Benelli 302R Unveiled (Photos & Video)
The quarter-liter sportbike crave is alive and well. Around the turn of the century, only a few were in existence in both naked and faired versions – and they didn’t excite any nerves with styling.
The one and only leader here in the USA was the Kawasaki Ninja 250. But Honda changed that in 2011 with the introduction of the CBR250R, a bike that mirrored its supersport CBR600RR/CBR1000RR brethren.
Now Benelli joins the quarter-liter sportbike craving with its all-new fully-faired 302R. The new bike out of Pesaro, Italy, is powered by an inline two-cylinder DOHC engine that produces 38 horsepower @ 10,000 rpm and 20 ft/lbs of torque @ 9000 rpm. The four-stroke, four-valve engine is mated to a six-speed transmission.