Alright, let’s talk about my time with the Benelli TNT600i. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, you know?
I was actually looking for something else entirely, maybe a used Japanese bike, something reliable, predictable. But then I stumbled across this TNT600i. The price was right, way lower than the Japanese fours I was seeing with similar miles. And yeah, that inline-four sound – that definitely caught my attention. Everyone was talking about it being the cheapest four-cylinder you could buy new back then.
Getting Hands-On
So, I pulled the trigger. Got it home. First thing I noticed? It felt heavy. Like, really heavy, especially just pushing it around the garage. Way heavier than it looked. Fired it up, and yeah, the sound was pretty sweet, gotta admit. Kinda screamed, different from the usual parallel twins in that price range.
First few rides were… interesting. The clutch was okay, maybe a bit vague. Throttle response was a bit jerky down low. You really had to rev it to get it moving, typical inline-four I guess, but felt more pronounced here. It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing in stop-and-go traffic. And the heat! Man, the heat coming off that engine in summer was something else. Cooked my legs good.
Living With The Beast
I used it for commuting mostly, sometimes a weekend blast. Here’s the breakdown:
- The Good: That sound, seriously. On an open road, winding it out felt pretty good. Stable at speed too. And it looked decent, had a certain presence. People would ask about it because it wasn’t a common sight.
- The Not-So-Good: Weight was always there, felt it most in parking lots and tight turns. Fueling wasn’t the best, always felt like it could be smoother. And reliability… well, let’s just say it wasn’t a Honda.
Had a few hiccups. Nothing major left me stranded for long, but little annoying things. A sensor went bad once. Some fasteners seemed to rust quicker than expected. Finding certain parts wasn’t always straightforward like walking into any bike shop. Felt more like you had to know a guy, or wait a while. It reminded me of working on older European cars sometimes – character, but also quirks.
That One Time…
I remember this one ride, heading out with some buddies. Everyone else on Yamahas and Hondas. We hit some twisty roads. The TNT600i could hang, mostly, but I was working harder than they were, especially flicking it side-to-side. It just didn’t have that same refined feel. Felt a bit raw, unfinished maybe? Like they built a great engine and then kinda built a bike around it as quick as they could.
Later that day, pulling into a gas station, the gear indicator started acting funny. Showed neutral when I was in first. Then it fixed itself. Never quite trusted it after that. Little things like that just chipped away at the confidence, you know? It wasn’t like my old SV650 which was just… solid. Predictable. Maybe boring sometimes, but always solid.
End of the Road (For Me)
So, how did it end? I kept it for about two years. It was fun, in its own way. Gave me that four-cylinder experience without breaking the bank. But the weight, the heat, and the little question marks about long-term reliability started to wear on me. I wanted something I could just jump on and ride across the state without a second thought.
Ended up selling it. Didn’t lose much money, actually. There was definitely a market for them, people wanting that sound on a budget. Moved onto something else, something a bit more… conventional, I guess. No regrets, though. It was an experience. Owning the TNT600i taught me a lot about what I really valued in a bike. Sometimes you gotta try the quirky stuff to figure that out.
