Benelli Imperiale 400 India Launch Delayed

The Royal Enfield rival from Benelli will make its India debut in 2020

[UPDATE : Benelli Imperiale 400 has been launched in India, head here for pricing and other details]

• The Imperiale is Benelli’s take on a properly classic-looking motorcycle.
• The launch has been postponed due to new BSVI emission regulations that will be enforced in 2020.
• The Imperiale’s engine is currently only BSIV compliant. 

Benelli’s plans of launching its classic motorcycle, the Imperiale 400 has been postponed to 2020 because of the new BSVI emission norms that will come into effect from April, 2020. Expect the bikemaker to launch the motorcycle around mid-2020. At present, the Imperiale 400’s single-cylinder 373.5cc air-cooled motor is only BSIV compliant. So, the company will have to rework the engine to make it compliant with the upcoming emission norms. 

Also Read: Benelli India To Launch More Bikes This Year

Benelli could bring the current model this year itself via the CKD route, but the brand feels the pricing will be a bit on the higher side. The Chinese-owned Italian bikemaker intends to heavily localise the Imperiale in order to make a mark in the highly competitive 350-400cc retro segment. It isn’t surprising as this segment is dominated by the likes of the Royal Enfield Classic 350 and Jawa range - both of which are much more popular in the country.

Also, in its current state of tune, the Imperiale’s engine makes only 20.4PS at 5500rpm and 29Nm at 3500rpm. To be honest, we feel these figures simply wouldn’t work in our market considering that the Royal Enfield Classic 350’s smaller 346cc motor churns out 20PS of power at 5250rpm and 28Nm of torque at 4000rpm. Furthermore, at 200kg (dry weight), the Imperiale is really heavy compared to the Classic 350’s 192kg kerb weight! Hence, we feel a power bump and weight reduction are as crucial as emission compliance if the brand wants to record good sales in the country.

The underpinnings are pretty decent for its class as it features 41mm telescopic forks up front and dual shock absorbers at the rear. Stopping power is courtesy a 300mm front disc and a 240mm rear disc with dual-channel ABS offered as standard. Up front, the motorcycle rides on 19-inch spoke wheels, while the rear is an 18-inch unit. They are shod with 110- and 130-section tyres respectively. Expect Benelli to price the Imperiale 400 around Rs 2 lakh (ex-showroom) if it manages to localise the motorcycle heavily.