If you still think Chinese-made motorcycles are cheap and disposable,you might be surprised when you ride one today. Like I’ve mentioned in this bike review, Chinese-built motorcycles have already come a long way.
Through investments, partnerships, and lots of R&D, Chinese motorcycle companies have been the salvation of many Western and even some Japanese motorcycle companies struggling to stay afloat. These have resulted in many advances in the quality of Chinese-made motorcycles. Now, they are ready to go head-to-head with the European and Japanese motorcycle manufacturers in the big bike arena.
The recently concluded China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition in Chongquing, not only revealed several interesting motorcycles, but also upcoming motorcycles from big names in the Chinese motorcycle industry.
Benelli, now wholly-owned by Quianjiang Motor Company (QJ), has revealed that they have several upcoming motorcycles. What caught our eyes are three models in particular: a scrambler, an adventure bike and a sport-naked.
Leoncino Cross
Like many motorcycles that originated from China, information on these motorcycles is a bit scarce. From what we can deduce from sources online as well as its looks, the Leoncino Cross is directly targeting Ducati’s Scrambler, particularly, the Desert Sled.
This motorcycle could be powered by the same engine that propels the Leoncino 500. From a platform standpoint, it's pretty much the same bike, albeit with longer forks, a scrambler-type exhaust, and fenders.
TRK 800
From the photo we got from Newmotor.com.cn, it looks like the TRK 800 has its eyes set on KTM’s 790 Adventure R. As for the name, it says it all. It could be powered by an 800cc engine similar to KTM’s LC-8 parallel twin.
TNT 899
This must be their (almost) liter bike that has its eyes on BMW’s S 1000 R (or Triumph’s Speed Triple). This will be their most street-oriented bike if it will in fact go into production.
Again, these are all speculations, and there is no word from Benelli or Benelli Philippines confirming these. We hope they at least consider bringing in these new and exciting bikes in the future.
