Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in, in response to an earlier post, 3/12/2003 Benelli Splits With U.S. Importer, from Andrew Wright of SuperBike Inc., which bills itself as “Exclusive Official Importers For Benelli Motorcycles & Scooters:”

We just noticed that you have published a letter from Sandro Caparelli at Benelli SpA that was sent to our dealers. This was sent in response to a letter from us dated March 3, 2003 to Andrea Merloni, President of Benelli. We stated:

“It is our contention that we continue to have a valid and legally binding contract with Benelli SpA to exclusively import motorcycles, scooters and spare parts into the United States. We were not able to purchase any of these products by December 31, 2002 due to the products lacking the ability to pass the US standards set by the EPA and DOT. However, we did send $$$,$$$ (sic) to be held as a deposit for fifteen LE’s in November. As of this date, your products have still not met the federal safety standards and you have refused to work with us to provide the necessary parts and support in order for us to obtain the final testing approval.”

Our Italian attorney states that we have a valid contract that cannot be set aside without arbitration and has advised us to continue to promote Benelli in this country. We have solved the LE’s problems, with no help from the company, and are confident that it will meet all EPA certifications in the next few days. Arbitration should be set for some time in May, but we are hopeful that our issues will be resolved quickly once we have the EPA approval.

Benelli has a fantastic new product line that only needs some minor adjustments for them to meet the US standards. We expect these products to be well received once the company has addressed the EPA certification.

Please contact me directly at (229) 242-0666 for further information.

Best regards,

Andrew Wright