Benda Asura 400: Picture Gallery

The little 400cc naked that looks like a middleweight inline-4 streetfighter

Yesterday we brought you some specifications and performance numbers for the Chinese-made Benda Asura 400. The numbers might be a little underwhelming but what really strikes you about this bike is just how outlandish it looks. To highlight this point, we’re going to take a closer look at it via detailed images.

At first glance, the Asura sports a butch streetfighter appearance with rather beefy proportions and equipment. In fact, a cursory glance might fool you into thinking you’ve come across a 600cc naked.

This rear three-quarter view brings out some of the best elements of the Asura - the lovely twin exhaust exits and the single-sided swingarm, which is just bonkers in this segment. A single-sider on a 400cc bike takes us back to the glory days of the Honda VFR400 NC24/NC30 in the late '80s and early '90s.

This side of the bike reveals the beefy swingarm itself, and the neatly designed tyre-hugger/number plate hanger. Interestingly, though we can see a radiator up front, the cylinder does feature cooling fins, indicating that it is both liquid and air-cooled.

One of the most distinctive design elements is the alien-like LED headlight up front which makes the Asura seem like it came straight from a Transformers set.

On either side of the headlight are these large and sleek tank extensions that add quite a lot of mass to the overall design of the motorcycle. From what little we can see, the Asura seems to sport an adjustable clutch lever.

In addition to LED lighting all-around, the Asura 400 also packs in a colour TFT instrument cluster that’s quite neatly placed behind the handlebar. This leaves the headlight region uncluttered and results in quite a clean appearance up front.

Benda has wrapped the Asura’s 17-inch wheels in what seem to be the same Maxxis Supermaxx tyres that we get on the KTM 790 Duke in India. And while we can’t be sure of the size, they certainly do seem a bit thicker than the 110 - 150 combo that is the norm for this segment.

Look at the complexity of packing in a rear sprocket and brake disc on the same side of the rear wheel. Kudos to Benda for managing to pull this off.

Up front, you get a beefy USD fork and twin discs for anchorage, which all seems like a bit of overkill on a 36PS motorcycle. This trend of overdone underpinnings is quite similar to what we see on certain Benellis in India as well. Perhaps it’s a Chinese thing.

Whether they’re required or not is arguable, but the chunky components definitely do give the bike a lot of presence, which many buyers will surely appreciate.