DSK Benelli seems to be on a roll this year with a slew of new launches and a few more waiting to come off the cooking pan.
DSK Benelli had recently introduced the Benelli 302R fully faired bike recently. Now, the Italian bike maker has plans to launch another three more with the Leoncino, TRK 502 and the latest quarter litre street spec bike. The last bike mentioned is something that is getting developed specifically for the Indian market. Speaking to the media, Mr.Shirish Kulkarni, Chairman, DSK Motowheels said, “a new 300-400 cc street motorcycle is in the offing and will be introduced at the 2018 Auto Expo. The bike is being developed specifically for the Indian market.”
As per Mr.Kulkarni, the street motorcycle in question which shall compete in the 250cc category is being co-developed by Benelli and DSK with inputs from the latter’s R&D department. The bike will be manufactured in India with components sourced domestically with heavy localisation, unlike the 302R which has parts imported from Italy. The quarter-litre street naked will be powered by a single-cylinder engine. Kulkarni further said that the bike is currently under the homologation and certification process.
While not much information is available regarding the new 250cc bike from DSK-Benelli it will be an interesting thing to speculate whether the bike will borrow its design cues from the soon to be launched Benelli TNT 750 GS from the middleweight street category which in turn is designed on the lines of Ducati Monster series. Benelli could make use of the Trellis frame from its 302R in this India specific motorcycle which will help the bike shed weight and make for an agile and swift bike. Like any other Benelli, this new bike too should feature an exciting exhaust note.
Expect the India specific street naked bike to be priced in the range of 2.4 to 2.8 lakhs INR. The street naked when launched will be taking the fight to the likes of KTM Duke 390 and it will be interesting to see how both bikes compete against each other.
[Source: NDTV Auto]