A lot of us of a certain age (30s or older) grew up with department store catalogs being mailed to our parents’ houses in the pre-internet era, and we would sometimes lose sleep over items like rebadged exotic foreign motorcycles shown in those catalogs. This Italian-American beauty is a 1967 Wards Riverside (Benelli) 250, and it can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The seller is asking $1,500, and here is the original listing.
For us, it was Sears and Wards, or more formally, Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. If they had sold food, I’m sure my parents would have loaded the kitchen cabinets with Sears and Wards products. JCPenney was also a player, and it’s really the only one of the big three department store chains that’s still hanging on, albeit barely. My brother and I were never lucky enough to have a Sears, Wards, or JCPenney motorcycle, but we had all the catalogs that showed everything from rebadged snowmobiles and motorcycles, VW parts, and everything in between.
Penney’s had a great line of minibikes, such as the Golden Pinto series and others, and Sears also offered motorcycles of all sizes. Montgomery Ward really hit it hard, lining up legendary Italian motorcycle company Benelli for its Wards Riverside brand, and this 250 looks like a jewel compared to most of them that we’ve seen. This seller is a friend and a rock and roll legend, famous in the 1990s and beyond, and still rocking. Now he’s settled down, shifting gears to raise his son and make sure he has a great family life rather than being away from home all the time traveling with his bands. There are no words to convey how much I respect that, putting his priorities out there for his family before his career.
Benelli offered several sizes of scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles for American companies such as Montgomery Ward and its Riverside line, the same as Sears had the Allstate brand of Italian motorcycles. We saw a very similar ’67 Wards Riverside 250 here on Barn Finds over a decade ago, and even back then the seller was asking more than this gentleman is asking for this much nicer example. This one is a steal and this Candy Apple Blue paint appears to be in outstanding condition. The seller says this bike is in original condition.
The engine is a Benelli 247cc four-stroke OHV single with around 20 horsepower. Backed by a four-speed manual, they were said to have a top speed of over 90 mph, although I can’t imagine doing 90 mph on a 250 single. This bike could use a kick-start rubber cover, which is $10 on eBay all day long, and it appears to need a new battery, as it’s shown with jumper cables. Again, no worries there. Have any of you owned a Wards Riverside Benelli motorcycle?
Had a neighbor many years ago that was selling his house; he and his wife had retired from Montgomery Wards many years before. Each had a Riverside they’d bought as Wards was closing out the bike line, his a 250 and hers a 125.
He asked me if I wanted them, no charge.
Cherry bikes.
Found him a buyer that gave him above market value.
Nevadahalfrack, that is being a true ” Stand up” guy. One thing we don’t see as much these days, that I wholeheartedly believe we need to see more of, are people being good neighbors. And what you did, was a classic example of being a good neighbor. That was very kind of you, and I’m sure the buyer was very happy to have them as well.
Now about this bike. It looks like it’s in mint condition. I’m not a bike expert, I wish I was, but this looks like a well preserved creampuff. I had family and friends that bought all kinds of thing from Montgomery Ward, up to a garden tractor with a snow plow attachment back around 1970. Great company with great products. Thank you Scotty.