VOL. 55 ISSUE 19 MAY 15, 2018 P95
THE ITALIANS (AND CHINESE) ARE
GUNNING FOR TOP DOG IN THE
TINY STREET-BIKE SEGMENT WITH THE
BRAND NEW BENELLI TNT135.
GROM
HUNTER
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK / PHOTOGRAPHY BY BENELLI
I
t's on! Oh boy, is it on. The
mini street-bike segment has
been dominated by the big
H for many years now, but its
dominance may just be coming
to an end. A year after Kawa-
saki released the Z125 Pro, Ital-
ian/Chinese concern Benelli is
jumping into the ring with their
spunky TNT135.
Benelli has had a tumultuous
past, especially here in the U.S.
The company has been on the
brink of extinction more than
once, but importers, SSR Mo-
torsports (which made its name
in pit bike sales), is pushing
head-long back into the world's
biggest motorcycle market with
a new range of machines, rang-
ing from this TNT135 to the 600
and promises of more to come.
Like the Honda Grom and
Kawasaki Z125 Pro, the Benelli
uses a single-cylinder four-
stroke but it comes with extra
sugar via a 10cc larger displace-
ment at 135cc. Benelli is claim-
ing 11.3 horsepower at 8500
rpm and 7.4 lb-ft of arm-wrench-
ing torque at 7000 rpm at the
crank from their little single.
That's about four horses more
than you'll get with a Grom or
Z, plus with the Benelli you'll
get fuel injection, a twin-spark
ignition and a four-valve head
to get more air in and a bigger
bang out.
The 135 scores another win
over the Kawi and Honda by
coming with a fifth gear. That
extra gear means—with a bit
of a tailwind and a downward
slope—you can wind the little
single out to about 75 mph.
