2018 BENELLI TNT135
FIRST TEST
P98
The real clincher in the deal is the
price. At just $2499, the Benelli is
dramatically cheaper than the Honda,
which starts at $3349, and the Kawa-
saki's base MSRP of $2999.
But does it add up to a good ma-
chine, regardless of price?
'Coz I'm TNT!
In short, yes. The Benelli is one of the
most surprising bikes I've tested all
year, namely because at such a cheap
MSRP I expected it to be rubbish. It's
far from that.
probably more important than the added
horses in this class.
A couple of little additions that will favor
Benelli owners in terms of maintenance
is the fact the 135 comes with a sight
window for engine oil, and that oil has
a proper dedicated filter, rather than a
strainer like on the Grom or Z.
Considering the design is Italian but
the execution Chinese, the overall build
quality is surprisingly good. The digital
dash comes with a fuel gage (something
some bikes way more expensive don't
have) to let you know how much of the
1.9-gallon tank you have to play with;
the seat is wide and comfortable and
the back-end is enhanced by having the
number plate over the rear wheel rather
than hanging from the seat unit.
Inverted forks
are fatter than
what you'll
find on the
Kawasaki or
Honda.
(Left) Engine
looks positively
ancient, like it's
been swiped
from an early
1980's Honda
XR. Who cares?
It goes well.
(Below) The
mufflers are pure
Italian and hide
the fact that they
are connected
to a massive
collector box
rather well.
The TNT's extra 10cc and the ad-
dition of a fifth gear makes the ride
much more accommodating than
what you could expect from the Hon-
da or Kawasaki. The extra cog means
you can go to more places easier,
and use less fuel while you're at it.
The engine is a tad vibey at high
rpm, but considering it's a fast-revving
single, that's to be expected. Regard-
less, there's nice low rpm power—
enough to for the Benelli to keep up
with traffic and in some cases outrun
it—which continues right up to the
10,000-rpm redline.
The gearbox action is not super-
precise but it's not terrible, either. It
requires you to be smooth but direct
with your shifts as the lever has a lon-
