Benelli 302R Test Ride Review

Performance – The Benelli 302R comes with a familiar 300cc inline twin-cylinder, 4-stroke, water-cooled engine that produces a respectable 38.26 BHP at a rather high 11,500 RPM and 26.50 Nm of torque high up at 10,000 RPM. After an increase in 1 BHP and 2 kgs of weight, the odds aren’t in its favour. The powerband feels less like a punch and more like a jab that takes forever to kick in. The engine is set up more for touring and less for leaving the world behind. This bike isn’t the slowest in its segment thanks to the existence of the Honda CBR250R but it sounds by far the best in its segment and if I had to go that far ahead and say a segment above, only second to its elder street-fighter sibling. The sound gives you real eargasms and masks the slouch of this motorcycle by giving you the feeling of going much faster.

If only the lion could run as loud as it can roar! The Benelli 302R sounds really well

If only the 302R went as fast as it sounded, this machine would be unstoppable. The motor is extremely versatile though and very well behaved. It can do as much as 50 km/hr in top gear and feels extremely relaxed throughout. Power takes forever to build up and by the time you manage to get into triple-digit speeds, you run out of road. The throttle can take some time getting used to and feels a little choppy and the on-off throttle transition isn’t always smooth which does add a little character to this bike but it would make sense if the 302R was any faster. Thus coming off less as a character and more like a flaw. I wish Benelli would have made this motorcycle lighter because that really holds it back from some real potential performance. We managed to hit a top speed of around 160 km/hr beyond which this machine ran out of breath and road.

One major concern was heating and thankfully this machine handles the heat very well with it never getting as bad as a Hyosung GT250R or a KTM RC 390. Even after a whole day of canyon carving and intense bumper to bumper traffic, the 302R never felt like it was overheating and could easily do more of it without breaking a sweat. The gearbox, on the other hand, is butter smooth. In fact, it’s so smooth that after riding a KTM Duke 200, I could literally feel the next gear being slotted and immediately once I got back on the Benelli, I couldn’t even tell that I had shifted. It shifts gears so seamlessly and it’s only the clutch that feels heavy but changing gears on this motorbike is a breeze and takes little or no effort. The gearing is short and once you get going, you end up shifting gears than you’d like in a short stint and that just makes the slouch more unbearable. During engine braking, it’s very obvious that this bike doesn’t have a slipper clutch and at this price, it should have one.

Riding Dynamics – From the moment you get on the Benelli 302R, it feels right at home. This is an extremely easy bike to ride and the only challenge you’ll ever face is when you’re reversing the motorcycle out of a parking spot because of its sheer weight, something this Chinese machine is very good at masking once you get going. The Benelli 302R feels compliant and the suspension setup is just spot on! The Benelli 302R is the first bike in the segment to offer damping and rebound action on the front suspension which is also present in the TNT 300. It does a brilliant job at soaking bumps and undulations on the road. The motorcycle feels nimble mostly but only shows its weight once you start to straighten your lean angle while exiting a corner. Around corners, the motorcycle feels very planted thanks to its low mounted side stand, you don’t manage to get too low without scrubbing it against the ground and increasing the chances to lose balance mid-corner. It’s very obvious that this motorcycle is set up less to be an outright track tool or canyon carver and more towards being a sports tourer that doesn’t mind the occasional twisties.

The bike feels right at home from the moment you get on it and fire it up

The brakes on the Benelli 302R offer phenomenal feel and inspire a lot of confidence. This is the only bike in the segment (apart from the long-lost Hyosung GT250R) that offers a dual disc brake setup at the front, the only other bike that offers petal discs (apart from the Kawasaki Ninja 300) and fortunately not the only bike that offers ABS as standard (along with the Honda CBR250R and KTM RC 390). The front brake lever feels a little spongy but the moment you press it a little harder, it drops anchor and stops in an instant while the rear offers good bite throughout. Completing the wonderful braking are the Metzeler tyres that come standard on this motorcycle.