EXCLUSIVE: You’ll Have To Wait A While For Small Capacity BS6 Benellis

While it might not have many bikes currently on sale in the country, Benelli plans to get busy in the second half of 2020. The Italian marque will be launching its 500cc models by late-2020 and will follow them up with the 300cc and 250cc models. Early 2021 is the timeline shared for these models and we guess the 302S, the TNT 300 replacement, will be the first of the trio. The naked will be followed by its faired sibling -- the 302R -- and the baby urban scrambler, the Leoncino 250. Price hikes for all models will be a bit on the steeper side as we have seen with Imperiale 400.

Benelli, and its parent company QJMotors, has been working through the lockdown period to give its models a fresh look. The updated 302S was showcased late last year with a new LED headlight, colour TFT dash and enticing new colour schemes. The 300cc parallel-twin motor hadn’t been updated to meet the BS6 norms then but it shouldn’t be a bother come 2021.

But Benelli sticking with the 302S seems a bit bizarre. QJMotors was already developing a small bike for Harley-Davidson that was based on the TNT 300 platform. While Harley’s ‘The Hardwire’ plan might see the bike being scrapped for the American brand, the QJ350 has been built. It might be making just 36PS from its larger motor compared to the 38PS produced from the 300cc mill of the 302S, but the former is nearly 20kg lighter.

Also Read: India-bound 2020 Benelli 302R Unveiled

Both the 302R and the Leoncino 250 have received new colours in the past couple of months. There aren’t many significant changes to speak of on these two models otherwise.