Benelli unveiled their motorcycle range today in India in collaboration with DSK Motowheels.
Benelli will bring in motorcycles ranging from 125cc, 300cc, 600cc, 899cc and 1,130cc to India in the single-cylinder to four-cylinder engine layout. DSK plans to bring these bikes via the CKD route and hence, pricing will be very competitive.
The Benelli BN 600i is powered by a 600cc, liquid cooled, 4-stroke, 4-valve, DOHC, in-line 4 cylinder petrol motor producing 82 BHP of power @ 11,500 RPM and 52 Nm of torque @ 10,500 RPM. Engine is mated to a 6-speed gearbox and the bike has a wet weight of 208 kg. The naked sportsbike gets a 15L fuel tank capacity.
Features include:
- 2 year unlimited km warranty (in international markets)
- Upside-down front fork
- Cross mounted rear monoshock
- Trellis frame
- Dual 320mm front disc brakes and a single 260mm rear disc brake
- Aluminium alloy wheels
- Split seats
- Under-seat exhaust pipes
- Floating side cowl
- Dual headlamp setup
- LED tail lamp
- Digital + analogue speedo console
- Pillion grab rails
The big question now is, the PRICE. When asked about the pricing strategy, the company claimed that it will be very competitive. This leaves us speculating that the BN 600i could manage to undercut the Kawasaki Ninja 650 prices. Both are CKD products but the Kawasaki offering is a faired motorcycle accounting for higher costs. However, the in-line 4 cylinder layout of the BN 600i will also be slightly expensive. Both these aspects considered, there is high possibility of the product pricing overlapping, or even Benelli undercutting the price here. Would you not prefer an in-line 4 cylinder motor producing more power than the old-school Kawasaki Ninja 650? Official launch is just a month and a half away, so we need not wait too long for the answer to this.
