Motorcycle specifications Benelli400 Imperiale 2022 When you look at a past...

The 400 Imperial may not have been a great success, but Benelli allows it to continue with a Euro5 adaptation. Logos and grip-knees are modified and.... nothing else. After abandoning the muscular sports and roadster niches, Benelli turned to vintage with a pretty little Leoncino. It's an almost intrepid galloper that we could see playing in the avenues.

Still in the retro vein, but in a more consensual style, the Sino-Italian brand is investing in the Bonneville, V7 clan; in a smaller format. The Imperial's most direct competition is more on the side of Royal-Enfield.

In keeping with its old-English look, the machine hits the bull's-eye. It has to be said that this style is particularly fashionable. Everything is designed to make you hesitate: the spoked rims, the chrome mudguards, the sausage pot, the spring-mounted saddle, the crude Eastern-style muffler attachment, the look of the crankcases, the engine fins....

In short, the Imperiale wants to take us back in time. Back to the first model of the 60s? Which wasn't really a Benelli, but a Motobi. This brand was created by one of the family's members, Giuseppe Benelli, following a conflict of the kind that animates so many stories. The 400 is thus a distant cousin of the 125 of yesteryear.

enough chinese talk, let's get down to... Well, no, we're right in the middle of Chinese. Powered by a 373.5 cm3 single-cylinder, the Benelli offers the performance of a machine from the last century, or even the beginning. Its 21 horsepower will allow you to swing your hips, play the hazelnut and provoke the 125s. The 3 mkg of torque will allow you to make some effort, without showing off.

Mounted on a double-cradle steel frame, the 400 Imperiale is equipped with a 41 mm fork, a 300 mm front brake disc with double-piston caliper + a 240 mm rear disc, ABS, 19" and 18" wheels and a perfectly classic headlight-counter-linkage assembly. With this look, you'd almost be tempted to believe it.

The Benelli Imperiale 400 will have its work cut out for it in this segment. One of its best assets is undoubtedly its tempting price tag, since the only way to compete with the category's tenors is through its name, its chimera and its price.

M.B - Manufacturer's photos