Bike of the Month for August 1999
Benelli Tornado
If you love Italian motorcycles, then you remember Benelli. I know I do. Growing up in Auburn, Washington, there was a bike shop at the north end of town that sold Italian motorcycles. It was a big red barn in the middle of farm country. Inside, there were Ducatis, Moto Guzzis, Laverdas, Moto Morinis, and Benellis. For a young man who was falling in love with motorcycles, it was a haven. At the time (mid to late '70's), Benelli was selling the outrageous six cylinder 750 Sei and 900 Sei, but they had a long tradition of building very good, very stylish motorcycles. Unfortunately, Benelli couldn't survive the bust in motorcycles sales in the early '80's. The company was purchased by a wealthy industrialist who used to sweep floors at the old Benelli factory. The first thing he did was put some very nice 50cc scooters into production, to get some positive cash flow. Next, he began work on a new, full-sized sports motorcycle. This is the result. It's a 898cc 120 degree triple that should make more than 140 hp at 11,500 rpms. The most unique feature of the motorcycle is the positioning of the radiator. Every liquid-cooled motorcycle built has the radiator in front of the engine. This is a convenient place for it. However, convenient isn't the same as efficient. There are two reason's why it shouldn't be up front. The first is that it needs to be really large to do the job right. After all, it's being heated by the exhaust from behind, which means you've got to make it bigger. Second, it's behind the front wheel, which makes a vacuum behind it that is actually larger than the area of the front wheel and fork, so you have to make the radiator even larger to counter-act that. So now you have a large radiator in front of the engine, which is very aerodynamically inefficient. Benelli looked at this, and decided the only thing you can do is move the radiator. They put it under the seat. Since you can make it much smaller, it fits quite well, with room left over for the electronics. Two small openings in the fairing allow clean air back to the radiator, where low pressure from the back of the bike draws the air through the radiator and out the back. There are two small fans that help draw the air through, as well. The benefits, aside from a much smaller, much lighter radiator, is at the front of the bike. It can be aerodynamically efficient. (There's that phrase again.) It is very narrow, even narrower than the Ducati 996. Benelli plans on putting this bike on sale in the spring of 2001, and will race it in World Superbikes at the same time. I can't wait. If you want more info on the Tornado, check out Benelli's special Tornado website at www.tornadobenelli.com.
July 1999's Winner Excelsior-Henderson Super X
June 1999's Winner Yamaha XJR1300
May 1999's Winner MV Augusta F4
April 1999's Winner Harley-Davidson FXR2
March 1999's Winner Kawasaki Estrella Custom
February 1999's Winner Laverda 750S Formula
January 1999's Winner Kawasaki SW650
December 1998's Winner Harley-Davidson FLSTS Heritage Springer
November 1998's Winner BMW R1100S
October 1998's Winner Triumph Speed Triple
September 1998's Winner Moto Guzzi V10 Centauro Sport
August 1998's Winner Harley-Davidson FXDX Super Glide Sport
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