After a couple of weeks of teasing, Benelli quietly unveiled the Leoncino, a 500cc parallel twin scrambler. Named after a classic Benelli from the 1960’s the new Leoncino features retro-modern styling clearly aimed at the same target market as the Ducati Scrambler.
Chunky 50 mm USD forks hold on to a 19″ wire front wheel, with a 17″ rear wheel bolted onto a steel tubular swingers and chassis. ABS is standard and lighting is LED.
The company claims 48 hp and 45 Nm of torque from the all new six-speed motor.  The body styling is mildly reminiscent of the Husqvarna 401 concept of 2014, but lighter looking and clearly designed for production tooling.
Unfortunately, Benelli left Canada a while ago now and as of last year had no plans to return, but with a new focus on small capacity machines and the subsequent new models, maybe now is the time for a distributor to pick up the phone and bring them back.
GALLERY
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[…] too. The Vitpilen is a very interesting bike for sure, but I’m kinda drawn to the Benelli Leoncino, which sadly will likely not come here. If we’re talking non-production bikes then the […]
That was the first thing that came to mind for me as well. “Is it the 80’s over at Benelli?” It’s not bad except for the front tire being too big. Nice job on the headlight.
Does anybody else see a resemblance to an 80’s Yamaha Seca ?
Bodywork definitely resembles the Yammie, although the rest of it is much different