Benelli, one of the most popular brands under the umbrella of Chinese motorcycle giant Qianjiang, has been steadily updating its product offerings across the global market. The company, which finds its roots in Italy, is now very much assimilated with Qianjiang, with all of its models being produced in China, and sharing technology with other brands under the Qianjiang group such as QJ Motor as Keeway.
That being said, Benelli has just unveiled a new sportbike in China, and it's anticipated to make its way to neighboring countries in the near future. Some of you may be familiar with the Benelli 302R sportbike that was introduced in 2022. Now, Benelli has upped the displacement and pulled the covers off the Tornado 402. In a similar fashion as that of the Tornado 302R, the Tornado 402 is a fully-faired sportbike with an emphasis on sporty styling. It gets a fancy single-sided swingarm, full-LED lights, and an overall aggressive stance.
The new Benelli Tornado 402 also sports some premium components. For starters, it's suspended by an inverted Marzocchi front fork and a centrally mounted rear monoshock. The bike comes to a stop with dual Nissin radial calipers up front and a single rear disc. Dual-channel ABS is standard equipment here. The bike is equipped with a full color TFT display, as well. Overall, it's a fairly lightweight machine, tipping the scales at just 172 kilograms.
On the performance side of the equation, the Benelli Tornado 402 is equipped with a 399cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, parallel-twin engine. Sporting an eight-valve cylinder head, the engine produces 47.5 horsepower at 10,000 rpm and 26 pound-feet of torque at 8,000 rpm – similar performance figures as the Kawasaki Ninja 400, and the more recently released CFMoto 450 SS, also known as the 450 SR in the European and Asian markets.
Speaking of rivals, Benelli is expected to launch the Tornado 402 in the European market, where it will slot perfectly into the A2 license category. Here, it will face other sporty machines like the KTM RC 390, Kawasaki Ninja 400, and Honda CBR500R. At present, however, pricing for the new sportbike has yet to be revealed, but we can surely expect it to be priced lower than its mainstream rivals.
