DSK Benelli has introduced its fully-faired 302R in India at Rs 3.48 lakh (ex-showroom, pan-India).
The 302R is powered by a 300cc, parallel-twin, liquid-cooled motor derived from its naked sibling, the TNT300, which is good for 38.8hp of peak power that comes in at 11,500rpm and a peak torque figure of 26.5Nm at 10,000rpm. But the 302R isn’t just a TNT300 with a full fairing. It gets a new trestle frame that’s quite different from the naked bike’s trellis frame, and it even ditches its lateral rear monoshock for a more conventional centrally mounted monoshock. The front comes with the same 41mm upside-down forks as the TNT, although travel has been reduced.
With a kerb weight of 198kg, the Benelli 302R is certainly a slightly portly motorcycle, but it seems to have been designed with a sport-touring role in mind, rather than being an outright sports bike. One of the things holding back its handling potential, as we found out during our test ride late last year, was the rather lower cornering clearance, thanks to its foot peg design. However, DSK Benelli has addressed that shortcoming with slimmer rider foot pegs.
The bike features a 14-litre fuel tank, has a ground clearance of 150mm and a wheelbase of 1,410mm. For the brakes, it gets a twin disc setup at the front and a single disc at the back, with ABS as standard.
Speaking at the launch, Shirish Kulkarni, chairman, DSK Motowheels said, “The DSK Benelli 302R is our first fully faired superbike which is set to alter the paradigm of the mid-size segment in the country. This market is highly lucrative with widespread demand and DSK Benelli is perfectly poised to capture a lion's share of the segment with the 302R joining our existing and highly successful line-up of superbikes.”
Priced at Rs 3.48 lakh, the 302R commands a premium over the TNT300 and goes up against the likes of the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and the soon-to-be-launched, BS-IV-compliant Yamaha YZF-R3. Expect a full road test of the bike soon.
Also read: 2017 Benelli 302R review, test ride