Benelli beauty booked-in!
By TMX Archives on 30th Nov 07
SURPRISE off-road exhibit at the NEC Motorcycle Show, when the doors were thrown open last Thursday, was this beautiful Benelli BX505 enduro model that is due to go on sale next March.
And an even bigger surprise is the news that its MX449 stablemate couldwell be actually available in the shops as early as December - and T+MXis already booked-in for the first test ride!
Benelli is a well-known Italian marque, famous for its GP road-racingheritage, that has struggled with the usual money troubles in recentyears but which is now undergoing a major and exciting revolutionun-der Chinese ownership.
Its flagship models are futuristically styled three-cylinder road-goingmotorcycles but Benelli did quietly debut its MX449 at European showslast year. It looked good but wasn't really taken seriously, being seenas the result of a well-executed de-sign exercise. But with the recentannounce-ment of imminent production, interest in the striking green newcomers is now set to boom.
Full technical details are not known but what we do know is impressive.Heart of the BX505 (and the MX449) is a single cylinder DOHCfour-stroke motor with titatanium valves thatsports EFI, electric start, a six-speed cassette-type gearbox and atwin-exhaust system.
The motor is slotted into a good-looking aluminium chassis thatfeatures extruded sections welded to square-section tubing coupledto a tough-looking aluminium swinging arm connected to a link-type rearsuspension system. A collection of quality ancillaries, a nine-litrefuel tank plus that striking green bodywork complete the package.
Such was the sheer size of the Benelli range on display at the NEC - asurprise in itself to many early show-goers - the BX505 - actualcapacity of the engine is 505cc - was tucked-away right up against awall, which was a real shame as the model deserved a much moreprominent setting.
T+MX looks forward to getting the exciting new Benelli models cracked into life just as soon as they become available...