Benelli Leoncino 500 to be sold in single variant in India - Report

01/07/2019 - 13:15 Benelli Leoncino, Benelli Suvil Susvirkar

While Benelli India is yet to make an announcement about the launch of the Leoncino 500 in our market, Autocar India reports that it will be available soon.

Benelli Leoncino 500 Front Left Quarter Thailand M — Benelli India will launch the standard variant (pictured) of the Leoncino 500, and the Trail variant later if there's enough demand.

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The report further adds that unlike the international markets, India will get the retro-style motorcycle in a single variant. For reference, the Leoncino 500 is made in three variants – standard, Trail and Sport. India will receive the standard variant at launch, and the Trail variant could be launched later depending on the demand. The news of the single variant coming to India was confirmed by Vikas Jhabakh, Managing Director, Benelli India. Below is what he said:

At this moment, we are planning to launch only the street version. We will consider the Trail variant based on the feedback from the market.

The road-biased street variant uses 17-inch alloy wheels with tubeless on both ends. The Trail variant, on the other hand, has wire-spoke wheels in 19-inch front and 17-inch rear combination. The Leoncino 500 has a 50 mm upside down forks at the front and a monoshock at the rear.

The Leoncino 500 range mounts a 499.6 cc parallel twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that sends power to the rear wheel via a 6-speed transmission. The motor, which uses a fuel injection system, generates 46.6 PS of peak power at 8,500 rpm and 45 Nm of maximum torque at 5,000 rpm. The braking system works with the safety net of dual-channel ABS. The motorcycle uses 320 mm twin-discs with four-piston callipers at the front and a 260 mm single-disc with a single-piston calliper at the rear to shed speed and come to a halt.

The standard version is likely to debut with a competitive price tag and we expect to see the bike in the INR 4-5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) range. The standard Leoncino 500 will face competition from the Royal Enfield Interceptor INT 650, while the Trail variant, when launched in India, will not have any direct rival. That said, the Trail variant would face some heat from the upcoming KTM 390 Adventure and the Royal Enfield Himalayan.