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Mark Hinchliffe·
TouringBenelliBy manufacturerMotorbikesSportsLearners
··3 Comments·2 min read

Benelli adds sport touring bikes

Benelli BN 600GTS

Hot on the heels of the Benelli BN 302 learner-approved motorcycle come two 600cc sports tourers, one of which is a LAMS bike.

The two sports touring versions of the BN 600 are the BN 600GT and GTS available in white, black, and matt army green for $8990 plus on-road costs. That includes two-year premium roadside assist and two-year unlimited kilometre warranty. The pictured panniers are not included in the price.Benelli BN 600GTS

The GTS is a throttle-restricted LAMS version and the GT is a non-restricted model.

The Italian-designed and Chinese-made BN 600 GT and GTS are half-faired models with windscreen, very generous 27-litre fuel tank, an upright ergonomic riding position and optional hard panniers for touring capabilities.Benelli BN 600GTS

They share the inline four-cylinder, four-stroke, liquid-cooled engine from the BN 600R. The GT has maximum power of 62kW at 11,000rpm and 55Nm of torque at 8100rpm, matched to a six-speed gearbox. The GTS has a throttle restrictor. There are no confirmed power figures yet but it is expected to be 44kW as in the BN600S learner bike.Benelli BN 600GTS

The BN 600 GT and GTS have a rigid tubular steel trellis frame mounted to cast aluminium rear section which incorporates the engine as a stress member.

Suspension consists of a 50mm inverted front forks, and a rear aluminium alloy swing arm with rear mono shock absorber that has adjustable rebound and spring preload.Benelli BN 600GTS

Stopping the GT and GTS are twin floating 320mm diameter discs at the front with four-piston radial callipers and a 260mm diameter disc with a two-piston calliper on the rear.

Benelli also has the BN 302 in its learner ranks. It arrived in January at less than $5500 plus on-road costs.

Benelli BN 302
Benelli BN 302 colour range

It is powered by a four-valve DOHC inline two cylinder engine, producing 28kW at 12,000rpm and 27Nm at 9000rpm. Feeding this engine is the Delphi MT-05 fuel injection system which is also used in the BN 600 range. The engine is mated to a six-speed transmission.

It sits in a rigid steel trestle frame with 41mm inverted forks with adjustable rebound and a mono rear shock with adjustable preload and rebound.

The aluminium alloy wheels are fitted with Pirelli 120/70-17 front and 160/60-17 rear tyres.

It is equipped with twin 260mm brake discs, twin four-piston callipers at the front and a single 240mm disc with a two-piston calliper on the rear.

The BN 302 comes in white, black, orange and Benelli green with the option of black or red frames. It comes with a two-year unlimited kilometre warranty.

The 300-500cc learner bike category, led by the Kawasaki Ninja 300, is highly competitive and becoming crowded with new models from Honda, Yamaha and KTM. There is also talk of a Triumph and BMW joining the ranks.

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Mark Hinchliffe
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3 Comments

  1. Found typo, you have not included the torque amount. “62kW at 11,000rpm and Nm of torque at 8100rpm”

  2. Folks might be interested in my review this time last year (March 2014) on the BN600GT or BJ600GSA as the bike is known by here in mainland China.

    http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/showthread.php?6825-Benelli-QianJiang-600GT-for-release-May-2014&p=68052#post68052

    I had contemplated buying the 600GT for a trip from China to Thailand (return).

    The bike is top heavy. I rode a 600GT last year. I’ve since met two riders/owners of the 600GT. One owner had one of the first release models here in China, and had clocked up approx 30K km, but was never quite satisfied with the bike finding it be top heavy, and a bit of a chore to ride. Once he hired a Kawasaki Versys KLE650 in Singapore which he fell in luv with, he promptly sold the Benelli 600GT on his return, in the anticipation of the announcement at the time that the new Versys 650 and 1000 (facelift) models would finally be legally imported and distributed by Kawasaki in mainland China First half of 2015. This meant the rider would be without a bike for between 4-6 months. He simply told me that after having saddle time with the 650 Versys, he could stomach the issues with the 600GT so wanted it gone. Sold it the first opportunity he got.

    Recently I completed a trip from near Shanghai to northern Thailand for a two month getaway from the madness of mainland China (that is a whole ‘nother story which would fill a book of several volumes!). The ride I completed 3 weeks ago, covered 22K km’s riding from China-Laos-northern Thailand and return.

    While down in Thailand (Jan & Feb) a small group of Chinese riders rode from Shandong province down to Thailand too just after the official Chinese New Year. I met up with them in Xishuangbana.

    Two of the riders had CF650TR’s (CFMoto), another had the BN600GT (BJ600GSA), and the other rider had a R1200GS. I was riding my wee BMW ’14 650GS as it was the most suited to the riding conditions. The rider on the Benelli 600GT said that the bike was a pig (he’d bought it specifically for the trip), with the major complaint concerning the handling, and being too top heavy. Most of these Chinese riders in the group, have been riding illegal (smuggled) foreign branded big bore motorcycles, so they all had to go out and buy fully legal bikes to be able to cross the international borders. The likes of the BN600, CF650 are half the price of the imported bikes, but they still cost the same as you what one can pick them up for in OZ/NZ.

    As an example, the ’14 650GS (ABS, heated grips, centre stand, accessory plug etc) was initially the equivalent of AU$26K which cost me more than the XT1200Z I have sitting back in Brisbane, QLD. Even the aforementioned CF650 and BN600 new cost the same here new as they do in Australia/NZ.

    Anyway, back on topic… the Benelli 600GT, or GSA seems like a bit of a lemon, by all accounts. I did not get enough saddle time to call it, but I can say that with the stock suspension setup the model has here in China, it has very little front fork travel.

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