Help with using the club’s machine dating service is available by emailing machinedating@benelliclubgb.net.
The club provides a machine dating service for classic Benelli, Motobi and Wards Riverside Benelli motorcycles.
Club records are extensive and include catalogue information dating back to 1921. Access to manufacturer’s production records is more limited, but this is improving all the time.
Costs for dating certificates:
- Benelli Motobi Club GB members can request two free dating certificates each membership year, including postage within the British Isles.
- The cost for non-members is £25 including postage within the British Isles. Alternatively, why not join the club; as soon as your membership is current you will be entitled to the full membership benefits, including up to two free dating certificates per year.
Members who require more than two certificates are invited to contact machinedating@benelliclubgb.net for the additional costs.
Postage rates for addresses outside the British Isles can be obtained from machinedating@benelliclubgb.net. Please see the note for non-UK residents below before requesting your certificate.
Documentation required
In order to provide a dating certificate, the following are needed:
- Four photographs: one of each side of the complete bike, in the condition in which it will be presented to the DVLA inspector, plus one photo each of the frame number and of the engine number. Please include the one, two or three letter model prefix in your photos where these exist.
- If there is a VIN plate rivetted to the steering head, a photograph of this will be helpful, especially if this also gives the year of manufacture.
- Copies of any other original dating or registration documents, e.g. Italian registration documents may also be helpful. But note that if you send the original Italian registration document to DVLA this will be cancelled by DVLA and not returned.
Frame and engine numbers are those between the *..*s. This is NOT the DGM number, which is an Italian approval number for that vehicle component. The numbers must be readable from the photographs.
Pencilled rubbings of frame and/or engine numbers can still be acceptable to DVLA, providing there is some definitive link to the vehicle submitted for inspection, but only if it is impossible to obtain a complete photograph of the number.
If you do not have digital photographs, contact the dating officer to make alternative arrangements.
We recommend that you complete any restoration work before requesting a dating certificate and applying for a first registration with DVLA, unless you plan to use the bike ‘as is’, without restoration.
How to request a dating certificate
Send your photographs and any other documentation along with your club membership number to machinedating@benelliclubgb.net. Don’t forget to include your address so that we can send out your dating certificate..
If you are not a member, your payment can be made direct to our bank or via paypal. Contact machinedating@benelliclubgb.net for details.
Low resolution pictures are preferred as they require less processing and all the photos can be attached to one email. Photographs should not be more than 1MB in size.
By providing photos, it means that we do not have to carry out an inspection of the bike in person. When you apply for first registration, however, you may find that DVLA will contact an agency to come and inspect your bike and take photos of it and the frame and engine numbers.
Please allow one month turnaround time for obtaining a dating certificate. For models for which there is plenty of dating information available, such as 60s/70s/80s models, this may be reduced. If you require a certificate sooner, please let the dating officer know.
However, for older bikes, and those with smaller engine sizes, there may be less information available and occasionally it can take weeks of research and enquiries to unearth definitive information.
Non UK residents
If you live outside the United Kingdom and are subject to a registration authority other than the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, please check that your registration authority will accept dating certificates which are valid in the United Kingdom. Note: United Kingdom does not include the Channel Isles and Isle of Man.
A dating certificate is a printed document, signed and dated by the Machine Dating Officer with the club logo embossed into the document to indicate its authenticity. Digital copies, including PDF documents, are not valid for submission to the DVLA in the UK. If you live outside the UK and wish to receive a PDF copy, you must first check that this will be acceptable to your local vehicle registration authority.
Tips for taking your photographs
- Photos are clearer and have fewer reflections if you turn off flash. Photos taken in good daylight or with good background lighting usually come out best.
- If you need to use flash for pictures of frame or engine numbers, then a photo taken at a slight angle, above or below, will show up the number in relief to best advantage.
- 2C 250 and 125 engine numbers are difficult to photograph, since the number is shrouded by the bottom right-hand cylinder fin; 750/900 Sei engine numbers can also be difficult to photograph on account of limited access. A clear photo taken at an angle will be fine, or a photo taken via a mirror may give a better image. It is simple to generate the mirror image of a photo using the digital photo editing software, which is used for cropping and enhancing certificate photos.
- Please check that your photographs are clear before sending them. The clearest photos are achieved by supporting the camera in some way. If the frame/engine serial number cannot be read from the photo, they are not suitable for a dating certificate. Clearer photos can often be taken by moving the camera further away from the subject or by using the macro facility on the camera.
An online catalogue of Benelli and Motobi models (and lots of other historical information) can be found at: http://www.officinebenelli.it/
To view the catalogue, select Moto Marchigiane, then Benelli or Motobi, then i modelli, then le moto for bikes with an engine size greater than 50cc or i ciclomotori for mopeds and bikes with an engine size of 50cc or less, then the decade you wish to view.