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New member Bene Borealis - glad to join

4K views 24 replies 9 participants last post by  RSmysoul 
#1 ·
Hello all Nelli activists,

I've been lurking around quite a while, but decided to join this forum after I acquired a Tornado Tre 1130 1000km ago. I was a bit hesitant to move from my seven year old reliable, quick enough Aprilia RSV to the *well known* Benelli. But after following the discussions on this forum, I gained enough insight daring to take the inevitable risk.

I can tell you it was worth taking. I live in Finland, the closest retailer/service about two hours ride away. Practically I have to do all maintenance by myself. Digging under the fairings has been a pleasant surprise for two reasons: The initial impression of sloppy finish of Benelli has turned to a positive surprise of how well the construction has been thought out and how good quality components the people in Pesaro are using. I think they have made huge improvent in their quality control and finish lately. The other thing is that the happy days of biking are here again :D. This mechanic's stuff is exactly what I've been longing for without noticing.

I've been biking about thirty (yes, 3zero) years know (street, enduro, street). I commute to Helsinki about twice a month (300+km per leg) from Jyväskylä, where I live, and this is my primary use of the bike. It is a sort of retreat for me; it is the only place in Nordic countries where it is socially acceptable to shut off your mobile.

Tornado Tre 1130 is my 10th bike. If I compare it to RSV, the RSV is more precise, tight, aggressive, and it has less drive train slack. You know exactly what will happen next, but it feels top-heavy. On the other hand, Tornado feels very light, tout, agile and has turbin like power from the bottom. Both bikes are superb to handle, and at the same time so different. My wife and kids find Tornado much more pleasant than Mille. Another annoying thing is Nelli's huge turning radius compared to RSV.

You can have a look from my transition period in my gallery. During the break-in period, we (i.e. Bene & Benelli) took a dive on a parking lot, so it turned a sort of break-down starting yesterday. My fault, should never keep thinking biz while driving.:mad: The consequence was that you'll have nice under-the-hood pictures of the 1130 and I'll be limping and waiting for spare parts. Luckily, I was able to fix the vital parts in Pielavesi-style to continue riding till the parts arrive. The nice thing we have here is the white nights. Good for riding, now.

Not so short introduction, sorry. Next time I'll be brief. Promise.

Yours Bene Borealis.
 
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#3 ·
for a few secs I thought there was a second 1130 in the UK :bawl:

but not, you shine with your Tre in Finland :clap:

Welcome here, I am sure we can share our experience on the bike now...the funny thing is I have got a RSVMille in the garage while the Tornado is being serviced (first one) :D
 
#6 ·
In the entire Benelux there is only 1, at the Belgian importer, and they don't plan on getting any extra unless a client explicitly orders them. They don't think the bike is worth getting on stock, compared to the TnT's and Tre-K, because of lack of competiteveness with the other sportsbikes on the market (e.g. ducati 1098 and the likes ...), mainly due to the weight of the bike.
 
#4 ·
Welcome O Finish one.

Is it just me or does the place you come from (Jyväskylä) remind you of all the letters you have left over at the end of a game of Scrabble!!!!! :rolling:

Interesting comparison to the Mille but you lost me a bit in the last sentence, what was the problem that has developed:confused:
 
#7 ·
Hi all,

been busy in riding, did 800+ yesterday. On the way I saw an elk (moose, am.engl.) crossing a road. The good thing with this beast was that there is a slight chance to slip underneath...

The emerging problem, not known in the times of Mille, is simply too many people on one bike! :bawl: It is so much better to dual ride than dear catapult Mille.

What comes to the origin of new scratch painting scheme with nice vent duct taping: I don't know exactly, but I have a theory. I was leaving from job on Thu, pissed off, and not concentrating fully (this is a typical once in a ten year crash symptom, says the beloved wife). Curving to the left on a parking lot, I (probably) felt the front end sliding a bit (some sand on tarmac, I inspected later). Too much inclined to the left I (think) corrected by counter steering, but nothing happened, because I already was at the steering column stopper (Mille would have saved my day). It went on sliding, till the slide (evidently) stopped, and made a nice head shake before falling on the left hand side.:doh: :doh:. Happy I did not end up underneath her :eek: (here I really prefer the traditional way).

Checked that she is still good to ride, took her home and went to the doc, insurance company etc. Some splinters on the right hand (remember the head shake?), but pelvis ok. The speed was extraordinary high 30-40 km/h, but I was sore on back muscles on Friday. The doc ordered to take decent rest so I fixed her for Sat ride.

p.s. I'll put a photo Pielavesi-style bricolage on the gallery tonight. But now it is sauna time.
 
#12 ·
Correct,

and that is after they have cleaned the streets :rolling: It is the time of year when we turn Pielavesi fix back to normal. Provided that the Italians deliver 'over-night'.

Now you also know, how I felt visiting Scotland four months ago: Full of place names which you forgot before you end up reading them :p
 
#14 ·
Hello,

well can't help it: that is where I ride. This is purely subjective evaluation of the capabilities of the bike based on my riding style. I do respect other road users, believe or not, because it keeps me better alive, too.:bow:

I did my track days in the 70's and trail days in the 80's, so to find the ultimate performance of any bike I'll rely on secondary sources ;) :

http://mvsource.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7675

Anyway, my presentation round is over. Most likely we'll meet in the technical section...
 
#15 ·
:hiya: Bene Borealis and welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about you off, I know all about them as I had a bad one in October 2006 and am still off work due to the injuries! (A car pulled out on me :doh:) I am glad you where not as badly hurt as I was!

Re you crash damage, If you cannot get the parts you need I am sure that we can get them via the UK importers KJM Motorcycles. Keep us posted!
 
