India-bound 2022 Benelli Leoncino 250 revealed

The Benelli Leoncino 250 never saw the light of day in the BS6 era; however, it could make its way back to the Indian market in 2022, with an updated engine and some cosmetic tweaks.

The Benelli Leoncino 250 was launched in India back in October 2019. But when the stringent BS6 emission norms kicked in, Benelli India pulled the plug on the Leoncino 250, instead of updating the motorcycle to comply with the new norms. The motorcycle has been off the showroom floors since then, and the brand is mainly focusing on its middle-weight motorcycle portfolio.

However, the Benelli Leoncino 250 has been on sale overseas, and the Italian motorcycle maker has updated the quarter-litre street-naked for the model year 2022.

The changes are just skin deep, and the mechanicals of the motorcycle continues to be the same as before. However, the colour options are new, and the headlamp assembly has been updated a bit. The Leoncino 250 now gets the headlamp unit of the Leoncino 500, which is marginally larger in size. That said, the overall appearance of the motorcycle is unchanged.

The engine is the same 249cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder unit. The power output is 25.4bhp at 9,250rpm, and the peak torque of 21Nm arrives at 8,000 pm. The gearbox here is a six-speed unit.

The Benelli Leoncino 250 is likely to make a comeback in the Indian market sometime in 2022, as Benelli India is currently losing out on the quarter-litre market share.

The motorcycle will be positioned in the premium end of the quarter-litre segment, which sees the presence of the KTM 250 Duke, Husqvarna 250 twins, and Bajaj Dominar 250. If launched, the price of the 2022 Leoncino 250 is likely to be in the Rs 2.50 – 2.70 lakh (ex-showroom) range.

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