Benelli Tornado Tre 900

Steve G. said:
There was a dedicated independent dealer in Vancouver City, of this era of Benelli, including the Tre in green/grey. Lovely and cool bikes, but rumours of parts supply issues, and locally very questionable dealer maintenance.

Later, a big auction was announced by a very large auctioneer here, perhaps the biggest auction company on earth, (Richie Bros). The dealer had gone bankrupt. 12 new bikes, 8 complete, 4 served as parts bikes for the now confirmed shortage of parts. No reserve. Second biggest auction attendance I’d ever seen, next to the Las Vegas Mecam auction. I had buds on 5 of the bikes, but a ‘big player’ out of Calgary, Alberta bought all of them, everything. We were all pissed off.
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That happened in the UK when the Benelli factory went bankrupt (2003?). Three Cross Motorcycles had been the UK importer, and had a stock of Tornado Tre’s, previously selling at £13k. The whole stock was bought by Moto GB, who reputedly went on to buy the warehouse stock in Pesaro, Italy. Clearly a healthy profit was envisaged. However there was mechanical gremlins waiting to be found, and in due course these faults destroyed the marque’s name in the UK which had more Tornados than any other country.

btw. Parts can be obtained from a specialist in Germany, Maniac-Motors.
 
Alzero said:
I was thinking of this one:
View attachment 85395
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Alzero said:
I was thinking of this one:
View attachment 85395
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Yes it is indeed a Tre-K. They came in 3 flavours:

2006. Original Tre-K with1130cc triple, 125hp. Road biased with cast wheels & road tyres (akin to later BMW XR range).
IMG_4501.jpeg

2008. Amazonas Tre-K with same engine but taller off-road suspension, wire wheels & dual purpose tyres. Yellow/black paint scheme. Not many about.
IMG_4500.jpeg

2010. Subsequently Benelli produced a Tre-K with 899cc triple powered (Tornado motor) detuned to some 105hp?, road biased.
IMG_4502.jpeg

From a distance the 899, and 1130 versions of the Tre-K look pretty much the same. Huge difference is that the 899 motor needs revs to perform unlike the torquey 1130
Dates & powers are approx, off the top of my head
 
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And the Tre-K is an early model with all the defects? Just my luck! Is there a way to check an individual bike by s/n to see if all the issues were addressed under warranty? The dealers still exist?
 
Alzero said:
And the Tre-K is an early model with all the defects? Just my luck! Is there a way to check an individual bike by s/n to see if all the issues were addressed under warranty? The dealers still exist?
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You shouldn’t be so focused on the ‘defects’. if you thought that way, you not buy any Italian bike, including Laverdas, especially all Zane twins. it is far more important to buy a cared for bike with a service history, the owner will advise what’s been done.
These have been around 10-15 years, the more serious problems will have been sorted. Otherwise the engines wouldn’t have survived.
As said earlier, the Benelli forum is a great source of info. From there you’ll find the real issues, rather than rumour and folklore.
I don’t know where you’re from, but in UK Bennetts Motorcycles in Barnsley are worth a phone call.
 
BobW said:
You shouldn’t be so focused on the ‘defects’. if you thought that way, you not buy any Italian bike, including Laverdas, especially all Zane twins. it is far more important to buy a cared for bike with a service history, the owner will advise what’s been done.
These have been around 10-15 years, the more serious problems will have been sorted. Otherwise the engines wouldn’t have survived.
As said earlier, the Benelli forum is a great source of info. From there you’ll find the real issues, rather than rumour and folklore.
I don’t know where you’re from, but in UK Bennetts Motorcycles in Barnsley are worth a phone call.
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Tru that, just storing up info for now. It will be a year or two before we settle down and I am ready to buy.
 
