Benelli Tornado 252R Launched In China

Benelli’s most affordable faired bike competes in the super-competitive 250cc supersport segment in the Asian market

The 249cc parallel-twin produces 26PS and 24Nm. Gets bluetooth connectivity. Tips the scales at 177kg.

Qianjiang Group-owned Benelli has been aggressively updating its portfolio in its home turf-- China. The bikemaker has already introduced the heavily updated Tornado 302R in the domestic market, and now has added the more affordable Tornado 252R in its fleet.

The Benelli Tornado 252R’s design is heavily inspired by its 300cc sibling. So, the baby Tornado features the same vertically stacked LED headlight, slim fairing and even the revised, sharper tail section. However, instead of the flamboyant colour choices like we have seen on the 302R, Benelli has chosen to paint the bike in the same green and silver colour combination of the original supersport-- the Tornado 900. In fact, with this paint scheme, the design inspiration from the 900cc sibling is more evident.

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Benelli has equipped the Tornado 252R with a 249cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin motor producing 26PS at 8,500rpm and 24.1Nm at 6,500rpm. This engine is mated to a six-speed gearbox aided by a slipper clutch. With the KTM RC 200 in the picture which produces almost the same power from its single-cylinder engine, the performance doesn’t seem quite as exciting.

The Benelli Tornado 252R gets a 37mm USD fork and a monoshock at the rear, which are non-adjustable unlike the preload-adjustable units on the updated 302R. For braking, single discs at both ends have been equipped with the safety net of dual-channel ABS.

Benelli bikes aren’t known to be lightweight and this one is no different. The Tornado tips the scales at 177kg, just 4kg lighter than the new 302R. That said, with a seat height of just 785mm, the bike should be accessible to even shorter riders.

In China, the Benelli 252R has been priced at CNY 25,800 or roughly Rs 2.93 lakh. Benelli will be bringing in a slew of motorcycles to the Indian market, but the 252R is unlikely to be one of them. What we might get is the 2021 Benelli Tornado 302R, which will lock horns with the Kawasaki Ninja 300, TVS Apache RR310 and the 2022 KTM RC 390.