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Benelli Tornado 900 Tre the Tornado and lugging it back and forth. What's more, though the triple engine is really slim and compact, hardly any wider than a Ducati V-twin thanks to the narrow cylinder block and offset chain-driven dohc camshaft drive on this street version, the bike feels wide between your legs because of the ducting in the bodywork directing cool air back to the radiator. Though this isn't bad enough to impede you moving about on the bike in turns, it is pretty noticeable and, coupled with the high seat, makes the Benelli feel ungainly at rest. Designer Adrian Morton says he recognizes the problem, and has devised a way of lowering the seat height on the Biposto two-seater version he's already working on - but for now I'd say that Benelli's vertically challenged potential customers had better be sure to take a test ride before signing any order forms. However, this tall riding stance doesn't make you feel as perched on top of the Benelli as you do on a Ducati 996, for example, with its twin exhaust silencers under the seat, and once on the move, you completely forget the Benelli's tall stance. In spite of the width across the seat, the triple seems pretty slim and manageable, yet delivers much better shelter to the rider at speed than either the desmo V-twin or, especially, the fourcylinder MV. The entire Tornado bodywork design has been subtly restyled by Morton compared to the last time it appeared in public a year ago, and provided good protection at the 150 mph I saw on the MadridValencia autopista, with the indented screen r.educing helmet noise as I tucked down behind it, resting my chest on the convenient flat rear section of the fuel-tank shroud. It was pretty comfortable to ride at high speed - much better than a lot of other less user-friendly sportbikes. In terms of outright performance, you have to compare the Benelli to a 750 four rather than the hyperbike heavies like the RlI'Blade/GSX-RI000 - but in real-world riding, the 898cc triple is more than capable of holding its own. That's especially true when you come to the twisty bits, where just like Goddard's racer when I rode it, the Benelli excelled in the way it stopped, turned and gripped on the exit. With top-line Ohlins 'suspension and Brembo brake packages installed on the composite chassis, which employs tubular steel frame spars pegged and glued into aluminum castings - and Gianluca Galasso's proven expertise in charge of sorting them out, this was no surprise. What was unexpected, however, was the way the Tornado was so stable under heavy braking in spite of the high-up riding position, which inevitably means there's lots of weight transfer - mainly the rider's - 58 APRIL 17. 2002' III U III • e under heavy braking and hard acceleration. Even stopping from high speed for a slow turn and braking hard over a bumpy surface didn't send the Benelli snaking about or shaking the handlebars in my hands as I was quite ready to find it would. And although thanks to Spain's profligate use of Euro-money in building better roads. I couldn't find a long, fast sweeper with bumps in it, Gianluca insists that the Tornado's relatively high cee of gee doesn't make it unstable around bends like this, though he admits the MV is better at holding its line around a long curve and at putting the power down when leaned hard over for long periods - "but we're working on the shock setting, and aiming at beating that too"! Best compliment I can pay the Pesaro package is that I didn't feel it necessary to tighten the steering damper mounted across the Ohlins forks's upper triple clamp - just left it on a pretty slack setting in order to keep the steering loosened up, and responsive. The Benelli flicks from side to side pretty well, though you have to work harder at making it do so than on the more compact-feeling MV, as against which you feel better keeping up turn speed when you trail- brake deep into a turn with the BenelIi, probably because the weight trans- fer is loading up the front Dunlop D207 for added grip. It's just like on a GP racer with similar 53/47 frontal weight bias - here helped in achievement by the rear-mounted radiator, which allows the three-cylinder engine to be located further forward in the wheelbase than would otherwise be the case. The way you can maintain improbable turn speeds on the Benelli along a winding country road where you can see the road corkscrew away ahead of you, so know what your safe exit speed should be, is truly satisfying. and you can surprise yourself with how fast you can go thanks to the Tornado's tight, planted feel. Conversely, there's ineVitably a lot of weight transfer getting back on the gas again after braking deep into a tum on the Benelli, but the anti-squat setting on the Ohlins' rear shock handles that pretty well, and it steers well on the angle under power, with no noticeable power understeer which might push the front wheel, whatever Gianluca says in comparing it to the MV! Peter Goddard's Benelli racer had a very abrupt pickup from the Italian EFI engine-management system fitted to i~ which was quite unpleasant, but· the British-developed Sagem package fitted to the Tornado street bike - a development of the same system used on the Triumph three-cylinder range has mapping which results in a less pronounced response, which is more user-friendly and won't have you spinning the rear Dunlop when you get back on the throttle again for the exit of a tum. And again, the Benelli has a nice engine pickup low down, accompanied by that trademark gruff exhaust note translating into a more musical pitch as the revs mount. The slimmer build of the production Tornado bodywork reflects Peter Goddard's problems with ground clearance on the prototype racebike, and though angular, the fuel-tank shroud (the gas is actually carried in the rear section of the 'tank' which extends down under the seat above the gearbox) is actually quite slim and comfortable to wrap your arms around. I didn't get the chance to check out the illumination of the Benelli's ultra-distinctive triple-stack light cluster, but Gianluca confirms it delivers a wide spread of light with a (Right) An excellenl handler at speed, the gOO Tre sports cornering dynamics that are comparable to the MY Agusta F4. (Below) Pull up to the pumps on the Benelll and you're sure to get noticed. focused main beam that allowed him and Alessandro to maintain a tripledigit average speed at night - miles, that is, not kilometers! But what made my debut taster test so memorable was the wonderful experience of riding a bike that sounded so good as it responded to your every command, imQarted via the right-hand twistgrip and left-foot gearlever. And from next month onward, the Tornado 900 Tre is bringing the sound of music to a Benelli dealer near you: enthusiasts everywhere will owe it to themselves to go along to hear the concert. eN n e _ s