Benelli Leoncino 500
 

Look what got EPA approved for 2021. I like. :D https://india.benelli.com/product/leoncino
https://49f44b141764baa2639d-7ed4c22...cino---RED.jpg

I like!

Thats sweet, wish they had something with that motor in an ADV type frame tho!

Looks like there is a trail version of it too.
https://www.motostop.eu/productimages/18978/57907.jpg

The semi-retro styling really makes me want one.
-Reminds me of a Husky Svartpilen. To me, it looks a lot better than a Z400 or CB500F.

Ooooooh, that Scrambler version looks pretty hot , i like that !

Apparently the bikes been out for a few years with all the review videos on it. I'm glad to see that it will finally be available in the US. I'm just wondering when will it actually hit the street here. It's got the EPA approval so shouldn't be too long. There's something that just sexy about the bike. :D

They been round europe for a while now, bumped into the videos while searching for parts and repair tips to my old Benelli Tornado 900. Can't say about quality though as my 'nelli was a proper Pesaro born unlike these, but what I gathered from the vids I've seen the usual complaint seemed to be that the bike is somewhat underpowered compared to the expectations of those testing it. Not really my cup of tea but I can see the appeal.

I hope parts availability is better than to the tornado, pretty and quick as that bike was it was a NIGHTMARE to maintain.

I'm just glad to see in the vid that someone finally got smart and put a damn backstop on the rear rack! I mean.....the dirt cheap GY2 only had it about 15 years ago....

What's sad is the US version will only be around 40 hp where as the uncorked version just about everywhere else will be around 47 hp. I'm sure that can be fixed with a little tuning and probably push 50+ HP. ;)

Like Oddball Matt pointed out, it is those testing the bike who complain--they are professionals tasked with testing all brands of bikes. That is one of the things I have always complained about when it comes to bikes--journalists. For instance, while they could never find actual issues with the Benelli 600 bikes, they complained about its lack of power. But nothing of the dollar-to-value of the bike. I am sure that I would not know the difference if my first 600 bike was the Benelli vs. a GSXR600.

This bike, I am not even sure what one would compare it to? Again, if I was looking for a stylish bike and I liked this one and the price was right (price to value goes back to our beloved dual-sports) I don't think a few missing horsepower would keep me, an amateur, from purchasing one.

You know the old saying, "The faster they go, the faster they blow" I'd rather have a slightly under powered engine that will last longer than an engine that is pushed to it's limits and has to be rebuilt every so many hours. If i was looking for something to race with i would be looking for something else.

Quote : " I don't think a few missing horsepower would keep me, an amateur, from purchasing one. "


So much this ! I have to whole heartedly agree that much of the time, these " MotoJournalists " are way off the mark in their Reviews, if they were half as fast as they like to portray themselves as, they wouldn't be Motojournalists at all, but be on Factory or high ranked / funded Privateer Teams as Riders . The truth is, an amazingly

low percentage of Riders are actually capable of riding a given motorcycle to it's actual maximum potential ,and so a few HP this or way or that simply is not going to make any appreciable real life difference to the average , or even better than average, Rider. As jerryhawk noted, i'd much rather have long term durability at slightly lesser performance than max tuned performance looking for an opportunity to grenade .

I should point out that finding horsepower is different than when moto-journalists complain in their reviews. The problem with complaining is that it turns people off of perfectly good bikes who shouldn't be turned off a bike. That leads to these perfectly fine bikes getting canceled due to lack of sales which resulted from people subconsciously getting turned off an otherwise perfectly good bike from picky journalists.