Benelli - would you?
 

Well after writing his FZ6 Fazer off a few months ago, my Dad was eyeing up a new bike at the NEC on Saturday. After viewing a few fairly sensible options (another Fazer, BMW F800ST, GSXF650, etc) he spied the Benelli Tornado 900s that Benelli are trying to shift as they are now out of production, priced at £5995. Given we are talking about a 20 stone 62 year old who will want to be comfortable as he rides, but as someone who only rides about 3k a year in mainly fair weather, would you buy one as a toy?

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Get a test ride, only way to tell if a bike will suit you and your needs.

They are nice bikes....

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

That's what I told him; and to take one out for a decent amount of time too, not just 30 mins or so...

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Yeah, bets thing to do is blag one when you take a bike in for a service as you get the whole morning or afternoon then. Or in my case have a good mate who owns a dealership, get to play with them all then....

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Personally I wouldn't buy a Benelli. I think they are gorgeous bikes and they go, stop and handle well... but the reliability record and dealer back up is sketchy to say the least. Benelli themselves have been bust a few times in living memory, and the UK importer changes as frequently as Neio gets moderated.

I'd look at buying something a little more mainstream, maybe a used Ducati or Aprilia if he really wants an Italian bike.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I would've bought new but my budget didn't quite stretch that far but i did buy a 2003 RS Tornado :cool:

TBH I don't find it exceptionally comfortable but I think mines is set up quite hard (I've been meaning to get round to looking at the suspension settings :rolleyes:)

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Ah yeah there are few reliability issues as Lozzo says. If your dad is looking for something around that size but with decent build quality he should maybe consider a Daytona 955i

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

No way would I buy a new highly strung bit of Italian exotica.
Call be cynical but I reckon it will be unreliable expensive to run,difficult to get parts for(and you will need plenty of parts) and customer care from Benelli will be abysmal.
If you can live with that lot it will be great.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

He doesn't know what he wants! It's not just the Italian thing, or the triple thing or the sportsbike thing, just to have something a little different. Every year since they (and MV for that matter) have been back at the NEC he's been eyeing one up, but realises they are not that comfortable and are expensive to run. Suddenly, cost is not so much of an issue, and is considering the comfort offset against the desire to own one. The chance to live the dream sort of thing.

I think he realises he is getting a bit older, and in two or three years time would perhaps prefer to be able to say "I had a Benelli" than "I had Bandit 650". Reliability in the main won't be too much of an issue for someone who mainly rides on sunny weekends for short blasts of a couple of hours at most.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

yeah if he is only doing the fair weather riding and i imagine he is not going to be ragging the living spaghetti out of it - should be fine. like you said it would be good to look back and owned something a little bit different. so if a test ride goes super than no reason not to give it a go.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Good call, I loved my Daytona 955i - after 28 years of owning some brilliant Jap bikes it was nice to own something home-built that was well made and reliable.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Hmmmmm lots of un-educated "i've read to many MCN paper" comments here.


Yes, Benelli are Italian, but nope, Benelli are now owned by a chinese corporation, have been for over a year.

Yes, Benelli DID have reliability issues on earlier models (what bike doesn't have teething issues, and deffo a smaller biking firm). Most issues are sorted now, and any outstanding are usually covered by warantee.

Parts backup - Again, not a Yamaha, or some jap backup. Smaller company, less parts, it'll take a little longer. If your worried about parts backup, all I can say is NEVER EVER buy an italian bike, and 100% make sure its not an MV Augusta as they are FAR FAR FAR worse than Benelli......... Its not a bike you ride every day, its a peice of art. If you want something faster, more reliable, more boring, less charm and passion, get something Jap and IL4. If you want the passion, art, charm etc, but without a Ducati or Bimota price tag, get a Nelli noooooeee.

DirtyD - Deffo get it checked out. TBH, its one of the most forgiving suspensions i've tried on the public road. Both my old mans ones ran lovley, deffo better feel than a GSXR1000, but without being as firm. Makes an R6 look like its riding on concrete tyres...

Maybe the Tornado isn't the bike for your old man. Look at the TNT (HUGE favourite, now being copied by like every other bike manufacture), or maybe the TreK. More upright, more like a Bandit position, but far superious ride, excellent brakes, plenty of low down umph, and again, great forgiving suspension. If i could afford a TreK for work, i'd have one...

DD. Daddy sold the normal Nelli, now got another one, same as yours, Red RS bought for pittance... Wanna buy another red one? :lol:
Still prefer the green/silver personnally...


PS, as far as im aware, the 900cc hasn't stopped production yet, so its not end of line, its jsut a case of dropping prices to match competitors.....


