Benelli TRK 502: All You Need To Know

Benelli’s first ADV in India, the TRK 502 is all set to be launched in a few weeks, and here’s everything you need to know about this motorcycle

Adventure tourers are perfect for Indian terrain. Their impressive long-distance riding capability and off-road prowess make them ideal for exploring our vast and varied landscape. Benelli was initially known for offering road-biased performance machines in India before the brand faced challenging times. And now, in a bid to exploit the ADV demand trend, the Italian bikemaker will be launching its first adventure tourer for the Indian market, the TRK 502 on 18 February. Here’s all you need to know about this upcoming ADV:

Design

The TRK 502 looks properly large in the flesh. A large beak-like fender dominates the front, with the twin headlamps sitting atop. For optimum wind protection, it features a large windshield, flanked by knuckle guards on both sides. The overall design is, in fact, similar to bigger ADVs like the Ducati Multistrada, Triumph Tiger 1200 and the likes. So, if you’re in the market for a middleweight bike with commanding presence, the TRK would be apt.

Though this motorcycle looks enormous, it’s actually quite accessible, thanks to the low seat. At 800mm, it’s exactly the same as the Royal Enfield Himalayan’s! This, coupled with the tall, wide handlebars should result in comfortable ergonomics. It gets an analogue-digital instrument cluster with multifunction display. The Indicators and the tail lamp are all-LED.

Engine

The Benelli TRK 502 draws power from an all-new 500cc parallel-twin, liquid-cooled engine which generates 47.6PS at 8500rpm and 46Nm at 6000rpm. It is mated to a 6-speed transmission with a hydraulically actuated clutch. This system essentially reduces the clutch lever effort. 

In a way, the motor is pretty old-school as it is devoid of electronic rider aids. Benelli claims an efficiency figure of 25.6 kmpl, so you should be able to comfortably cover over 450km on a tank full, considering the tank’s generous 20-litre capacity.

Underpinnings

The engine sits inside a steel trellis frame, with 50mm upside down forks up front and a preload adjustable monoshock. Braking is courtesy twin 320mm discs with radial calipers up front and a 260mm disc at the rear. Benelli offers dual-channel ABS as standard. 

At 190mm, the ground clearance is pretty decent for an adventure tourer. The TRK 502 is actually more of a soft-roader rather than a full-fledged off-road bike. It rides on 17-inch aluminium alloy wheels on both ends wrapped with Pirelli MT 60 RS block pattern 120-section front and 160-section rear tubeless tyres. Expect the India-spec bike to also get the same. Coming to the heft, the TRK 502 weighs 235kg which is quite heavy for an ADV in this segment. To put things into perspective, the Triumph Tiger 800 XR weighs just 199kg (dry)! Even with its 19-litre fuel tank filled to the brim, it wouldn’t be as heavy as this Italian!

More off-road-focussed variant, TRK 502 X

The Benelli TRK 502 X is slightly more off-road friendly, thanks to the 19-inch front and a 17-inch rear spoke wheels. Interestingly, the rims are made of aluminium and the spokes are made of iron. Though the suspension stroke remains the same up front, the rear unit offers 50mm of stroke, which is 5mm more than the road-biased variant. The wheels are also wrapped with Metzeler Tourance block pattern tyres - 110-section up front and 150-section at the rear. Benelli will launch this along with the road-biased variant as well.

Pricing & Rivals

The TRK 502 is likely to be priced around Rs 5 lakh (ex-showroom), while the TRK 502 X is expected to command a premium of around Rs 30,000 over the standard bike. In our market, it doesn’t exactly have any direct rivals with respect to pricing, as it gets sandwiched between the smaller Kawasaki Versys-X 300 (Rs 4.69 lakh) and larger middleweights like the Kawasaki Versys 650 (Rs 6.69 lakh), Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT (Rs 7.46 lakh) and SWM SuperDual T (Rs 7.30 lakh) (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).