Benelli India is all set to launch a new motorcycle in India towards the end of October 2019. We believe that it could be the Imperiale 400. At the launch of the Leoncino 500, the company had confirmed that it will be launching three new products by the end of 2019 which were TRK 250, Leoncino and the Imperiale 400. We believe that it is going to be the Imperiale 400, which will be launched in October 2019. The Imperiale 400 will go up against Jawa and the Royal Enfield Classic 350.
What’s interesting to know is that the Benelli Imperiale 400 will see a lot more local content going into it than the TRK 502 and the Leoncino, which should help keep the prices competitive. While the company did not confirm the percentage of local content on the cruiser, we should get a fair idea on the same at the time of launch. The local assembly will help the Imperiale 400 stay accessible to bigger customer base with a price around the ₹ 2-2.5 lakh (ex-showroom) mark. It may not undercut the locally manufactured Royal Enfield Classic 350 or the Jawa at this price point, but certainly will be a compelling alternative.
The Benelli 400 gets a 373.5 cc single-cylinder engine with fuel injection that churns out 19 bhp at 5,500 rpm and 28 Nm of peak torque at 3,500 rpm. The motor is paired to a 5-speed gearbox. The bike uses a double-cradle steel tube frame underneath and is suspended by telescopic forks upfront and dual shock absorbers at the rear. The vintage-looking cruiser comes with disc brakes at either end with dual-channel ABS as standard. The bike has a kerb weight of 200 kg and a fuel tank capacity of 12 litres.