Benelli Leoncino

The Benelli Leoncino 500 is one perfect example of how retro design cues and modern design ethos can co-exist in perfect harmony. The scrambler takes the best of both the worlds and presents itself as a perfect combination, which surely gives it a handsome personality.

The Benelli Leoncino 500 gets a rounded headlamp design, which might look old school at first, but then, it surprises you with its lighting arrangement, comprising of an inverted U-shaped daytime running LED in the lower half of the headlamp and a projector tucked inside it. The headlamp is flanked with slim rounded rectangular LED turn indicators, while at the top, a curved cowl has been fitted to make this front fascia look larger.

In an attempt to add some detailing, a small lion motif sits proudly on the chopped front fender, thus depicting its name (Leoncino means Lion in Italian). The side profile of the Benelli Leoncino 500 also looks quite unique, thanks to a very different looking fuel tank design. The fuel tank, with its dual-tone theme, gets a curved design with sloping side portions and black highlights on them, which incorporate the Benelli logo within them.

With its minimalist tubular frame hiding in the twin-cylinder engine, the Benelli Leoncino 500 looks quite heavy from the sides. However, it then starts to become quite athletic while moving towards the rear. The rear side body panels are slim and almost flat, and extend all the way towards the rear, where they end up in a small rectangular LED tail lamp tucked just behind the long single-piece seat. This tail lamp too is flanked with similar LED turn indicators as that on the front. The Leoncino 500 doesn’t get a proper rear fender, instead, it gets a rear tire hugger mounted license plate holder. 

Another highlight of the Benelli Leoncino 500 which looks quite fancy is the two-part fully digital instrument console, which sits just ahead of the almost flat handlebar. A rounded theme has been carried out for the instrument console, with a large rounded display on the right getting digital speedometer, odometer, tachometer, and gear indicator, and a standout right panel displaying fuel gauge, clock, engine temperature, and distance to empty.

Armed with 41mm inverted telescopic forks at the front and a monoshock with rectangular swingarm at the back, the Benelli Leoncino 500 feels quite agile and quick, thanks to the stiff suspension setup and relatively lower kerb weight. The impressive power to weight ratio makes it fun to ride machine, but then, the stiff suspension does feel a bit sharp on broken patches of roads. The motorcycle is equipped with dual 320mm front disc brakes and a single 260mm rear disc brake.

The Benelli Leoncino 500 shares its four-stroke, inline twin, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 499.6cc engine with the Benelli 502C. Here too, the engine is coupled to a 6-speed gearbox but is available in a slightly different state of tune. The engine puts up 48 PS of maximum power output and 45 Nm of peak torque output and gets a slightly more focus on performance at higher rpms.

Save for a dual-channel ABS, the Benelli Leoncino 500 doesn’t get any other sophisticated electronic riding aid.

With its retro plus futuristic design combination, the Benelli Leoncino 500 instantly grabs your attention and is easily one of the nicest looking scramblers out there. The engine as well as suspension combination, coupled with its low weight makes it feel agile and nimble. It is the unconventionality of the Benelli Leoncino 500, which is its biggest highlight.