VOL. 52 ISSUE 15 APRIL 14, 2015 P111
110 mph, not that it really mat-
ters on a bike like this. Perfor-
mance is genuinely invigorating
at everyday speeds. No matter
how long you've been riding,
you'll get a kick out of winding
up the revs on a motor like the
Benelli's which is sporty without
being threatening, and has quite
enough oomph to excite. As you
may have guessed, I really en-
joyed riding it, frankly more than
I was expecting to.
QUALITY KIT
A key factor in that enjoyment
was the Benelli's equally unex-
pectedly good handling—this is
a light, flickable bike that I can
imagine would allow a skilled
rider to embarrass others with
much more horsepower in the
twisties. The BN302 employs a
nowadays conventional compos-
ite frame using the sturdy engine
as a fully stressed member, with
a tubular steel upper subframe
attached to twin cast aluminum
chassis plates, in which the dou-
ble-sided twin-tube steel swing-
arm pivots. It's worth noting that
the quality of the aluminum cast-
ings is very high, fully on a par
with anything made in Europe or
Japan, although the axle end of
the swingarm has rough weld-
ing that's the only cheap-looking
aspect of the entire bike. Priced
to sell, this doesn't look like a
cost-cutting motorcycle in terms
of manufacture.
That's especially the case
with the seemingly well-made
Chinese-sourced running gear
fitted to the BN302, rather than
its four-cylinder sister's Italian
componentry from the likes of
Marzocchi, Sachs and Brembo.
The upside-down fork offering
a plush 135mm of wheel travel
that's adjustable for rebound
damping is matched to a cantile-
ver rear monoshock offset to the
right, and so readily accessible
for spring preload and rebound
damping adjustment, but not
compression damping. There's
a 1405mm wheelbase (com-
pared to the 1380mm Honda
CB300F—see what I mean
about substance?) and the twin
260mm floating front wave-type
discs are gripped by four-pot cal-
ipers, with a twin-piston caliper
and 240mm disc at the rear, all
Chinese-sourced, even though
bearing the Benelli logo.
The good-looking lightweight
12-spoke cast aluminum wheels
are shod with Pirelli Sport Angel
rubber, with a 110/70ZR17 on the
3.50-inch front, and 140/70ZR17
on the 4.50-inch rear. Dry weight
of the BN302 is 397 pounds.
Even with what felt like rela-
tively conservative steering ge-
ometry (actual numbers remain
undisclosed), this is a sharp
steering motorcycle that in han-
dling terms does indeed relish
hustling through turns on a wind-
(Above) The pseudo Italian-Chinese
waits while Alan orders a pseudo
Italian-Australian coffee…
(Right) Brakes and suspension are
being manufactured in house at
Benelli, rather than outsourced like
on the BN600.
