Cycle News

FIRST RIDE P96 BENELLI BN600 EVO 1 2 3 4 numbers remain undisclosed), this is a sharp steering motorcycle that relishes being hustled through turns on a winding country road. In spite of being just a touch low at the rear, the BN600 holds a line well at speed, and doesn't ever push the front wheel. It has inherent stability and good handling, meaning it never gets out of shape even when using the big twin 320mm Brembo radial front brakes and four-piston Monobloc calipers to stop hard at the end of a fast straight. I will admit to looking slightly askance at such brakes fitted to what amounts to an unfaired 600 Supersport 5 contender, fearing overkill, but they really work well, with no hint of locking the front wheel if you squeeze the lever hard. The BN600's suspension is equally top-notch, delivering a high level of ride quality over grippy but rugged hilltop roads - and that's with the Sachs monoshock directly mounted to the right of the long twin-sided cast aluminum swingarm. It takes a serious bump to unsettle the BN600, and its capable performance in soaking up road rash contributes greatly to the reassuring sense of solidity and togetherness you get from riding the new model - as well as the sense that you're get- 1. The short stroke engine makes 82 horsepower at 11,500 rpm. 2. The new version gets a Sachs monoshock. 3. The BN600 uses a Marzocchi fork and Brembo Monoblock brakes. 4. Comfort for both operator and passenger. 5. The instrument cluster is simple and clean. ting value for money. It's a very user-friendly and capable riding package that inspires confidence when you start riding it hard, for there's more than enough performance to make the Benelli BN600 four fun to ride, without ever being threatening, just - pleasurable. The Benelli BN600 is a sharp looking machine at an even sharper price, and QJ expects to manufacture around 3500 examples of the model next year, with Yan Haimei confirming that another model using the same four-cylinder platform is under development. "We will make an Adventure Touring bike, a smaller capacity four-cylinder equivalent of our bigger three-cylinder 1130 TreK," she says. "Probably, we will present that quite soon, at the end of this year at the official European launch of the BN600 Naked bike. At the moment we are making the final tests of the touring model, but we're not planning to make a 600cc Supersport bike. We only want to make a Naked bike and an Adventure Touring one, which will be available both with and without hard luggage." CN

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