The Dynamo
(My First Benelli)
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Cycle World 1969 Dynamo Review!!!
The Man (At Left) and The Machine
The first Benelli I have ever owned, I found it on E-Bay and it needed a good deal more work than the seller let on. But it's been all fixed up -- restored, really -- by Benelli Maestro Claudio Catania , the last remaining factory-authorized Benelli mechanic in the United States (visit his website at: www.CFMmoto.com ) and should be great fun. Now on its way to Santa Fe, the gleaming Dynamo is slated to arrive just in time for Thanksgiving!
Update: the Dynamo arrives, but several problems remain, which I am working to rectify with the generous and knowledgable help of Mr. Catania, who has sent me a holiday care package of spares (carburetor, speedometer, petcock [not original item], replacement left-side engine cover with shift mechanism, replacement gas cap, replacement fuel line, replacement custom-lengthened kickstand) to help solve the problems listed below:
1. Gasoline sloshes past gas cap and spills onto tank, threatening the finish and melting/destroying those precious original Benelli plastic 3-D tank badges (which are both perfect on my Cougar (see below)); one is perfect on my Enduro and one is kind of wonky. They are both very, very bad on the Dynamo. The Panther and the Nuovo Leoncino have flat, 2-D stickers. I am thinking of getting a batch of these badges made up. Any interest, folks?
FIXED: Don't know quite how, I still kept the original gas cap but just fiddled with it.
REALLY FIXED: Replaced the original defective gas cap with a new one and that did it!
2. Choke rod will not stay down, making bike difficult to start.
FIXED (SORT OF): Squeezed the spring tightly, now the choke rod stays down and is hard to release! But I can manage it, no biggie at this point.
REALLY FIXED: A small push on the side of the spring releases the choke rod reliably. This is not really the way it's supposed to work, but it's a.o.k. The choke rod on the Cougar, by comparison, works perfectly. Additional fiddling with the spring might bring this to perfection, but it could also break the spring, and then...! So I'm gonna' leave it alone.
3. Bike dies after several minutes of running -- fuel starvation -- either defective petcock (fuel shut-off-valve) or venting issue with gas cap (see item #1 above) or (less likely) carburetor problem.
FIXED: Spark plug missing the necessary "cap" at the top to mate correctly with spark plug lead. Also replaced fuel petcock and fuel filter. PERFECT!
4. Bike's kickstand is too short (or bike is sitting too high due to slightly overlong shock absorbers, making the bike's kickstand too short...).
FIXED: It was very tough. But it works now, thanks to the tricky installation of a custom-lengthened kickstand from Claudio Catania. Original short kickstand retained if needed.
5. Bike won't stay in fourth gear, slips out into neutral. Bike can be driven by holding gear-shift pedal down slightly with foot when driving in fourth, although one wonders how good this is for the transmission.
NOT FIXED YET -- Claudio is helping work this issue along with Larry St. Cyr at Benelli Restoration in Brockton, Massachusetts. Larry sold me an original factory service manual for the Dynamo and yes, I'm going to read the instructions and see if I can get that shift assembly put back correctly.
FIXED: With instructions from Claudio, and some deep thought, I was able to see how the mechanism actually works. A few minutes of inspired wrenching and -- TRANNY FIXED, yahoo!
6. Speedometer lamp illumination not functioning (bad bulb, probably).
NOT FIXED YET. Probably just needs a bulb...
Stay tuned for updates on Dynamo Recovery. I found one fellow who wants to buy it for $1500...we won't talk about what's been invested in this bike already...ouch!