Benelli Leoncino 500cc motorcycle spied in India, launch soon

DSK Benelli will soon launch a naked bike in February 2018 in the Indian market. The Leoncino is a scrambler style bike for the Indian market that has been spied testing for the first time in India. The bike was recently homologated at ARAI and will be showcased at the 2018 Auto Expo in Delhi-NCR.

The bike will be assembled at DSK-Benelli factory in Maharashtra and it will come to India as completely knocked down units (CKDs). This will allow the brand to price the Leincino quite competitively. The bike will take on the likes of Harley-Davidson Street 750 V-Twin.

The Leoncino will be sold will be mainly for street riding purpose. In the international market, it is also available in off-road spec but it will not come to the Indian market due to poor demand for such bikes. It is expected to be priced around Rs. 4.5 lakh and undercut the Harley Davidson Street 750 V-Twin.

A few noticeable features include 3D lion mascot, twin petal discs, projector headlamp with glossy back housing, cantilevered tailpiece and black finished chassis and cycle parts.

It will be powered by a 500cc parallel twin cylinder engine. It produces a maximum power of 49.6 Bhp at 8,500 rpm and peak torque of 45 Nm at 5,000 rpm. The engine features four-valve heads, liquid-cooling, fuel injection and a wet clutch. It gets a 6-speed manual transmission unit. The Leoncino looks extremely good and gets 17-inch wheels with tubeless tyres. ABS is standard.

The bike also gets 50mm upside down forks at the front and adjustable monoshock at the rear. Even shorter riders will find the bike quite easy as the seat height is just 785mm. It gets 145mm of ground clearance that enables to ride over potholes and speed breakers with ease.