PS, Gazza, it wasn't Lloyd he got caught up chatting with was it? He'll go on for hours raving about them :lol:

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I would still have mine now if i hadn't lost my job and not been able to afford to keep it. Absolutely cracking bike


I'm going to check that it's on original settings and go from there. At the moment it's like riding on a plank with concrete tyres :mad:

Yeah my RS was pretty cheap to, in fact it was cheaper than the standard one

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

It was a guy from Bennet's in Barnsley he spoke to, handy as they are the local dealer. The 900 has stopped production for the Tornado, though I think it is still available in other models. We were discussing the availability of Green/Silver rather than Red, and it is somewhat limited. I know what you mean about the TNT or TreK perhaps being more suitable, but he wasn't looking to spend more than £6k, which is why they caught his eye being up at £5995. The 1130 was over £10k I seem to recall.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I can still get a brand new one??? And can do for quite a while yet?????

Bennetts actually quite a good dealer from what I hear. I know my old man speaks to (?Russell) quite often and gets on well. Maybe they have stopped on teh Tornado, but i've not heard anything of it. They've been at £6k for quite a few months now?

Ironically, I thought the 1130 Tornado HAD been taken off production due to lots of little warrenty issues they couldn't resolve on the 1130 engine.

Remember, the 900cc Tornado was £10k+ when new ;)

DOn't be put off though, if he loves the bike, he'll love the ride, and the feeling, and the noise. Search youtube, Benelli Tornado, Brands Hatch... Dribble.....

He had a 75 yo bloke come in a few weeks back talking about MV Augustas, never being able to get one but its his dream bike etc, but too fast etc...

Dad sold him a 750 model instead. The 75 still rides it and loves it :D

Age means nothing, if he loves it, tell him to get one. Its something to remember, and im biased I admit, im in love with them, but riding once really is forfilling....

But then in retrospect, my Bandit does everything I need, with more bounce, less braking, less power, but has started every time, 2+ years, 20,000+ miles, so its swings and roundabouts.

Head says jap stuff
Heart says italian exotic

If i was getting a little older, i'd like to think my heart would take over (as my head does the thinking still atm :( )

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I know most people know what im going to say BUT semi comfortable cheap to run (as long as he doesnt want fairing replacing), reliable (only one thing that can be a little dodgy, a damn starter relay), very good build quality (it doesnt rust like a suzuki) powerful fairly comfortable, nice (in some people's opinion) looking bike for cheap then the Falco is a brilliant bike for him. The front wont be far off right with stock springs for his weight, spend a little money getting a better shock for rear with the right spring for him and he'll be laughing.

No doubt ill get flamed for mentioning it...

It did come 19th in Ride magazine this year, the highest Italian bike. I think it was 15th last year too. :mrgreen:

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Barnsley... Woo local dealer for me too. I keep meaning to pop in and have a look but never do. :rolleyes:

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Do Prilla still take as long as they like to supply parts?
It does seem that Italian firms generally need to discover the concept of customer care that others learned decades ago.They cant go on forever arrogantly dismissing their customers as plebs to be fleeced when buying and fobbed off when it all goes bang.Yes and I love Italian bikes too,but Id think long and hard about actually owning one again.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Thing is though, he has never dreamed of owning a Falco. A Benelli, an MV, or (for the older ones out there) a BSA Rocket 3 maybe. He certainly wouldn't want to be out there changing things like the springs etc, that's not the sort of person he is.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Id hate to ride any bike without setting it up for my weight... because im so light :-?. With him being a big lad it should be the same. Most bikes will be WAY too lightly sprung for him and so wont handle well at all.

Fair enough if he hasnt dreamed of owning a Falco...

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

For parts they are great. For fairing not so great, or at least with the older models (RSV Mille, Falco etc etc). The modern models I would imagine will be very good now. They have had a good kick up the **** since they got bought out.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

That says it all 8) Has he bought it yet?
I'll ask again in another 10 minutes.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

At that price he could buy two and use one for spares :mrgreen: They're lovely bikes... There's a feller at my work that commutes on his quite often, in all sorts of weather, he says it's been pretty reliable but if I remember right the dealer did a load of recall/rectification work before he got it so that might be why.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

If buying a Tornado, the question that should be asked is does he value his jewels? With a tank like that, it aint going to tickle WHEN you crack your nuts into it! :D

http://foto.autozone.be/fotosmoto/BE...00/5059834.jpg

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Actually thats wrong, the tank does not pertrude your male organs at all when riding. The tanks also so small its very nice to wrap yourself into.


However, if being thrown over the handle bars due ot some foreign tw4t jumping red lights, you might find yourself with a black n blue ol boy for a little while :lol:

Looks far worse than it actually is though.

I'll speak to the old man, but im sure its the 1130 Tornado thats been pulled from production, not the 900cc Tornado.

Also, at worst, he can keep it for 2-3 years, have his fun, and still sell it for £4000-£4500 so won't loose that much money. But its worth it, it really is. The detail is stunning when you get close.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

At his age - I think he's entitled to get what he wants - if he fancies it, can afford it and accepts the parts and service side of things, why not? He can always part-ex it for something more main stream in a year or two's time if he wants...

