Benelli Motorcycles - FIRST LOOK REVIEW

New 500cc twin to power future models.

The primary activity at the Benelli factory in Pesaro, Italy, is that of acting as an R&D department for the QJIAN JIANG Group that acquired Benelli in 2005. For the huge Chinese corporation Benelli developed the BN604 four cylinder and the BN302 twin. Now they are working on an interesting project, the transformation of the existing 302 into a full 500cc displacement engine, for a substantial increase in power and torque with a limited weight increase.

In its original 300cc displacement, the parallel twin features oversquare bore and stroke measurements (65mm by 45.2mm), and in fact is very willing to rev past the 12,000 rpm mark at which point it delivers 35.4 peak hp. The increase to 500cc required enlarging the bore to 69mm and the stroke to stroke to 66.8mm, for a slightly oversquare ratio.

The radical modifications to the interior geometry has produced an equally radical change in the personality of the engine, now delivering 47.6 hp at 8500 rpm with 33.2 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 4500 rpm. The engine remains compact and light and was easily shoehorned into the frames of two concept bikes at last fall's EICMA show, the TRK502 Enduro GT and a neat and much lighter looking naked that could be called a scrambler.

Benelli BN302 Tornado

Beyond the two concepts on display, the compact, light and flexible 502cc engine seems like it would be a great choice for powering an evolution of the BN302 Tornado; that bike has a svelte fairing that accentuates the clean lines of the bike. The BN302′s chassis, from my experience, should be more than capable of handling the additional power and could prove to be solid competition for other 300/500/650 twins from Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, and Yamaha.

Photo #1

Benelli TRK502 Enduro GT studioBenelli Photo

Photo #2

Benelli TRK502 Enduro GT studioBenelli Photo

Photo #3

Benelli TRK502 Enduro GT studioBenelli Photo

Photo #4

Benelli TRK502 Enduro GT studioBenelli Photo

Photo #5

Benelli TRK502 Enduro GT studioBenelli Photo

Photo #6

Benelli 502 Leoncino studio.Benelli Photo

Photo #7

Benelli 502 Leoncino studio.Benelli Photo

Photo #8

Benelli BN302 Tornado studio.Benelli Photo