Benelli TNT 25 or Royal Enfield 500: Suggest Best Bike Around Rs.2.5 Lakh

[madhanvasudevan]

I have a Fazer 150 and my long term dream is RE classic 500. My need is for Touring and long travel. Recently addicted to Benelli,precisely for 600i(one of my friend own it). I do researched and checked with showroom. TNT 25 is the best i could find for my budget and other costs like maintenance and fuel cost(trust me i do travel a lot and i will :P). Its really sick to compare RE with Benelli since the purpose of both is different yet i don't have a choice.Can't able to choose RE( Speed matters and gotch chennai just got overflown with too much of RE's in roads now a days). Can't able to choose Benelli since my friend who own 600i planning for protest, yeah you heard right !! service costs 8000rs for each and every 4k kms and spare parts cost way more than expected(the sales person accepted it :P).So its a huge dilemma. Help me god souls please.

My choice so far : 1. Benelli TNT 25
2. Royal Enfield 500(Desert Storm)


Other bikes test driven : 1. Bajaj Dominar 400 (the recent launch).

Dominar 400 have a huge torque and power for its price. I myself 90kg with pillion 70km and still it reaches 100kmph in 8 sec and gear drops to 2,quicker than any bikes in segment thanks to clipper clutch. White color is a Savior, yet to be in my choice just because bajaj and price point for that cc.

Other choices for my choice list : 1. BMW G310 ( yet to launch, cant sure).
2. Duke 390 (not my cup of tea).
3. CBR ( the What !!!).

 

[nmm mithra]

Go ahead with the RE Classic 500 Desert Storm as it is the best 500 CC out there in this budget.

But, If your requirement is fully touring and long travel then Test Drive RE Thunderbird 500. And if you want to stand out from the crowd (RE crowd) then slightly extend your budget and Test drive/buy the Hyosung Aquila 250.

 

[turbothingy]

For touring purposes I would recommend the Honda CBR 250. Its the most comfortable bike it its range and has decent power as well. Reliability is a plus. It costs somewhere around 1.5k/service which isnt that bad.

Also, you can wait for the TVS BMW bike.

Duke 390 is a racer bike but not the best for touring because of its sporty sitting posture adn the aggressive power delivery.

 

[AbhisekVerma]

Dominar 400 has some stunning exhaust note. I recommend that.

 

[$@ndy]

Currently in same boat as previously owned an RD 350 now after selling it years ago now the itch has started again finalized DS500 and dominar. but will be most for city runabouts. i have ridden classic 500 but was disappointed with clunky gearbox as if i there was no lubrication in gearbox. may be a problem with one particular unit. havn't test ridden dominar yet just sat on it to get a feel for the bike. the bike felt big but that what i can only say about it as of now. will be finalizing after test riding the bike. BTW i am also getting a good deal on DS500 a 2015 model with less than 10K on the odo for 1.2 lakh