It seems that middleweight naked bikes just get bigger and bigger. Just a few years ago, bikes like the KTM 790 Duke and the Ducati Monster 821 were sort of the standard for mid-sized naked streetfighters. However, manufacturers upped the displacement, in KTM’s case, up to 890, with the Italian following shortly thereafter to 937. Needless to say, this shift has paved the way for higher displacement, more powerful naked bikes.
Benelli, too, has joined the displacement-upping game, with its 752S naked bike. Although not as widely available as the rest of its model range, the 752S served as a decent alternative to other more mainstream bikes in the middleweight naked segment. That being said, it could soon be renamed to the 802S, owing to a 45cc bump in displacement. Said displacement increase will also undoubtedly boost power slightly. More specifically, from around 80 ponies to 95 horsepower, putting it closer to the ballpark of the likes of the 890 Duke and BMW F 900 R.
Diving into just a little more detail, the 802S will be powered by a 799cc parallel-twin engine, which is an evolution of the engine found in the previous model. Of course, as is the case with all of Benelli’s offerings, the 799cc engine is being manufactured by Qianjiang Motors in China, a company that’s been hard at work in developing multiple engines for a variety of models, including the 693cc parallel-twin engine in the recently unveiled TRK702 adventure bike.
At present, Benelli has yet to announce the pricing and availability of the new 802S, however, chances are it’ll first be made available in the Chinese market, before being shipped out to its ancestral home country of Italy and other parts of Asia. Needless to say, Benelli has a lot of exciting bikes in the pipeline, with the previously mentioned TRK702 and now, the 802S, sure to capture a lot of attention in the global market. After all, Benelli is known for undercutting the competition in terms of pricing, while still offering a lot of premium features, perhaps one of the reasons why the TRK502 has consistently been the best-selling ADV in Italy.
