New benelli tnt 125 or used grom ?

[Porkyboy]

Hi guys im looking for a 125 to mess around on until i can do my das december next year. The grom near me is a 2018 with 5k on the clock for 2.5k or i could buy a brand new tnt... what do you guys think here ? i see older groms on autotrader and they seem to hold value well, which i'm not sure the benelli will.

[Pothole]

Are Benelli now Indian? Grom is bound to be better built.

[Porkyboy]

Chinese i think, does have me worried lol

[NS400R]

Grom every time. You'll be able to sell the Grom for more than 50p....

[stu67]

Difficult one, I've got the new Monkey and it's great. I'd err on the side of caution and say Honda merely based on the amount of after market stuff you can get for them however I've heard good things about the Benelli's.
As an aside I know someone who works for a dealer in the US and they cannot get hold of any new Honda 125's at the moment but says the Benelli's are flying out of the doors

[airsafari87]

I've had a Benelli TNT 125 for 2 years now.

Chinese it may be, but there is absolutely nowt wrong with them at all. I gave it a good ACF50 treatment last year and ran it all winter. Come spring when I cleaned it down again it was spot on, no rust, no furred up fasteners or anything.

Its been dead reliable and I really can't fault it all. I drop the oil every 1000 or so miles and change the filters and it runs sweet as. I love riding the little things.

I'm a bit sad that it has to go now that my Mrs has passed her test and there's yet another bike in the garage, there's just no space to keep it anymore.

So ... As you are just wanting a bike for a stop gap before you move up to a bigger bike id say go for the Benelli, save yourself a decent chunk of cash and end with a bike that in reality, is just as good as a Grom.

[carinaman]

Is there an ABS vs linked brakes difference or do new TNTs now have ABS?

I've just seen that lurid flouro green colour scheme on new TNTs for the first time.

[Pothole]

carinaman said:

Is there an ABS vs linked brakes difference or do new TNTs now have ABS?

I've just seen that lurid flouro green colour scheme on new TNTs for the first time.

All new bikes 125 and over have ABS, I thought.

[airsafari87]

Pothole said:

ll new bikes 125 and over have ABS, I thought.

The TNT's have linked brakes.

[Pothole]

airsafari87 said:

The TNT's have linked brakes.

Not popular in a 2017 test:

"The real weak point on this machine is the combined braking system. The front 210mm rotor with three-piston caliper is good, it offers a nice amount of bite and strong (for this bike) stopping power. It’s well balanced and provides 90 per cent of what you need.

The rear brake is woeful, there’s crazy levels of travel in the foot lever which means you basically need to stamp down on it to get a result. Not ideal. No ABS shouldn’t be an issue, but the CBS (Combined Braking System) is definitely not a good thing and doesn’t add anything to the bike’s safety."

[airsafari87]

Pothole said:

Not popular in a 2017 test:

"The real weak point on this machine is the combined braking system. The front 210mm rotor with three-piston caliper is good, it offers a nice amount of bite and strong (for this bike) stopping power. It’s well balanced and provides 90 per cent of what you need.

The rear brake is woeful, there’s crazy levels of travel in the foot lever which means you basically need to stamp down on it to get a result. Not ideal. No ABS shouldn’t be an issue, but the CBS (Combined Braking System) is definitely not a good thing and doesn’t add anything to the bike’s safety."

Honestly, in the real world. Its not a problem at all.

I use the rear brake a lot on mine and its absolutely fine, even to the point that I will pull up to junctions or traffic lights using only the rear brake if I'm feeling particularly lazy.
Yes the lever does travel a long way, but actual braking performance is more than adequate, and that is with a fat lad like myself sat on it.

I think the thing that needs to be remembered is its a cheap as hell 125cc that will do 71mph max, isnt going to be used to chase laptimes and we shouldn't really expect the pinnacle of braking performance from them.

To give a bit of context, the brakes on the S1000R which i also have, have always been praised for their bite and stopping power. I dont jump off that bike on to the TNT and go 'Whoa these brakes are going to kill me'

I do agree that the linked brakes don't add anything to the safety, but it was Benelli's way of getting around the regulations without adding the cost of abs.

[V8RX7]

On light bikes when stopping hard the rear brake is absolutely pointless as I demonstrated on an IAM fun day.

The guy who rode a fat 1300 insisted I should use the rear brake and four fingers on the front - then complained that I locked the rear - I pointed out that any pressure on the rear locked it, in hard braking as there was no weight on it - 150kg KTM with 80kg rider

I set the shortest distance on the day and it was effectively doing low stoppies- with two fingers, to no one's surprise who rides light bikes.