#16 ·
Thanks,

I think I must have read about your horrible accident with a van(?) on some of these threads. I sincerely hope you'll get well eventually. I feel special sympathy to all small guys in traffic (I consider any biker one of a kind). Our kids (two out of three, then 4 and 6 yrs) were hit by a car 18 mos ago on the pedestrian crossing. They survived, and luckily recovered very well.:clap:

I appreciate your pointer and will definitely be in contact with KJM and you guys here, if the local importer in Vaasa cannot manage the deliveries. So far they have been very helpful and professional.
 
#17 ·
Nelli's first contact with the police

Well,

it is Midsummer Night here, a big feast with bonfires and lot of drinking. Not me, I took her out. I ran by accident to a scene where two cars had had a head crash. There were two rescue teams and many policemen taking photos of the insidence and guiding traffic.

An officer pinpointed me to stop :eek:, walked to us across the street - three lanes of (slow) traffic standing still. He wanted to see Benelli at near sight and kept asking if I've had any technical issues... told me to take better care of the rare and gorgeous bike :D
 
#18 ·
Bene Borealis, your posts are one of the most vivid here, liked it a lot. Less the part with your young ones, sorry to hear that but happy they recovered well. How was that SOB punished?
Hope to see you in Finland next year, even if I will be probably not on my Nelli.
 
#19 ·
Thanks Aquilla,

please keep me informed when you are planning to come. I'll be glad to meet you with or w/o your Nelli.

The girl got substantial fines on causing bodily injuries (classified as a criminal act), being coarsely careless and violating traffic rules (classified as violation of traffic law). This means a mark in the criminal record and a loss of driving license for half a year. She was ruins, so we dropped our charges. Got a lot of publicity in the newspapers throughout country: headlines such as "A driver hits a daycare group on pedestrian crossing" and interviews with docs and officers. Not a nice thing - good to keep in mind as schools are in again.
 
#20 ·
The very first time I was knocked of my bike was by a 17 year old girl turning across me into her school.

I am 6ft tall (1.8m) and 15 stone(90Kg), so quite a big bloke. I ploughed into the side of her car and flew across her cars bonnet. Fortunately not directly at the acumulated school children, but another few MPH and the bike would have bounced off her car into them.

The Policeman told me later that when her car lurched and stalled she thought that there was something wrong with the engine :doh: . She hadnt spotted me even as I flew across her bonnet. She didnt know I was there until people ran over to help me.


The criminal part was that the bike was a bright red 1962 BSA B40. The bike is still in 1000 bits 10 years on.


Aarron

PS As to the GPS data, people in the UK are terrified that everyone will be forced to have one of these and that it will be used to automate the collection of speeding fines. The reason behind this is not paranoia as the UK police have been known to use far less to convict people of dangerous driving (anyone remember the guy who took his Fireblade for one last spin with a camera strapped to the tank).
 
#21 ·
Glad that you made it.

Yesterday 1km from our place a car turned to the left (we have RHS traffic) across the road in front of a local biker here. The bike was demolished and the guy was somehow 'saved' in one piece :bow:. The driver 'did not see' :doh: the bike coming (compulsory headlights on here, though).

What comes to the fines: this is the Finnish record

"Nokian johtokunnan jäsen Anssi Vanjoki sai torstaina erävoiton ennätyssuurta summaa hakeneesta sakottajasta. Helsingin käräjäoikeus pudotti 690 000 markan sakkosumman ainoastaan 35 000 markkaan.

Vanjoki ajoi viime lokakuussa Helsingissä moottoripyörällään 50 kilometrin rajoitusalueella 75 kilometriä tunnissa."

The Finnish piece of news says that Mr. Vanjoki, a board member of Nokia, speeded 75kph on 50kph limit on his bike in Helsinki in October, 2001. The fine for speeding was meagre 115000€ (one hundred and fifteen thousand euros):eek: , but in higher court it was mad more proportionate, only 6000€ (six thousand) :bawl:
 
#23 ·
Im guessing that fines are proportional to income. Sounds like a good idea. That means the fine hurts everyone just as much.

In the UK it is 3 points for minor speeding (soon to change to 4 I think). You also get a small fixed fine. Accumulate 12 points and you loose your licence.

In South Africa they have a fine that rises with the speed. Some guy got caught flat out in the outback on his Hay-abuser and got a 118,000 rand fine. Only £20,000 at the time, but still a kick in the teeth.
 
#24 ·
New riding season starting after a month - early birds in the snow

Hi all,

gradually waking up from the winter cave. Nelli is comfortably still in the warm garage, but the first fellow riders are already competing out there in one of the old motorcycle races, since 1927.

Päijänne round -trophy (Päijänne-ajo, colloquially Päitsi) is an annual, two-and-half day enduro race in 1000km of which 250km are special stages. It used to be the other major competition between Finnish and Swedish top enduro riders (the other one is Novemberkåsan in Sweden, since 1915). Nowadays it is dominated by the Finnish enduro world champions, so it is primarily a national event. This year there were almost 400 participants.

In either race you can expect extreme conditions. I'll upload a few pics in the gallery, but the idea is clear from the photo below.

I was rehearsing for this event in 1983 (on DR500 Suzuki-thumper), but had an accident and ended up in a hospital (silver sticks in the foot). So there are things to do in the veteran class :cool:
 
#25 ·
Bene,
I've only just read about your exploits with the Tre 1130 and you have my greatest sympathy.
Just glad you were not badly hurt: maybe the Elk only suffered a 'bikini wax' too?! ;)

Be interested to hear how long to takes you to get the spare parts and hope that your bike is soon back to perfect condition. :bow:

'Huolehtia'

Stephen R
 
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