicli - (Ebay USA) liamkuehn@gmail.com

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

 

[Canuck750]

I have come to a stand still with the Benelli Sprite motor build, the crank shaft that came in the boxes of parts appears to be for a 5 speed 250 and not a 4 speed 200. I was able to find what was advertised on Ebay as a 150 / 175 / 200 Sprite 4 Speed crank shaft, good and bad, the con rod is good but the crank web pieces are worn out, the pin just about falls out. I need to find at a minimum a pair of crank webs but the sources I have been using don't have any.

worst case my machinist says he might be able to use the pin out of the 250 crank and bore out the 200 crank webs to take the bigger pin (the 200 pin is stepped with 20mm for the webs and 24mm for the big end, the 250 pin is a straight 24mm).

These are the basic dimmensions of the crank shaft I am after should anyone have one available

[Canuck750]

A bit of progress on the Benelli Sprite, I found a decent crank shaft (it came with a motor  ) and the good news is the engine is a 4 speed 250 (74mm bore), good head, cylinder, crank and transmission but one of the cases is cracked, might be able to get it welded up.



Ebay seller - santo_di_motocicli (William Kuhen) has a NOS oversize piston / rings so I think I can build a 250cc motor for the bike and put the 200 4 speed engine on the shelf for when I find a decent crank for that motor.

The Ebay seller ( yz12910rv ) gave me a very generous refund for the cracked case, there are good people out there!

[Muzz]

I don't see a picture of the inside of the head Jim, although the valve angles say it is a hemi. piston is a flat top.  Any idea of the compression ratio?

[Canuck750]

I don't see a picture of the inside of the head Jim, although the valve angles say it is a hemi. piston is a flat top.  Any idea of the compression ratio?

It's a Hemi head Muzz,

250 cc Barracuda, claimed compression of 8.5:1 - 24 hp at 8500 rpm,  232 pounds and a maximum speed claimed 95 mph with the 4 speed and 80 mpg.

200 cc Sprite, claimed compression ratio 8.8:1 - 19.5 hp at 8600 rpm, 231 pounds, claimed top speed 90 mph, fuel consumption 85 mpg, 4 speed.

The retail on the 250 SS in 1971 was $769.00 from Cosmopolitan (dealers cost $577.00)

[Canuck750]

I have been making slow progress on my Benelli 200 Sprite, its been a long search to find a good sued crank shaft and a bunch of the small pieces of hardware, bearings, seals and gaskets, I had to make up some spacers and shims on the lathe but I am close to having a running motor, I hope.

The cases have been rebuilt with new bearings and seals, replacement crank, new oversize piston and the head is off to get new guides and a valve grind.



Found a crack in the case from where the bike probably went down on the right hand side and the kick start shaft pressed against the retaining bush, my welder friend touched it up and it will be solid



Benelli does not call for a center case gasket but I fond the shafts bine without one so I made up a gasket and now the gears and shafts spin free





unique clutch pressure plate attachment and the basket springs actually tread into the basket, the spring pitch is M12 x 2



The stator plate and coils are a mess, will probably need to have thrm rewound

[Canuck750]

I cleaned up the stator plate and fitted a NOS lighting coil



fitted the stator



The parts manuals for the  125, 200 and 250 list different rotors for each bike but I think the stators are the same, all use the same lighting and ignition coil part numbers

Al of the rotors are the same dimensions but each as a unique weight. Regardless I don't think the rotors are sitting deep enough on the crank shaft taper, not a lot of threads sticking out. The manuals have unique part numbers but the numbers stamped on the rotors donlt seem to have any correlation to the parts numbers.





If anyone knows these motors I would sure like to hear from you 



This is the problem with buying a bike in parts, not having any history of working on them and not a lot of knowledge out there on the variations of thee three Egg motors.

This Benelli has been a deep dive down a rabbit hole and I haven't seen daylight yet.

[cliffrod]

I really like what you’re doing with this project in particular, Jim.  The obscurity of the specific details of many of these bikes often seems to define them as do run or will never run.  fixing them with any manner of originality can be really tough and definitely not financially realistic.    Thanks for sticking with this project and for posting so many details.

[Canuck750]

I really like what you’re doing with this project in particular, Jim.  The obscurity of the specific details of many of these bikes often seems to define them as do run or will never run.  fixing them with any manner of originality can be really tough and definitely not financially realistic.    Thanks for sticking with this project and for posting so many details.

Thanks Clint!
I think I may have solved the Rotor, I took the worst one as a test and chucked it in the lathe then with a small boring bar cut back the outer surface around where the retaining nut seats, took of about 6mm so now the nut has plenty of threads. The position of rotor to Stator appears to be ok.
I got into Rome today and plan on getting to the big Imola swap meet on the weekend of September 10, hopefully I can spot some Benelli/ Motobi things amongst the 3000+ vendors that are expected. I would like to find a NOS ignition coil for the Stator and a bunch of bits for my 61 Aermacchi Ala Verde tribute. Friends have sent me a list of obscure parts needed for restorations.

Jim

[blackcat]

First time looking at this thread, nice job!

[Canuck750]

First time looking at this thread, nice job!

Thanks! I am in Italy, near Milan, Mandello tomorrow. I am going to the Imola swap meet on Saturday to look for some parts for the Benelli and my Aermacchi project.

Cheers

Jim

[Canuck750]

I was fortunate to visit the Benelli / MotoBi museum in Pesaro Italy, in September, located in what remains of the once large Benelli / MotoBi factory in the center of town. On the display floor amongst many other fantastic machines is this MotoBi Sprite 200, I took many pictures of the machine for reference purposes. I think I will go ahead and paint it this colour and label it as a MotoBi.

Unfortunately I don't have the European style triple clamps / fork ears and clip-ons that are on this bike, Cosmopolitan imported these labeled as "Benelli" and they came with typical American style hi-rise type handle bars clamped to the top triple, I will fit some flat or clubman style bars.

[huub]

for the dansi ignition ,
my MV 350 was fitted with a dansi ignition , of course the stator coil had failed.
i fittedd a new guzzi TS 250 coil  ( they also had dansi ignition. )
apparently lambretta scooters has the same coils,  aftermarket lambretta parts are easy to find.

[Canuck750]

for the dansi ignition ,
my MV 350 was fitted with a dansi ignition , of course the stator coil had failed.
i fittedd a new guzzi TS 250 coil  ( they also had dansi ignition. )
apparently lambretta scooters has the same coils,  aftermarket lambretta parts are easy to find.

That is great information!!
Thank you so much

Jim