TRK 251 : The All new Adv Tourer from Benelli India.

With the advent of 2022, The quarter litre motorcycle segment in India is seeing quite some buzz. We had the upgraded KTM Adv250 launch a few days back at a better price tag than before, and now we have an all new 250cc Adv motorcycle from Benelli, the Italian manufacturer in the form of a younger TRK. The All new TRK251 will be available in black and white color tones, and in both of them, the bike surely looks a stunning.

Starting with the TRK251s design, as expected, is based on inspiration from the elder TRK502, which is heavily inspired from the Ducati’s Multistrada from the front end. Thankfully, the bike looks proportionate now, not very huge, bulky or heavy like the elder TRK. The front end as said, comes loaded with this dual Headlight unit setup, wrapped up in the fairing and a tall windscreen which looks very similar to the New Multistrada V4, just a smaller version in terms of
size of it.

It gets a standard mudguard plus a beak structure adding to its adv looks. The Windshield got no adjustments, though it felt quite functional for me, a guy with 5’10”height. The petrol tank is huge on this TRK251, which is a demand the KTM ADV250 has not yet been able to deliver on. It gets a 18L fuel tank, which gives the TRK251 a range of around 500+kms easily. The Rear end goes in line with the overall design and gets elongated rectangular LED taillight unit. All the indicators too are LED type.

The rear end gets a standard mudguard with additional tyre hugger, that adds to overall practical usage and modern looks of the TRK251. The rear end also gets a metal top rack as stock, which is the only part on this TRK251 which actually feels out of proportion and out of place. It seems too big for the slim & trim TRK251. Welding finishing and facbrication design too could have been better, it looks like a unfinished job if you compare it with the overall design of the bike.
In terms of technology and other features, the TRK251 as mentioned gets all LED lighting setup. It also comes loaded with a dual channel ABS without the option to switch it off, which is something Benelli could have added.

The tank of the TRK251 comes factory fitted with a USB slot for charging your electronic accessories, in addition to a all new LCD instrument cluster which now gives you all the required information. But again, that too seems incomplete. It offcource displays a speedometer, an Odometer, a tachometer, digital fuel gauge, digital clock and comes with 2 trip meters, but thats it.

There is no bluetooth connectivity, no navigation support, or call/msg alert, or distance to empty feature, battery voltage indicator which I would expect of from an ADV touring bike. Just seems too little, too late in terms of features.Benelli’s are famous for their exhaust notes, though the elder TRK502 wasn’t really that great if you compare with the other benelli siblings. Well, the younger TRK251 does a better job in this segment, the single cylinder 251cc engine emits this sweet throaty exhaust note which I actually loved.

In terms of engine output, it fares much below the KTM ADV250 and generates 26Ps of Power and 21.1 Nm of Torque but in the higher rev range. Max torque gets delivered at 8k rpm, which max power output is at 9250rpm, which simply means, this machine loves to be revved hard. The engine on paper seems
underpowered, but when I actually rode it, it felt much better and forced me change my opinions on Benelli engines. The engine gets mated to a 6-speed gearbox, and has surprisingly good low end torque.

I would be lying if I say, the adv250 is better in terms of low end torque and acceleration. The TRK251 delivers good linear power delivery with taller gear ratios allowing you reach better top-end speeds than the Adv250 actually can. The TRK251 maxed out at 145-150kmph range, which I wasn’t expecting. The engine performance and power delivery is something I happen to like about the TRK251.

So its looks stunning, but has less features, but the engine power delivery and performance is great, but is that all? How good is the ride? The handling and the suspensions? Well I ll help you dig into every aspect of it. On the front, the TRK251 gets 43mm USD forks, while on the rear is a Mono-shock setup which are
tuned on the stiffer side to give you that high speed stability and control on highways.

They provide good damping and feedback allowing you to handle the bike easily. Also, its very nimble and agile, allows you to throw it around the corners and traffic. So, suspensions are sweet, so is the handling and control, all this is aided with the Metzeler M5 super soft tyres up-front and rear, which provide
excellent grip and control.In terms of braking though, I was a bit disappointed though. The Trk251 gets a single 280mm floating disk brake setup with petal disk on the front while on the it gets a 240mm single caliper with petal disk setup. On paper and in theory, it should work great, but the 280mm disk up-front seems inadequate, Benelli could have used a 300mm disk there,which would have helped in making the braking better. So, the bite isnt that great, which is the only complaint I have in terms of the ridequality. The seat heights at 800mm which is decent, and majority Indian people above 5’5” should be above to enjoy the ride this italian delivers.Actually, its only the Brand thats Italian, the brand is actually owned by a Chinese conglomerate.

And in India, it has changed multiple partners before settling with the prince of Hyderabad. The TRK251 seems promising, but the price tag that reads 2.51L ex-factory seems a bit high for too little tech & features frankly if you compare the competition . Another grey area lies in the after-sales service and spare part availability department, which has been ghosting quite a few benelli owners since the company’s launch. So a promising product by a company with service history not so promising, how it turns out Is a tale for some other time to tell. Till then, I’ll bid adieu. I will see you next time with some other motorcycle and my opinions on it.

Words – Suraj Sawant

Photography and Video : Bhushan Joshi