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 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.
Weeeeell, I’m not going to say what we were looking at in those catalogs, it wasn’t motorcycles( cough), and a Benelli in Beer City? Good heavens, “Monkey Wards” or not, best not go there. Still, there were some brave souls, Milwaukee being a college town, drew many from outside the area, blissfully unaware of the Harley crowd, and some did bring their modes of transportation with them. Got to admit, the Italians sure had some swoopy styling, and not all were ring dings, this looks like a fun bike to ride, and the looks, a pleasant escape from the unusual space looking objects of today. A quick check indicates plenty of suppliers for parts, many have catalogs,,,just no ladies underwear,,, :0
Ha ha I see we looked at the same thing
I remember in ’68 when Wards sold the “Riverside Mojave 360,” which was built by Benelli. Cycle World did a test on it and it seemed to perform quite well. I was always somewhat curious but I was also somewhat surprised that the market was dominated by the Rising Sun. Guys like me seldom looked to the Pacific for rides; we looked right here at home, or toward Europe.
This bike would be quite the novelty to have. I never rode a Benelli but often thought that a ride on one would be a good experience. Finding one still available can be tempting…
Go for it George! That 250 would be a great 2 lane bike.
OMG I had the twin to this bike, it was even the same color! I was 13 years old (1971) and my dad’s friend was moving away, so he gave it to me. It didn’t run, so my dad helped me get it going. We lived on a farm in SW Nebraska, so I could ride it on the country roads. I only had it about a year til a tornado went thru our property and destroyed out-buildings, grain bins, etc (didn’t get our house though), and my Blue Benelli was in one of the sheds. The tornado left debris scattered for about a half mile, but we never found any piece or part of that motorcycle! I have fond memories of that bike. When I woke up this morning I hadn’t planned on buying a motorcycle, but now I’m sure thinking about it!
(Sorry to ramble on. I’ve been a daily BF reader for years but this is my first comment ever)
Patrick, That’s not rambling-that’s good times coming back around, one of the reasons BF is a good time every day for most of us. Thank you for speaking up!
With regards to losing your Benelli/Wards, that suck eggs to having lost it. That you and family weren’t hurt is what counts-and too you now have the bragging rights of once having a bike that was faster than a tornado!
Sears had Puchs which I think was Austrian, my next door neighbor had one, 50cc. Low exhaust but he rode it on the trails
It is interesting that it is an OHV as when you look at the photos it is hard to see any evidence of a chain or pushrods in the cylinder casting even though there is a rocker cover on the top. Possibly driven by a bevel drive up through the barrel. Does anyone know?
In my neck of the woods, Penney’s also sold Benelli motorcycles. Back then, as a teen, it was the first time hearing of that brand.