Will the increased power and new look be enough to bring the TRK up to speed?
May 26, 2024 in 2:03pm ET
3 min read
Benelli, the Chinese-owned motorcycle brand with Italian roots, has been selling its entry-level adventure bike, the TRK 502, for quite some time now. When it debuted in 2017, the bike was ahead of its time and packed with features that made quite an impression.
But it’s clear by now that the TRK 502X is showing its age a little. Adventure touring machines in the 400cc to 500cc class have evolved rapidly in recent years, with new launches from both new and established manufacturers shaking up the market. Bikes like the KTM 390 Adventure, the newly launched Royal Enfield Himalayan and the CFMoto Ibex 450 focus on off-road performance, while machines like the Honda NX500 focus on long-distance touring capability.
So what will happen to the old Benelli TRK? As it turns out, Benelli has given the bike a makeover and unveiled the TRK 552X for the 2024 model year. Judging by the specs and features of the bike, it looks like Benelli has taken what was good about the TRK 502X and made it even better.
The Benelli TRK 552X retains some of the familiar styling features of the 502 line-up.
Gone are the halogen headlights in favor of a new dual-pod LED headlight assembly, the front fascia is sharper with a more aggressive beak and larger windscreen, and the fairing is now wider to blend in with the larger fuel tank.
In the cockpit, like other bikes in this segment, the outdated analogue digital display has been replaced with a full-colour TFT screen that also comes with features such as smartphone pairing and a built-in tyre pressure monitoring system.
The TRK 552X comes with a full-color TFT display.
Marketed as an entry-level adventure tourer, the new TRK 552X packs a lot of power for its class. Its 550cc in-line twin-cylinder engine puts out 60 horsepower and 40.5 pound-feet of torque, blurring the lines between the entry-level and middleweight ADV segments. What’s even better is that Benelli has ditched the previous model’s 360-degree crank in favor of a 270-degree crank like those found on middleweight twins from Yamaha and Suzuki.
But on the tech front, Benelli seems to have kept things pretty simple, with the TRK only getting dual-channel ABS and no ride modes or advanced electronics.
The new 550cc in-line twin-cylinder engine uses a 270-degree crankshaft configuration.
That being said, judging by the bike’s underpinnings, it’s clear that Benelli isn’t looking to compete with the rally-inspired ADVs in the segment, but rather to bridge the gap between on-road and go-anywhere capability. The TRK comes with premium adjustable Marzocchi suspension front and rear, while it rides on a 19-17 spoke wheel combo shod in Metzeler Tourance rubber.
Like most of the Benelli bikes, the TRK 552X has been launched in China first and if it proves successful, it could be shipped to other markets and compete with some of the bikes we have highlighted above.
Competition in the global ADV segment is now fiercer than ever before, and it goes without saying that Benelli has a tough task ahead of it if it wants to stay relevant in the segment. Benelli is clearly going in a different direction to the new bikes from Royal Enfield and CFMoto, but will the power boost and styling changes be enough to get the TRK name in the eye of ADV enthusiasts?
only time will tell.
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