Benelli is planning to launch the Leoncino in India since a long time and the bike was scheduled to make its Indian debut last year but was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. The brand now plans to launch the neo-retro scrambler soon in the Indian market with only the Street variant, at least in the beginning.
Benelli Leoncino comes in three variants – Standard, Trials and Sport. The Standard is the street-going version of the Leoncino and that is expected to come to India, first. The brand wants to first check the market response with the Leoncino, before introducing other variants. The next variant would probably be the Trials, but as of now, there is no word on the Sport.
The Leoncino 500 is powered by a 499.6cc, parallel-twin, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled, 4-valve per cylinder, DOHC engine that produces 47.6 HP of power and 45 Nm of torque matched to a 6-speed constant mesh gearbox. The fuel delivery system is a electronic fuel injection system with a 37mm throttle body.
The Leoncino comes with a tubular steel frame and rides on 50mm upside down front suspension and a monoshock suspension on the rear. The brakes are 320mm twin semi-floating discs on the front with the radially mounted 4-piston calliper on the front and a 260 mm single disc with a single-piston floating calliper equipped with a dual-channel ABS. The bike gets 17-inch aluminium alloy wheels shod in 120/70 front and 160/60 rear tyres.
The Benelli Leoncino features front headlamp in LED, LED signal lamps and an LED tail light. The front fender possesses the ‘Lion of Pesaro’ emblem and a single piece seat design. The bike is likely to come with three colour options – Red, Black and Silver.
The Benelli Leoncino is expected to be priced around the INR 5.5 lakh and the closest rival as per the segment is the Ducati Scrambler Icon and Triumph Street Scrambler, both of which are significantly more expensive.