Recent years have seen naked bikes—particularly in the middleweight segment—feature improved performance and technology. We’re seeing lots of new machines from Chinese-owned companies like CFMoto and Benelli, with the latter’s upcoming 902S stirring the pot in the segment.
Benelli pulled the covers off the 902S at the Beijing Motor Show, and revealed a bike with some really familiar styling. Seriously, it's nearly identical visually to the 752S, a middleweight naked bike that’s clearly inspired by the Ducati Monster. Complete with an exposed trellis frame, a muscular fuel tank, and sporty lines, the 902S is by all means a good-looking machine.
And it’s packing some pretty impressive performance, too.
Beneath the surface, the Benelli 902S is rocking a 904cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected parallel-twin engine with a healthy 105 horsepower on tap. It’s quite a lot more than the 752S’ 75 horsepower, and will surely come to the delight of performance-oriented street riders looking for a burly naked bike.
Like most of Benelli’s other performance-focused offerings, the 902S gets some premium underpinnings like a braking system from Brembo, and adjustable suspension from Marzocchi. Benelli has also somehow managed to trim the 902S’ weight down from its predecessor, with the muscular naked bike tipping the scales at 220 kilograms, or about 485 pounds. And while it’s by no means a featherweight, it’s still 13 pounds lighter than its predecessor.
Of course, the allure of made-in-China bikes like the Benelli 902S is the potential savings it offers when compared to its mainstream counterparts. From the spec-sheet alone, a bike of this caliber can easily command upwards of $12,000 USD. And while pricing for the new model has yet to be confirmed for the global market, its predecessor, the 752S, carries an MSRP of around $8,242 USD. Chances are the 902S won’t be too far from this figure, either.
New models like the Benelli 902S are proof that Chinese brands are taking the global motorcycle market much more seriously than ever before. If in the past, their sole purpose was to make cheap and affordable bikes accessible to the masses, it’s clear that this has changed.
Manufacturers like Benelli, QJ Motor, and Loncin clearly have performance and technology as their priority, and thanks to the sheer volume of bikes they pump out at their factories, are able to price them much more affordably than their counterparts from the US, Europe, and Japan.
