The 1995 Honda Gold Wing Has Been Reborn As The 2021 Benelli 1200GT

It doesn’t quite have the grandeur of EICMA or Intermot, but with neither of those two taking place this year, we’ll just have to make do with the 2020 Chongqing Motor Show. And one of the biggest attractions at this year’s event was the unveiling of Benelli’s new triple-cylinder flagship tourer, the 1200GT.

Factually, it may be brand new, but the 1200GT wouldn’t look out of place in a 1995 Honda brochure, adjacent to the words ‘Gold Wing’. The somewhat old-fashioned design is dominated by pretty bland straight lines, a humongous electrically adjustable front screen, and a wall of LED lights on the front of the bike. The ‘dashboard’ is a similarly 20th century affair, with analogue gauges and vast expanses of unimpressive black plastic. The colour TFT screen adds a much needed touch of modernity, and Benelli has also thrown in keyless operation. The keyless functionality may have made things simpler, but going by the size of the switch cluster, the features on this bike will be anything but simple to operate, if you’re an average-sized human being.

The 1,209cc liquid-cooled inline-triple cylinder engine is derived from the 1,130cc unit previously seen in the wild TNT 1130. In this avatar, it produces 136PS which puts it exactly on par with the BMW R 1250 RT which is pretty much a direct competitor. The rest of the motorcycle is a similarly competent and premium affair, with Brembo stoppers, a hydraulic clutch, an upside down front fork and monoshock.