DSK Benelli India has taken the next steps towards increasing its product portfolio with the announcement of the TNT 25 at the India Bike Week 2015. The DSK Benelli TNT 25 is a naked street bike poised to be launched in November 2015 and would be the lowest priced offering from the Italian brand. With the TNT 25, Benelli aims to pay tribute to its past small capacity motorcycles and offer its new customers with an affordable, lightweight and sporty quarter liter motorcycle with an easy to ride character.
The naked street fighter styling of the bike is decent and moderate. From the front it looks very much like the younger sibling of the twin-cylinder Benelli TNT 300 with the exact same headlights. The sculpted tank design along with the split-seat, engine guard, the partially exposed steel trestle frame and multi-spoke alloys give the bike a distinct look and presence. The instrument console is a semi-digital design with an analogue tachometer and a digital display.
The bike is powered by a 249.2 cc single-cylinder, DOHC liquid-cooled engine which churns out a good 24.1 BHP @ 9000 RPM and 21 Nm of torque @ 7000 RPM. The gearbox is a six-speed manual transmission with a wet clutch which can push the bike to a top end of 145 Km/h. The suspension consists of 41 mm upside down forks at the front and an adjustable monoshock at the rear. It has a 4-piston caliper 280 mm single disc at the front and 240 mm 2-piston caliper at the rear which takes care of the braking. The wheels are 17-inch aluminum alloys shodded with 110/70 tyres at the front and 140/60 tyres at the rear. The fuel tank has a satisfactory capacity of 16.5 liters and the bike weighs 150 kg wet. The seat height of the bike is very low at 780 mm which would be comfortable to a person with below average height also.
The DSK Benelli TNT 25 will be available only in the white with red frame color scheme and more options can be expected after the initial launch. The bikes are imported as CKD units and the ex-showroom price is expected to be in the range of INR 1,75,000 to 2,00,000.
The current model line-up of DSK Benelli includes TNT 300, TNT 600i, TNT 600GT, TNT 899 and TNT 1130R priced in the range of INR 2.83 and INR 11.81 (Ex-showroom, Delhi). The TNT 25 would be aimed at the younger generation as an entry-level naked street bike in the quarter-liter category. It can be seen as a direct competition to the likes of the KTM Duke/RC 200, the Bajaj Pulsar NS 200 and even the Honda CBR250R in the 200-250 cc category.
Along with the TNT 25, Benelli also unveiled the TRE 1130K Amazonas which will be launched together. DSK Benelli seems to be trying to drastically expand into new market segments in India with the announcement of introducing premium scooters by early 2016.