The Indian bike market is witnessing momentum in the middle-weight roadster bikes with a slew of new offerings launch lately including the very formidable Triumph Trident. Till now, the only dominant force in the category was Ducati Scrambler but dynamics have changed with Benelli being the latest manufacturer to join the bandwagon.
The Italian bike maker has unveiled two new offerings in the segment – Leoncino 800 and Leoncino 800 Trail. Leoncino 800 adopts a blend of modern and conventional design elements and its styling bits such as an oval LED headlamp, shapely fuel tank, and spoke wheels look really unique and different. The lion mascot is intact on the front fender and combined with the trellis frame, it offers a robust aesthetic value to prospective buyers.
2021 Benelli Leoncino 800 Trail, as the name suggests, takes the sportier route and extra bling here comes in the form of twin exhaust with silver panel protection and headlamp fairing matching the body color. Another important difference is the size of wheels as Leoncino 800 features 17” wheels while Leoncino 800 Trail comes equipped with larger 19” wheels. Tires on both bikes feature dual-purpose technology.
2021 Benelli Leoncino 800 and Leoncino 800 Trail come powered by a 754-cc liquid-cool parallel-twin engine capable of putting out 76 bhp and 68 Nm. The output is transferred to wheels through a 6-speed transmission which is operated with the help of a slipper clutch. The suspension system used upfront is the Marzocchi unit with upside-down forks featuring a range of adjustments including preload, rebound, and compression.
The mono-shock rear suspension system also offers preload adjustment. Keeping in mind the sporty nature of the Trail variant, Benelli has equipped it with 5.5 inches suspension travel range while in the regular variant, the maximum range is 5.1 inches. The stopping power is provided by dual front disc arrangement while at the back, a single unit does the job.
There is no official announcement on the prices of the new bikes yet although keeping in mind the rising competition, Benelli is expected to keep the prices competitive. The global launch is expected in the middle of next year and we expect the bikes to reach our shores following their international debut.
