DSK Benelli BN600i Review: Pesaresi Powerhouse

Journalists, like many other professionals that influence others’ opinions and thoughts, are supposed to be an unbiased lot. While reporting a story or writing a review, we are strictly forbidden from letting our personal biases cloud our judgment, for obvious reasons.

But hey, it is an imperfect world. As humans first, we all have favorites and personal opinions, right or wrong. Whether we let it creep in into our reporting or not is another matter. If you have already read my Benelli TNT 899 review before landing here, you might have noticed that I have a bit of a fondness for the Benelli marque. Maybe it is their underdog status currently, because who doesn’t love rooting for an underdog? Or maybe, it is because their products strike a chord deep within you, something that you can’t quite fathom but still manage to make you fall in love with them.

So, sod it, this is going to be a biased review. Because I’m really, really, rooting for this marque to succeed, and succeed well. That said, I will try to be as fair as possible and not airbrush the shortcomings of this bike we have here. Nor will I try to overhype any of the positive aspects of the bike, as far as I can.

Disclaimer done, let’s proceed.

History Class

Benelli was founded by six brothers of the same surname in Pesaro, Italy, in 1911, making it the oldest European motorcycle manufacturer. The firm started with repairing and producing spare parts for bicycles and motorcycles until they produced their first indigenous motorcycle in the midst of World War 1. Tonino Benelli, the youngest of the six brothers, took their proud homemade motorcycle to the racetrack and racked up a string of victories, effectively cementing the fledging firm’s reputation as a world-class manufacturer. Benelli was off to a solid start and its reputation off and on the track kept on growing over the next half century.

In the 1970s, the arrival of the new wave of Japanese motorcycles forced a lot of European motorcycles to shutter their doors as they couldn’t respond effectively to the threat. Benelli was no exception, and the once-illustrious name finally stopped production in 1988.

You can’t keep a good name down for long though, and Benelli was revived by the Merloni family in 1995. The firm’s first wave of new products, the Tornado Tre supersports bike and the original TNT streetfighter, were lauded for their bold design language, although glitchy fuel management and iffy electronics prevented them from achieving the same level of success they had enjoyed in their previous run.

Ultimately, things came to a pass and Benelli was acquired by the Qianjiang Group a few years ago. Under this new Chinese leadership, the firm rapidly diversified into smaller capacities and categories, from the BN 251 starter bike to the 50cc Pepe and Quattronovex scooters.

But for this small company, there was still the matter of reaching out to overseas markets. Benelli’s country-specific websites are a puzzling bunch, with different models being offered in different countries, depending on the market demands.

That’s where the DSK Group comes in. When Benelli started eyeing the burgeoning Indian market, they sought to tie up with the Indian conglomerate that successfully relaunched the Hyosung brand here, and thus DSK-Benelli was born.

From what they told us at the launch, Benelli is here in India for the long run. Although they displayed only five models, DSK-Benelli plans to eventually bring their entire lineup here, to be sold at new dealerships across India. These dealerships, of which DSK plans to open seven before the turn of the year, will co-exist with DSK’s existing Hyosung dealerships, and DSK believes that there is enough market for both without one cannibalizing the other. While the BN300i will be imported from China, the bigger four bikes will be shipped directly from Benelli’s factory in Pesaro, Italy, and assembled at DSK’s plant in Satara, on the outskirts of Pune.

So there we are. Let’s delve into the motorcycle we have at hand, the Benelli BN600i, with the ‘BN’ standing for ‘Benelli Naked.’ Curiously, DSK-Benelli’s correspondence and literature refer to it as just the 600i, but we are going to refer to it by what its stickering says, BN600i. That’s only fair, right?

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