Performance and Efficiency
What good is a touring machine if you can’t evaluate it over the terrain it was meant to dwell on? The good guys over at DSK MotoWheels thought so too, so they graciously loaned us the GT for two days, giving us ample time to put it through its paces. To properly emulate the touring lifestyle, which sometimes includes a pillion and quite some luggage, Rohan, my colleague, and I, slapped on the side panniers, loaded it up with some gear, tanked it to the brim, and set off two-up for the nearby hills of Mahabaleshwar for a whole day.
Sharing the same liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, four-cylinder, with four valves per cylinder engineas the TNT 600 i streetfighter, the GT produces 81.5PS of peak power at 11,000 rpm and a max torque figure of 55Nm at 8000 rpm. Benelli has reworked the gearing to better suit the GT’s mile-munching aims, and it shows in the way the bike moves.
Slot the engine into the first of the six gears and the GT takes off with reassurance, albeit with less urgency than the TNT 600 i. There is ample power to trundle around town, but you can feel the bike still straining at the leash. This is a motor that plays its best at high revs, and rewards you for a liberal throttle hand. At around the 7500mark, there is a slight but perceptible surge in the power, and from thereon, the GT zooms off with a sense of urgency. 0-100 kmph is achieved in under 5 seconds, and given a long enough stretch of road, it will cross the 200kmph mark without breaking a sweat.
The last thing you want to be doing when you’re enjoying your ride on the open road is to be brought back to earth by the necessity of stopping for fuel. Not with the TNT 600 GT. With its whooping 27 litre fuel tank and an overall fuel efficiency of 19kmpl, you can motor on, covering a few tiny countries before stopping for fuel. Okay, close to 600 kilometers, but you get the point.
Despite the increased risk of riding at night, there is a certain pleasure traveling down the road after the sun goes down. The air is cooler, there are fewer vehicles on the road, and, for a tropical climate like India, the bike runs cooler too. Which is why we found the return journey to Pune to be a more pleasurable affair, aided by the excellent illumination from the projector headlamps on the GT. The slight whiff of hot air emanating from the four-pot engine during the daytime and troubling my legs also subsided with the cool nighttime air.
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No, it wont go to Khardung La and come back. You will have to ride it.
Do you think this bike will go to Khardung La ? I am thinking to buy this bike to exploring rough terrains like Leh.
How would the Benneli-650GT compare with the Kawasaki Versys 650 and the Suzuki Vstrom 650 which may be available in this year?
Do the panniers come with the bike or sold separately and what is the capacity. Any idea about an ABS version.
The bike will appeal not only to the ones with touring mindset, but also couples who ride together. There is a dearth of machines that have good pillion comfort, maybe Bonneville , but many of us who can afford the bike are pushing 40 years of age.