de TOMASO: GRANDIOSE, NOT GREAT

Kjell,

Are you denying that Benelli copied the engine from the popular Honda design, down to every last dimension, and changed only what they needed to change to stuff the thing into whatever frame they were trying to hang it on, or put it into?

I have the Benelli Sei book with all the period test reviews, every single one of them refers to the fact that they lifted the design WHOLESALE from Honda. It was usually in the first or second paragraph, in fact. We all know it. DeTomaso copped to it. So why deny it?

I knew exactly what a real Moto Guzzi engine looked like before I joined (and left) the group, and you know, funny thing, it's exactly what a Guzzi engine looks like today: two big air cooled cylinders, horizontally-opposed or 45-Degrees or whatever it is. It's a thoroughbred design, it's the heritage and the history, it's pure and real Guzzi, it's the only thing that survived, because it was the only thing that was really any damn good and the only thing (I'm sure the smart folks at Piaggio picked up on this) WORTH PRESERVING. It's that wacky Darwin again!

"If I wanted a Honda, I'd have bought a Honda." See picture of Mr. Prampolini below, a real Italian engineer designing a real Italian engine in-house -- not stealing blueprints from Honda!!!

Regarding my decision to leave the group, one must (as my girlfriend says) "go where your market is." As a moderator, I get two or three people leaving the group PER DAY (you don't hear about these folks; I do) because you guys won't stop lavishing praise on your damn multis and ignoring every other Benelli ever made. My love for real pre-Tomaso Benellis from Pesaro (not by way of Tokyo) is an antidote to this illness. Since you all HAVE these bikes and since you all spend your days worshipping them, it's just externalized self-love, in my opinion. See earlier blog posts for my uncensored take on this phenomenon!

Also, if you go back into the archives, you will see that I have been more or less ruthlessly attacked by people, often people with a complete disregard and lack of understanding of what I was saying. The "LINE" that people have crossed can be expressed thusly: I have never once attacked anyone on the forum, merely bikes and designs I didn't like. I never made things personal. Such comments are always offline and private and personal between me and the correspondent; one creep from the U.K. posted them publicly, a breach of the most basic e-mail etiquette and privacy, but after all, his only goal was to paint me black in the eyes of the group, not play fair or act decently. I have the right to my private opinions, however unflattering of others, and I have the right not to see these private opinions posted publicly!

All this, in essence, is why I left the group -- poor behavior and ignorance on the part of the participants. I'll continue to read the posts to make sure I don't miss anything interesting or useful (unless, as moderator, I choose to throw myself out of the group, ha-ha!), but I wouldn't dare contribute a word, for fear of being mocked and attacked, and to not commit the biblical error of pearls and swine.

Besides, this blog is a fine opportunity to say whatever I damn well please. After all, there may be a connection between "The DeTomaso" mentality (bigger is better, my engine is bigger than yours, therefore my [you know] must be bigger, too…) and charlatanism (the bikes weren't that great, nor were his cars, they were all flash, grandiose but not great).

DeTomaso was very wealthy, and very successful, but he was also very short. Can you say NAPOLEON? Sure you can….however much fun they ultimately end up having, successful men who become successful with girls only after they have their financial success must carry around with them a dirty, shameful little secret: if I was really attractive and desirable, why didn't girls want me BEFORE my success? Ask Pete Townshend with his big nose, or DiTomaso with his dimunitive stature, or countless "just plain pug-ugly" millionaires!!!

There were many errors of thought and expression in your letter. I won't address them all. The Japanese copying Benelli and Guzzi engines? You are dreaming. Honda not suing Benelli as evidence of non-copying of the engine design? Hardly! 1) There may have been a licensing agreement in place, unknown to us -- some of the early articles stated that there was, and/or 2) Benelli had no significant money to chase down, so why bother? That's the first thing the lawyers look at -- how big is the potential booty?

Benelli's sales numbers were insignficant and so was the revenue stream. The canny Weiss/Wise family dropped them like a hot potato as soon as there was a good excuse -- the lousy transmission design. Which was lousy, some say, because it was (HERE WE GO AGAIN!) a copy of the Honda design, which was made for the 500, and didn't have the strength to handle the 750's extra two cylinders, torque, and power!!!

Right! You can see that lack of originality and creativity has its technical and (ultimately) sales consequences!

As for DeTomaso "saving" Benelli, it's much like "selling the farm" or "killing the goose that laid the golden egg" or spending your last dollar on a small packet of drugs. You get the initial cash boost, it feels good, but you've signed your death warrant, even if it takes a few years for the executors to knock on the door....

Thanks for your kindness and sincerity,

Over and Out,


SS