A 49-cc trail bike is about as small as it gets, and I don’t generally think of Italian motorcycles as being rugged trail bikes. That being said, according to Peterson’s “Wheels Afield” magazine in 1967, they said the 1967 Benelli Fireball 50 Trail bike was “A real stump puller.” This little Italian stump puller can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Acworth, Georgia, and they’re asking $550. Here is the original listing, and thanks to PRA4SNW for the tip! I’m going to try to get through this one without buying this thing.
If this thing wasn’t a $1,200 shipping journey away, I’d buy this little Benelli instantly, running or not. And, of course, it isn’t currently in running condition. It also appears to have a missing side cover, the chain, and a kick-start lever. The side cover should say either Benelli or Trail, or sometimes Trial. I’ve seen all three, with one being chrome, so maybe restorers have taken some liberties with that. This would be a fun little winter restoration project, not that I don’t have half a dozen of those already. You can see the dual rear sprockets in the photo above, for either tackling those Italian mountains and/or riding around on the streets of Rome. Of course, you’ll need a chain first, a kick-start lever, and then to get it running.
I believe most of these little Benellis were silver and red, such as this beautiful original example, or this mind-blowing restored example. But yellow and black was an option, and here’s one in silver and yellow that I think looks nice, but that’s just me. Maybe it’s because my yellow Rokon has a silver frame, and I think it visually lightens it up quite a bit. Benelli made the Fireball 50 Trail for only two years, I believe: 1967 and 1968, and this one would have been $259. That’s about $2,600 today. For the record, the silver and yellow one sold a year ago for £890 British pounds, which is the equivalent of $1,190 U.S. dollars. It was also not running and was missing the exhaust, and also that pesky little right-side cover door! $550 for this yellow one seems like a steal. PRA4SNW, pick this one up for me, will you!
In 1969, Benelli offered a “Super-Mini,” which was a very similar-looking 49-cc trail bike, which came in Sun Yellow or Silver and Red. I was wondering if this Facebook listing was actually that bike, but the exhaust is on the other side. From what I can find, 1969 was the last year that Benelli offered a 49-cc motorcycle. They made 49-cc mopeds a bit later, but not a kick-start, actual motorcycle-looking motorcycle like these little trail bikes.
Page 4 of this brochure shows a 1965/1966 Benelli Fireball 50 Scrambler, a very similar bike, and it’s listed as being available in either “Hunter Yellow” or Brick Bright, which I’m assuming is red. This little trail bike for sale on Facebook in Georgia is said to be equally at home tackling the Italian mountains or riding the streets of Rome, and it’s powered by a Benelli 49-cc two-stroke single-cylinder with around 4.5 horsepower. Power is sent through a four-speed manual transmission, and the seller says this one isn’t currently running. It’s said to be complete, well, other than that missing right-side cover door, the chain, and the kick-start lever, and there is no title. That’s no problem, but paying in cash when you’re 1,100 miles away is a problem. Have any of you owned a Benelli of any size? Bonus points for having owned a tiny trail bike.
I’m so glad that you pick these sorts of submissions up, Scotty. I knew very little about the Benelli, and now I am familiar with the entire product line, thanks to the brochure link.
A Benelli Barracuda huh? I wonder how they came up with that name? LOL.
This is a really cool little bike. Great find too PRA4SNW!!! I am going to have to admit that I knew nothing about Benelli motorcycle s, that is, until Scotty wrote this up. Great link for the brochure too Scotty. This would look great restored. And I hope someone does.
I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do( Joe Walsh) the other writers do an awesome job, it’s just, scrolling down, Firebird, Firebird, Corvette, Firebird, yawn, then VOILA! One of Scottys submissions. Guaranteed smile everytime. :)
Benelli wasn’t exactly a household name in the US. Generally known for mo-peds and other “sub-par”( to us)motorbikes and sold by Monkey ( Montgomery)Wards, hardly a place to buy a reputable motorcycle. Many bought on a whim while shopping at for clothes or cheap tools,, I wonder if junior would like this?, and never ridden, as is probably the case here. Looks like fun until the 1st hill or slop hole, horribly underpowered, roundabouts in Rome, more like it. Pulling stumps requires a bit more power. I read, these cost about $300 new, or about $65 more than a Honda 50. Most went with the Honda for obvious reasons.
Now, a short sidenote, don’t feel bad for Benelli. In 1973, Benelli shocked the world just getting over the Honda and Kawasaki 4 cylinders, by introducing the 750sei,( later 900) the worlds 1st in line 6 cylinder motorcycle, and distantly related to the Honda CBX 1000 monster. Neither sold well, but showed what the Italians could do long before the Asians. America? Still plodding along with their antique pushrod V twins, and proud of it.
Benelli did so well designing and selling bikes that they went an entirely different direction-kind of. As the story goes, an engineer in the company loved to hunt and designed a unique shotgun that was so good and later sold so well they opened a plant just for guns. All the online bike forums talk about the new Benelli bikes being Chinese now so the family must’ve sold the bike company.
There are many of us that remember when Benelli brought out the 750 Sei-the first production six cylinder motorcycle ever made, preempting the Honda CBX and Kawasaki KZ1300 by several years. Later the director of the time, some guy named Alexandro De Thomaso, saw to the 900 Sei being built but they couldn’t compete in the market between cost, dealerships and ad exposure. A shame, too as they were said to have handled incredibly well in contrast with the others.
Still love their sound especially in anger – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aLgPz4DZZmU
Holy crap, what a wonderful sound!
What happened to the thumbs 👍 up? I already know who got the thumbs down 👎 removed.