Mactriple said:
Any forum members own or have ridden a Tre 900. I would like to read their opinions about the bike, especially if the bike has had its problems sorted. Is the riding position about the same as a 916? Cheers, Ian
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I have a brand new one , green /silver zero miles. Had the various dealer mods . 7k if interested
 
Lovely to see you contributing Bob (the Plod) Williams, you were greatly missed at Baskerville, there were a lot of caravans and motorhomes this year (me included) very interesting your take on the three Benelli triples that you have owned, but you dont mention that a snapped front wheel spindle very nearly killed you and (no doubt) is still casuing your aging body aggro.
CLEM
 
CLEMTOG said:
Lovely to see you contributing Bob (the Plod) Williams, you were greatly missed at Baskerville, there were a lot of caravans and motorhomes this year (me included) very interesting your take on the three Benelli triples that you have owned, but you dont mention that a snapped front wheel spindle very nearly killed you and (no doubt) is still casuing your aging body aggro.
CLEM
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Thank you Clem, likewise yourself last year 😂 I have been stalking the forum 😉

That was kind of you to recall my event in North Wales, fortunately I was unconscious for the worst of it. The Tre-K Amazonas’ front wheel spindle / axle did shear, with the effect of a 40mph mega stoppie. It wasn’t the fault of the factory…
The case went to court, and despite small change at risk (£15k), the dealer’s CEO came to court to tell lies, likewise an expert witness paid sufficiently to perjure himself and claim that many classic bikes ride UK roads with owners unaware. It was fully covered up, even hiding a metallurgy report & stating it had not been done. After the case I was able to collect the sheared axle, which had had sections cut out of it. It later became clear that the fracture was caused by a grossly poor PDI. Hence my saying I’d never have any dealings with KJM Superbikes, or their owners Moto GB who own a number of dealers in the Northwest. Buyer beware never rang so true.

ps. I couldn't afford an appeal, but am insured and have the evidence should they wish to take umbrage 😃
 
we rely on these monkeys all the time, a girlfriend (no... not that sort) recently crashed her MPV, the offside front wheel locked and tyre burst, causing her to go out of control into a car coming the other way, and then another car rear ends her, she had her 3 kids in the car and someones elses 3 kids as well, no one hurt fortunatley but try dealing with 6 very frightened and distressed kids and a car owner who thinks that you are the guilty party. A front caliper had come off its mountings, from the look of it, one bolt first and then very quickly after the second, this caused the calliper to jam in the wheel (OSF) and break a nice neat square section of the alloy out of it and hence the ongoing trauma.

200 miles earlier she had paid £1300 for a brake overhaul of most things wearing/moving/corroding and perishing in the brake system, guess what......... the garage concerned, denies any responsibility, RAC were called in addition to the police and breakdowns, full details extracted and forensic tests ongoing, that garage will lose, I hope. I have apicture of the wheel on my phone but cant work out how to load the picture, which I have done in the past.

CLEM
 
Reunited Chris said:
G'day Ian,
I've got 2, Tornado Tre 900 and Tornado Tre RS 900.
Both very nice bikes to ride, motor very responsive, particularly the RS and both handle incredibly well.
Can't compare to 916, never ridden one but very similar to Triumph 955 Daytona though not quite as extreme as Triumph.
Both reliable once fully sorted and highly underated due to initial issues.
Love them both.
Chris
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Chris, what is the difference between the Standard TRE and the RS?
Vince said:
From what I heard you need to know a bloke in Canberra.
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I got on to him Vince. Errol Kowald. I am aware of the faults, and it has me stuffed why the Factory released the bike like that. It's the Z25 shaft and not the actual gear that expands too much. All I need to do is sell my Ducati 250 Desmo. Cheers Ian
 
Try reading this thread https://www.benelliforum.com/threads/tre-rs-or-le.3505/
You can easily make some of the changes to a standard bike, which for most people is more than adequate for road use.
And as for the second point, I can think of numerous examples, including some close to home, where as a manufacturer you have forked out a fortune to develop a product and a point comes where you need to start recouping some of that cost so it’s launched whether it’s ready or not.
 
BobW said:
Thank you Clem, likewise yourself last year 😂 I have been stalking the forum 😉

It later became clear that the fracture was caused by a grossly poor PDI.
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Nasty stuff, Bob! Can you expand the PDI for me? What was the cause of the breakage? You'd probably rather forget the whole ugly affair!
 
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