Benelli TNT 25 Review

What is it?
DSK Benelli’s latest offering, the TNT 25. It is the smallest Benelli yet; it’s a naked bike and it will go up against some more hardened competition in the tightly contested 250cc segment. With the TNT 25, Benelli will have a naked street fighter in each segment across the spectrum.

All-new?
The bike is new to the subcontinent. However, even in comparison to its global predecessor, the TNT 25 will have an all-new single cylinder engine, some design changes and all-new graphics. The chassis however will remain the same as on the TNT 300.

What else?
While the TNT 25 may look a lot like it’s 300cc sibling. It gets a single disc brake at the front where the TNT 300 gets twin discs. The exhaust is short and slightly stubbier than the 300. The TNT 25 will come with two tyre options; you can have the standard MRF REVZ or for Rs 7000 more, you could have the TNT 25 with Metzelers. We’d definitely recommend the more expensive rubber, especially if you’re going to be doing some aggressive riding on road and track. The TNT 25 will come in two colour options, red and white. That aside, Benelli do have a range of OEM accessories to make your TNT 25 distinctive.

Fun to ride?
The single cylinder engine is fairly spirited, being lighter than the 300cc’s twin cylinder, but it is not quicker as will be obvious from the difference in power figures (10 bhp). It may not be as aggressive as the KTM Duke 200 but it definitely is more so than the Mojo. That aside, we noticed that the front end could get a bit loose at times and the brakes tend to feel more spongy than sharp. Nothing that one can’t get used to though. The bike we tested was on the stock MRF REVZs. We suspect that the Metzelers will make a huge difference to the way the TNT 25 handles.

Powerful?
Yes. The TNT 25 makes 28bhp at 9000rpm and revs happily to the red line. Now, the bottom end torque may not be very high, but it’s enough to cut through traffic without having to bang down a couple of cogs. That aside, being a single cylinder, the engine loses out on some refinement as compared to the in-line twin on the TNT 300.

Efficient?
The claimed ARAI figures for the TNT 25 is 30kmpl. However under real world conditions we expect it to give around 28-35kmpl, which is about where the rest of the segment is.

Value?
DSK Benelli is retailing the TNT 25 at Rs 1.68 lakh, which is brilliant for the bike that it is. It has Italian style, it comes with petal disc up front and it makes a more than respectable 28bhp. In terms of positioning it is bang in between the Duke 200 and 390 and that could be a sweet spot, making the TNT 25 the big driver of volumes for DSK-Benelli in the long run.

Specification:
Engine: 251cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Power: 28bhp @ 9000rpm
Torque: 21Nm @ 7000rpm
Kerb weight: 159kg
Price: (ex-showroom, Delhi) Rs 1.68 lakh (MRF tyres), Rs 1.75 lakh (Metzeler tyres)