Why aren't more people excited about the Benelli TRK 502 when we first saw the
bike at EICMA 2015 we were really excited and look at it in
this X version it's got Pakka off-road credentials it's
got a 19-17 wheel setup with wire spoke wheels dual sport tires it's got long
term suspension and beefy front folks it's also got plenty of ground clearance
and honestly for the kids offers the price is pretty decent as well so what
exactly is the problem
well one problem is an at least on paper the engine performance is not that
impressive this 500CC parallel with motor makes 47 and a half piece of
power
in comparison the Ninja 400 makes one-and-a-half PS more from 100
CC less
well on paper is one thing but how does it perform in the real world and
especially off road well the short answer is not all that big on the bottom
line here is that this engine barely has any bottom end torque now let me get a bit
technical here this parallel with motor has a 360 degree crank while other more
off Road oriented parallel twins usually have to submit agree crank because
that's what it need to get that pulse a power delivery of an extra traction in
the dirt now Benelli has try to address this to
a certain extent by giving this bike a bigger rear sprocket compared to the
normal roadway inversion but that doesn't help all that much so basically
you end up in first and second gear for most of your time of the road
and if you thought that they are going to get the rear wheel spinning and the
back end sideways in the dirt well think again because the motor simply does not
have the punch you have to around the nuts of it and
that means the speeds go up like crazy and then it required superhuman skill of the road
the fibre to excess performance while adequate is far from exciting with
a fairly low power to weight ratio acceleration figures are comparable to
300 cc bikes such as the BMW G 310 GS roll-on acceleration is slightly better
though so you don't need to work as hard if you want to overtake at speed
so are there any puzzle to this engine you ask well of course there are just
like Benelli's other twins this two is extremely refined at low RPM
yes some Vipers do creeping past 7000 rpm in the footpegs and the tank but you
won't be that often because the bike can pull very comfortably from low rpm in
fact this one pulls easily from 40 kph in fifth gear and that is commendable
and even if you are at high res for long periods of time the vibes don't seem
bothersome at all because Benelli has used plenty off rubber on the foot pegs
and handlebars and the seat is well cushioned too out on the highway the 500x
can sustain cool speeds of 120 to 130 kmph all day long as we discovered
riding some 800 kilometres from chikmagalur to pune wasn't parry at all now
one thing Benelli knows how to do quite well is tuned exhaust and the 502x is no
different
one problem is here is that people say this bike is very heavy and they would be
right now Benelli India hasn't given us official weight figures but from
internet websites we have gathered that this thing weighs two hundred and thirty
five kilos to put that into perspective the Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT way is just
two hundred and sixteen heck there's just a few kilos shy of the Big Daddy
the BMW r1250GS
and off the road all this mass is the last thing you need
which makes this TRK 502X more than a handful in the dirt now in flipping a
different thing if all this weight was focused low down and centered well it's
not it's pretty much at the top when you're standing on the pegs and riding
the whole bike feels really top-heavy so taking turns in the dirt by standing on
the pegs requires a lot of skill and a lot of courage
now things do get a little bit easier when you are sitting down in the saddle and you're on tarmac
but especially in the corners you can still feel light weight turn them and
that way just slow dropped into the turn a little too suddenly and that does take
a little bit of time and patience to get used to but once you get used to it the
handling does inspire confidence the 502 X has a rather steep rake for an
adventure tool which means turning isn't as cumbersome as you might imagine and
then sweet also keeps it well settled whether through the corners or at speed
on the highway
breaking is pretty good too with the dual pedal rotors at the front able to
haul this behemoth down from speed surprisingly quickly and if you're
feeling particularly adventurous you can switch off abs completely on both wheels as well
now managing all this weight becomes especially more difficult
because of the bikes tall seat height of eight hundred and forty millimetres plus
the seat itself is a linear on the wider side which means even with my high five
ten I am basically just on tiptoes and if you are someone shorter like Eshan
here who is five four
while the seat height might be a little on the higher side the seats themselves
are extremely comfortable both for Rider and the pillion in that well are right
some chikmagalur to pune our backside had nothing to complain about
now one saving grace for that Trk 502 X is it suspension while the front
is not adjustable at all the rear does have settings for preload and rebound
and of course it's not as efficient as something that you find on the Triumph
Tiger XCX but then again you're paying only one-third the price of a tiger and
for that it actually does a very good job on bad roads and even on low roads a
front end does feel slightly skittish on very sharp rocks and the rear does have
a slight bounce if you're riding solo but plunk a pillion at the back and not
only the back seat very comfortable the ride settles down immediately so while
the TRK 502 X is not designed to really attack and bash trails if you want a
relaxed and relaxing ride on dirt roads with pillion I think it does a pretty good job
and speaking about more practical aspects the TRK 502X is
one of the best-built Bonelli's we seen in India while the quality of plastics
is acceptable and far from mind-blowing the bike feels like it's been put
together really solidly and it looks rather good to mimicking the Ducati
Multistrada from the front and the Triumph Tiger from the back so is the
502X doing enough to excite people on the engine front it is under powered
if you're in the mood for mucking around on the weight front it is quite
difficult to manage especially oFf the road so while it's not an outright adv
it does go great highway touring and it can ride on bad roads all day long even
too up very comfortably so maybe excite is the wrong world is it
interesting and like even we certainly think so
so while it might not appeal immediately here it will appeal to a lot of folk up
here especially when you consider its fantastic pricing so if you're going to
be spending a majority of your time on the highway why do you need the 502 X for
40,000 rupees less you are getting alloy wheels Road spec tires radial brakes a
spot here right but most importantly a manageable seat height
gentlemen welcome to powerdrift and the Trk 502