JENAL - Benelli 900Sei Special. A classic motorcycle for a classic barge

23) Benelli's six cylinder engine in all its visually refurbished glory. The only external replacement parts were the K&N Air Filters, new alternator and ignition system chrome covers and replacement 12 butchered tappet adjuster covers, both from Benelli-Bauer.					24) As mentioned earlier the foot-pegs were change for styled pegs that better suited the new 900's image and Alessandro de Tomaso's concept design. The fact that they fold up proved to be an advantage.
25) The 40 year old and original Bosch electronic ignition system was long past its 'sell-by-date' because electronics had moved on with such a pace. Benelli club members recommended German company Sachse Electronics and here you can see 2 of the 3 new ignition coils installed.					26) A distinctive picture taken at the start of the rebuild. To make the engine installation easier and to reduce the chances of scratching the frames new paint, we laid the engine on its side and lowered the frame over it.
27) For such a noted nation of style, Italian bike manufactures made most of their production bikes with gold coloured wheels. Gold would have looked out of place on this Benelli and silver was the choice. Kustom Koatings shot blasted the alloy wheels, sprayed them silver and then clear lacquered them.					28) A visual comparison of the Bosch ignition electronics (top) with the Sachse Electronics at the bottom. A great weight, size and performance advantage.
29) The build up progresses with the installation of the suspension and further electronic upgrades. On the left hand side of the engine's crank resides the alternator, the original Benelli chrome cover had no ventilation so the electrical cables cooked to a crisp.					30) Because the new oil cooler stole the original position of the horns, Alan decided to mount them below the oil rad which looked okay until he fitted the exhaust pipes and realised their close proximity would cook the horns. Bad idea!
31) Winter snows and cold did not deter Alan from Benelli progress and here the bike gets close to test running the engine. A particularly useful find was the extremely small and lightweight Super B battery.					32) The repainted tinware came back from the bodyshop and the tank, in particular, looked stunning. With its Benelli Tornado Tre 900 candy green, Cagiva graphite and Benelli silver colours.
33) Friend Richard with his years of Benelli ownership had acquired a range of Benelli factory tools. Here we can see the timing disc we used to set up the new Sachse ignition system and adjust the tappets after removing the cam cover to replace the timing chain tensioner.					34) The under seat area got busy with the small Super B battery offering space for other items. Keeping the key electrical components in this one place.
35) The Benelli is blessed (?) with a duplex rear drive chain, a design idea of some 40 years ago believed to be the answer to chain stretch from a would be Superbike. These are now a rare commodity and unique to Benelli so Alan wanted to preserve it and fitted a Scottoiler to lubricate and extend the chain's life.					36) The Benelli Special looks like a hospital patient on a Saline-drip. In actual fact it is a 1 litre remote fuel supply which allows the bike to be started without the proper fuel tank in the way. Enabling engine tuning to carried out in an easier manor.
37) Assembly of the rear brake pedal proved a prior oversight. It hit the RH exhaust pipes with just 3/4" (20mm) of travel. Which was a particular shame because it had been re-chromed :-(. Another trip to see Paul @ DULA Engineering resolved the problem by making a longer pedal shaft and reseating the arm back inward.					38) Benelli Specials don't look much better than this one, especially now that some of the newly liveried panels were fitted. Because there was a styling issue where the 750 style round front indicator stalks fitted in place of the oblong 900's, Alan had to have a re-think.
39) As mentioned previously, Benelli's sixes are inclined to run oil hot so to keep an eye both on oil temperature and pressure Alan installed 2 auxiliary gauges to the inside of the bikini fairing. These can be seen each side of the instrument cluster and easily read from the rider's seat.					40) The replacement tool tray from Benelli-Bauer is held in place by Velcro and now holds a small but useful tool kit. The side hinged seat has a purpose made safety wire made from an old Bowden throttle cable, covered with some small bore clear hose. It looks right and does the job.
41) Sachse Electronics spark distribution system sits on the RH side of the crankshaft and visually looks simplistic compared to the original Bosch system. Closer inspection reveals lots of complicated electrical wizardry.					42) The brakes came in for re-engineering, where the original foot brake pedal actuated the rear and LH front disc leaving the brake lever to actuate the RH front disc. Now the handle bar lever operates all 3 discs with the foot brake overriding and operating just the rear.
43) As outlined before, the addition of the oil cooler was a design challenge and this schematic was supplied to Mocal to assist them in supplying their Aeroquip oil hoses to the correct and snug fitting, required to keep appearances looking like a road bike rather than a NASCAR racer.					44) Hooking up the new hydraulic brake pipe layout was ably assisted by Venhill Engineering who made both their special brake hoses and also their Superlight cables and instrument drive cables.
45) Benelli's have an enviable reputation for their road handling and Alan fitted this fork brace more for a belt-n-braces approach than resolving any ill-handling issues.					46) The rear brake is actuated by this new master cylinder. It is a different bore and mounting size to the original so minor re-mount drilling and tapping was required. Note the bleed screw to aid the passage of fluid.
47) This is the Mocal oil thermostat with its Alan fabricated mounting bracket which fits between the top rear engine mounts. The senders for the oil temp and pressure gauges were drilled and tapped into the housing, the only place to affix these senders.					48) Benelli's first time out on the road and off to the MOT test station so that it could be road licensed. Amazingly it felt very stable and comfortable on the road.
49) To see how good or bad Alan's engine work had been, he subjected it to a rolling road test and all was surprisingly okay.					50) Testing on the highway generated a problem... literally! The generator (alternator) failed so we fitted a permanent magnet rotor - brushless design with higher outputs at lower rpm.
51) To see how a brief overview of the headwork before the final information is published.					52) The electrics have come in for further evolution with a digital gear selection indicator and side-stand neutral by-pass relay to allow the engine to start on the side-stand but not in-gear.