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Servicing isn't as bad as u'd think. But is more expensive than a jap bike.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I know that everyone has different tastes and not everybody thinks the latest GSX ZX CBRRRRRRRRR is the most beautiful thing - but I just can't get past the ugliness of these bikes! :confused: It looks like a Burgman scooter to me?! So much flat plastic, massive exhaust, ugly tank. Maybe it would be different in the flesh and I'm sure they're great to ride but I couldn't ever open the garage and drool at one of those :(

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I would agree it isn't the most beautiful bike out there, but is better looking than all the current Japanese 1000cc bikes in my opinion.

As for the comfort issue only your dad will be able to answer that, I may or may not find it comfortable but that doesn't mean someone else will experience the same.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I think the Benelli is very nice looking, but the photos dont do it justice, you have to see one in the flesh to appreciate it. I really like the underseat fans they look very cool.

Mind you I have come around to think that the 749S in our garage is a nice looking bike to, but its taken some time for me to appreciate it though.

Theres just so many small little details, the quality of the welds and fasteners, its the little touches that you dont spot on your first look that really make the difference on an italian bike.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

+ 1, I loved looking about on the old RSV SP it was well finished compared to the ordinary RSV. Even though many of the parts were interchangeable between the RSV's, the SP's just had a little more attention put into them.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I thought it was the 1130 that's been pulled for now due the engine reliabiltiy issues they've had with them

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

It is.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Fizzy is right.

Whether someone like the bike is down to their tastes. I think its stunning though, the angles, everything is triangulated, mirrors, footpegs, fairing gaps, resets etc.

Thats a standard can, theres a lot more becoming available, but for me personnally, the Standard "race titanium" exhaust looks the best.

Get onto

http://images45.fotki.com/v1200/phot...mage002-vi.jpg

And a closer shot showing some of the finer details, you just dont get this passion and art on a jap bike.

http://images19.fotki.com/v353/photo...mage004-vi.jpg


Some more shots of some of his Nellis.... Worth a nosey....


http://public.fotki.com/DaimoB/gener...ike_-_benelli/


Put it this way, his nelli was written off, before he could walk he'd already bought a brand new MV. Rode the MV, insane power, but top heavy and no-where near as flickable. Sold the MV with 700 miles on it :lol: Bought another Nelli, then bought an LE model, then sold his standard one, now has got an RS, but will probably sell that, and get another standard model to ride.

I just need to save, I CAN afford one, but it would leave me tight for cash, and as a ride it couple of times to work, and summer only bike (for me), i can't justify it yet :( But it'll come :D

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

I get what you're saying but the 'quality of the welds and fasteners' doesn't make the impartial onlooker think 'that's a pretty bike'. It may have a nice fit and finish but you can't polish a turd!

Again, I know this is subjective, but I reckon if the Benelli had the same looks as the outgoing R1, and was priced as it is, (<£6k), there'd be none left in the dealerships.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Actually the out going R1 is the only one of the current crop of litre sports bikes I like.

I know what you mean, if theres no instant attraction then you're not going to get it. But I was like that about the 749 / 999 when they first came out. Even when Liz bought hers I didnt like it. We've had it nearly 18 months and now I really like the shape and the styling of it, its definately grown on me and I prefer it now the 916 shape.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Now that MV does look beautiful :cool: But as you say, your Dad found it didn't ride as well as the Benelli so it's understandable that he changed it back - after all, how it rides is the most important thing for most of us.

Having said that, if I could afford one, I'd do my best to enjoy riding that MV purely for its looks :twisted:

I think that MV is what Bruce Wayne rides in the new Batman film?

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

TBH I like them all but the R1 is definitely my favourite for looks. I said the outgoing one because the new one's looks seems to divide opinions, personally, again, I like it.

It seems bikes that are bulbous in certain areas (new R1, Benelli Tornado, Kawasaki ZX-10R, even the curvy SV!) divide opinions more than sleek, pointy bikes. Just an observation :D

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

Turn up anywhere on a Nelli, everyones heads turn, its just that kinda bike.

You can polish a turds, its just the stuck up people who are ignorent to what can be achieved if you want to.. (not saying you are, but from the thousands of poeple who said to me that line, were always the same types).

My/girlfriends modified cars are prime examples. Yes they are corsas, but what standard corsas thrash M3's???? The turd has been polished ;)

The benelli between 3000-8000rpm sound like a V6 car engine at full chat, but they get a little whiney top revs.

Re: Benelli - would you?
 

The 'can't polish a turd' phrase was a bit unfortunate and not quite what I meant. I didn't actually mean that the bike is a turd / rubbish, I was just trying to get across that a few nice bolts aren't going to swing the majority towards a bike that has an unusual basic outline (IMO).

Can't polish a turd would probably be more apt to someone putting blue anodised bolts on a Honda C90 :p

Don't admit your car was a turd mate. Personally I'm not in to modified cars but even if I was I wouldn't say 'this was rubbish til I modified it' :D