Tornado Warning

I was delighted to note the inclusion of the utterly wonderful Benelli Tornado in your July edition. Whilst I very much enjoyed casting my eyes over the pictures included in the article (as well as elsewhere in the magazine...) I was somewhat dejected to note that some of the information provided was less than the full story. Those of us with a Benelli fetish can quickly confirm the key elements to getting a sorted Tornado, most notably (and expensively) make sure it has the upgraded 2007 clutch basket (and not from the standard TnT, they don’t have a slipper clutch). The camchain does indeed need relatively early replacement, but it is an off the shelf DID part and when done at the same time as the valves adds very little to the cost of the service. Ah, yes, servicing. Great play seems to be made of the high cost of servicing with £600 being quoted for a major service. That makes is about a third of the cost of servicing your Ducati then! I think with a little tweaking your article could have been very close to the mark. Make sure you get a bike with the key updates done on day one and you will be rewarded with a spectacular and reliable lump of Italian exotica. Anyway, thanks for the article, it was genuinely good to see some coverage in print, but it could/should have been somewhat more positive!

Ian Holme

PS. After re-reading, I was probably a bit too critical of your article. We do tend to get somewhat defensive about our bikes and it is great to see some media coverage of our beloved Benellis, so keep up the good work!