Benelli Tornado 302R Bookings Commence

Italian motorcycle marque, Benelli, will finally launch the much-awaited Tornado 302R in India in May, 2017. UPDATE - The launch of the motorcycle has been postponed to mid-June. Bookings for the motorcycle has commenced unofficially and the booking amount for the bike is Rs 25,000. Deliveries will be on a first-come-first-served basis. Sources have revealed that the new Benelli Tornado 302R will be equipped with ABS and the approximate on-road price might between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh.

The Tornado 302R is the faired version of its naked cousin, the TNT 300. Showcased at the India Auto Expo 2016, the bike employs a steel-tube trellis design that directly links the steering head and swing arm pivot, thereby offering better stability on the straights, and agility while cornering. The faired design with split headlamps, and the petal discs evoke a sporty character to the bike. The suspension duties are handled by inverted forks at the front and the rear uses a monoshock with adjustable preload. The bike is anchored by dual 260mm discs at the front and a 240mm disc at the rear; both paired with ABS. The tyres are likely to be Metzelers with a 110-section front and a 150-section rear.

Speaking about the powertrain, the Tornado 302R is powered by a 300cc parallel-twin liquid-cooled engine with dual overhead camshafts. The engine generates 38PS of power at 10,000 rpm and 27.4Nm of peak torque at 9,000 rpm. Power is transferred to the rear wheel by a six-speed transmission coupled to a chain drive. With a fuel tank capacity of 14 litres, the bike seems to be a promising sporty tourer as well.

The Tornado 302R, upon its arrival in the Indian market, will compete with the likes of the Kawasaki Ninja 300, KTM RC 390, Yamaha YZF R3 and the upcoming TVS Akula 310.