Updated Benelli TNT 600 Revealed

[Hugh Janus]

Benelli is giving its TNT 600 a restyle and upgrading performance as well. (Benelli/)

When the Benelli brand was revived by Andrea Merloni back in the late ’90s, it hoped to become a genuine rival to the likes of Ducati and Aprilia as an Italian superbike maker. That didn’t come to pass, but after years of stagnation following its sale to Chinese brand Qianjiang in 2005, Benelli is having something of a resurgence with an increasingly convincing model range and fast-growing sales in its Italian home market.

Now one of the company’s key models, the TNT 600, is getting ready for a revamp that should bring it back onto the European market years after it was forced off sale by emissions limits, as well as adding a useful performance and handling boost.

The cancellation of last year’s EICMA show in Milan meant the usual platform for Benelli’s new releases was eliminated, and as a result we’ve yet to see any significant updates to the company’s range for 2021, but this revamped TNT 600 has emerged via Chinese type approval documents. In addition to a handful of technical details, the documents helpfully include a photo that gives a glimpse of the bike’s updated styling.

Compare it to the current US-version of the TNT 600. (Benelli USA/)

Visually, the updates are more extensive than they first appear. The headlight unit is the same one that was introduced with a minor revamp shown in 2019, packing LED bulbs instead of halogen ones and topped with a TFT color dashboard. However, the side panels are redesigned, with a slimmer look than the old ones and a pointier front edge on either side of the fork. Above them, the tank is the same as before, but the seat unit is completely new, with scooped-out moldings on each side that appear to funnel air to the underseat exhaust. That exhaust also appears to be updated with a more oval shape to the twin mufflers under the pillion pad.

RELATED: Benelli 600RR Leaked

Mechanically, the most obvious update is a new swingarm. It’s actually the same part that’s used on the new, Chinese-market QJMotor SRK 600—the first model to come from a new brand created by Benelli’s parent company, Qianjiang. It’s a shame that the rest of the SRK’s styling hasn’t been carried over as well, since the QJMotor is a sleeker-looking bike, but the updated Benelli also gets the same higher-spec fork used on the SRK 600, along with the genuine Brembo calipers and Bosch ABS. Performance-wise, the bike is understood to use the same 80 hp engine as the SRK 600, which is a substantial hike compared to the 67.1 hp claimed for the current US-market version of the TNT 600. While we still don’t know when the updated TNT 600 will be revealed, its appearance in type approval documents suggests it can’t be far from production now.

Source

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

Hopefully the lurid green is finally shuffling off where lurid green bikes go to die.