New lightweight 125 adventure bike from historic brand Benelli brings versatile bike to the learner market with a 3.5K price tag – bikes on the bottom rung of the adventure ladder are also easy steps to make for new and novice riders.

A Benelli motorcycle wouldn’t normally prick our ears up at Enduro21, let alone a 125cc four-stroke with 15 horsepower. But after a month or so of major motorcycle shows and just a little bit of new bike fatigue, this one struck us.

A classic Italian brand, a basic adventure/dual sport bike, and a good price point. Adventure bikes should welcome all-comers and if it brings more people into off-road riding then we’re all for it.

We’re under no illusions, this isn’t about to race the Dakar or take someone the length of the Silk Road (prove us wrong?), but it looks like it’ll inspire and encourage younger or newer riders and that is enough.

Highlights

• Tall bike riding position, 180mm travel, adjustable suspension and 233mm ground clearance make it viable off-road

• Enduro “inspired” travel option (£300 more) has handguards and 12-litre (3.17 US Gal) fuel tank

• New 125cc four-stroke engine with 15hp and 12.1Nm of torque

Set to arrive in dealers in early 2026, the new liquid-cooled range from the legendary Italian brand starts at just over 3K for a street model with this adventure BKX 125 variant for £3499 in the UK where distributors, MotoGB, sent us the model information from.

Both models share a new 125cc, four-valve, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine with a six-speed gearbox. Engineered for “as much excitement as possible” within A1 licence (European) limits, it delivers 15 BHP (11 kW) at 9500 RPM and 12.1 Nm of torque at 7000 RPM.

Ideal for “navigating city traffic or exploring green lanes”, they tell us, the Benelli BKX 125 is born from the pencils of the Benelli Style Centre in Pesaro, with clean, soft lines and a lighting setup with a strong personality.

We’re not quite sure what that means but the facts before us show a practical bike, with enough features to be useful but not pretending to be anything more than that.

Front indicators are integrated directly into the handguards and the cockpit features a clear LCD instrument cluster and a USB socket for charging devices on the move.

The BKX 125 is an additional £300 (again, in the UK where we received the media details from) for the travel enduro-inspired model adds a suite of off-road focused upgrades.

It boasts 41mm upside-down forks that are fully adjustable in spring preload, compression, and rebound damping.

The adventure variant has spoked wheels with a 19-inch front rim and a sump guard. Suspension travel is increased by 30mm over the standard model to 180mm, raising the seat height to 860mm for a taller riding position and for a ground clearance of 233mm.

The 12-litre fuel tank means a claimed a potential range of over 300 miles.

Available in four colour options, and in the UK at least, a two-year warranty. The Benelli BKX 125 range joins a neat range of Benelli adv bikes including the TRK 702 X.

More information: www.benelli.com +  www.benelli.co.uk