Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128323
r.=--n- /7:" fJ=- T---=--=--=Oe e i /i-=N= J J3-=- B - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Here's a rare glimpse into Benelli's own artist renderings of the prototype TNT. Drawing on the left more closely approximates the finished product. ) motor completely reso lves the layered power de livery and lack of se rious midrange punch of its smaller-engined shortstroke Tornado sportbike sister. Waves of torque make the Benelli an incredibly easy bike to ride in town or in traffic, where you just leave it in fourth gear and work the throttle accord ingly, noticing how light and untiring the clutch is to use when you have to. A Ducati, not. The whole transm ission is fully up to J-bike standards, with a very smooth, precise gearshift that is, however, almost com pletely redundant once in the top three gears . You don't need a six-speed gearbox on a bike like this; four would be sufficient, seriously! However, pickup from a closed throttle in the lower gears is deliciously vivid - maybe too much so on a wet road , where it' d be very easy to unhook the back wheel if you got only moderately enthusiastic with the gas leaned over. Benelli might want to take a look at taming that via the fuel map. But at least I didn't have to grapple with traction problems on a perfect Adriatic spr ing day with not a cloud in the sky. On the contrary: The big 190-section rear Dunlop 0207 hooked up faultlessly out of a turn, making whee lies a fact of life if you surf that to rque curve, as its ultraflat nature encourages you to do, and delivering truly impressive accele ration from the big-cube motor. There's no earthly point in revving it anywhere near the 9800 rpm revlimiter in the gears , but if you insist on doing so MAY 12,2004 • CYCLE NEWS just to relish hearing the exhaust howl, you won't find any undue vibration thanks to the effective reweighting of the balance shaft, which works better here than it does o n the smalle r Tornado trip le. There's a noticeable extra kick of power above 5000 rpm , when you're already doing 130 kph [80 mph) in top gear, but it isn't so much you feel you want to rev the TNT hard all the time, just envigorating eno ugh to bring a smile to your face when you do - the 40007500 rpm zone is the TNT's sweet spot . However, decide you need to get somewhere fast, and the TNT will take you 40th Anniversary there, with truly murderous acceleration that leaves Porsche 996 Carreras in your wake once the Greek trucks move out of the fast lane on the Pesaro -Ancona autostrada, the German sports coupe becoming a tiny speck in the Benelli's surpriSingly effective (because so evidently des igner-esque) rearview mirrors. Just expect to have to hold on tight at much more than 150 kph [about 100 mph) speeds, because the vestigial wind deflector - not! - above the good -looking. very readable dash , with its analog tacho and digitalspeedo, isn't as functional as the mirrors, and with the very upright riding stance, you get serious bodily blowback. Interestingly, this doesn't have an adverse effect on the TNT's stability - it tracks dead straight even at 200 kph [125 mph). and even without any ste ering damper fitted , it doesn't flap the bars if you hit a bump cranked over or get caught in the slipstream of a car or truc k you'r e overtaking. The Benelli R&D team did a very good job of calming the handling on the TNT not all Naked bikes are as inherently wellbehaved as this one . This frankly came as something of a surprise after I'd looked askance before riding it that such a well-spec'd performance hotrod should have totally nonadjustable front suspension and a rear boasting only spring preload (not a conven ient remote twistknob , though) and rebound damp ing adjustment, not compression - all, Benelli admits , on grounds of cost , though it